Meet Deel: Andrea David Mieli, Director of Legal

One of the most challenging aspects of global hiring is compliance. To hire and pay an employee abroad, you need to create a locally compliant contract, make sure the employee enjoys all statutory benefits their home country provides, and comply with local tax regulations.

Now imagine helping companies hire in more than 150 countries. That means we need to be familiar with over 150 employment laws and regulations, to ensure all our customers can hire whomever they want, worry-free.

Sound overwhelming? That’s where our experts come in, to tackle the complexities of international hiring and drive the future of work.

Andrea David Mieli, Deel’s Director of Legal, and his team help our customers build their global workforce.

What’s the one thing that makes working at Deel special?

Andrea David: Working at Deel is different from everything I did in the past.

I work with a young, fast, and excellent team, and our goal is to shape the future of the labor market, which is super exciting for me, being an employment lawyer. We aim to evolve the way we think about work in general, as we help remove the barriers between countries, employees, and companies.

The second thing that I find special about working for Deel is being able to see the company grow. I joined when we were just a small startup, and it’s exciting to see how things we come up with are implemented as the business grows.

What’s the biggest challenge of leading the legal team in such a complex sector?

Andrea David: I like to call us “lawyers 2.0” because we make law, business, and technology work together. Balancing these aspects is the most challenging and the most interesting part of my role.

Running a global team isn’t a simple task. Where are your teammates located? How do you manage them?

Andrea David: Our team is growing and we’re across a lot of different time zones: Singapore, the Philippines, the US, Colombia, Spain, the Netherlands, Israel, France, and India.

I have weekly 1-on-1 meetings with the team as well as weekly team meetings. I promote teamwork and like my team to work together, even if I’m not involved. It’s a good way to create positive relationships; not only professional ones, but human ones.

A part of the team was even at my wedding! (laugh) We’ve become friends.

Teamwork is also one of the main principles of my leadership style, along with sacrifice and willingness to improve our work skills. By this, I mean that sometimes we need to go beyond our comfort zone and feel a bit lost before we learn and become better lawyers.

As a manager, I’m firm in my decisions, but also open to suggestions if someone thinks that things can be improved — I always listen to my team.

What’s the best part of your job?

Andrea David: I love seeing new teammates enter the Deel mentality. Before they join the company, they’re lawyers. They’re used to being in a law firm: take the law and apply it, and that’s it. After a few months at Deel, they learn how to switch their mindset and operate from a business point of view.

What do you value the most in your team members?

Andrea David: First of all, I value professionalism. Second of all, we learn from each other every day, because we’re all experts in a particular country’s law. The strong knowledge my team members have in their own domain is something I can benefit from, too.

How do you track your distributed team’s performance?

Andrea David: The 1-on-1s allow me to know what my team is doing at all times, but I also rely on other people’s feedback. My team doesn’t only work with me: other people in the company need to rely on them and if other teams are happy to collaborate with my team, it means my teammates are performing well. Another way to track their progress is measuring their individual KPIs and setting clear expectations from the very beginning.

What’s a life goal that remote work has helped you accomplish?

Andrea David: I’m currently working from Polinesia, with a wonderful view of the sea. No stress with coming to an office, and I have the opportunity to travel the world.

Also, there’s another interesting point: I enjoy the time I spend at my house more. Before, I was always out, and only came home to sleep. Now, I really live in my home when I’m there.

The only thing I miss about the office is in-person human interaction, like having coffee with coworkers and chatting about random topics during pauses from work.

What’s the best Deel moment for you so far?

Andrea David: I used to work in this big international law firm and had a good career path in front of me. When I decided to quit and join Deel, we were around 50 people only. I remember my father was worried that we didn’t even have an office, and didn’t ask me anything about my new job for months.

Then, when we became a unicorn, he saw our name on Times Square — on Nasdaq — he called me and said, “Hey, you’re doing a good job!” That moment was great for me: when my father realized that I actually made a good choice.

Want to work with Andrea David and the rest of the legal team at Deel? We have good news — we're hiring!