INTERIM LEGAL & COMPLIANCE · AUSTRIA
Interim Legal Counsel and Interim Compliance in Austria
Interim legal counsel and interim compliance professionals take on work in your legal or compliance department in Austria temporarily – for a vacancy, parental leave, a workload peak or a regulatory project. Alpinum provides lawyers and compliance professionals from junior to senior level through staff leasing or freelancing, part-time or full-time. Our Vienna office is on the Opernring; your company sets the tasks and priorities.
Austria complements our core markets of Switzerland and Germany. We are a specialist provider of temporary legal and compliance support in the DACH region, not a law firm. For companies in Vienna and across Austria our professionals handle contract work, day-to-day advice to business units, anti-money laundering and KYC reviews, or lead a project. Typical clients are banks and financial services providers, insurers, industrial, energy, technology and retail companies. We agree the place of work per assignment – at your premises, hybrid or remote.
We usually present selected profiles within 48 hours. We set the start date together with you; it depends on availability, notice periods and onboarding.
INTERIM LEGAL VIENNA · INTERIM COMPLIANCE AUSTRIA
Interim legal in Vienna and interim compliance in Austria: typical assignments
AML, KYC and compliance in financial services
Banks, payment service providers and insurers reinforce their compliance department for KYC remediation, client file updates, transaction monitoring and alert handling. The professionals work to your internal policies and in your systems; decisions and reports remain with your compliance function. Duration: usually several months until the project ends. Workload: mostly full-time. More on AML, KYC & financial crime compliance.
Legal department during a vacancy or parental leave
When a role becomes vacant or a colleague goes on parental leave, an interim legal counsel keeps day-to-day work moving: reviewing and negotiating contracts, advising business units, managing outside counsel. Duration: a few months, including onboarding and handover. Workload: 20 to 100 percent. See vacancy cover and parental leave cover for legal departments.
Regulatory initiatives and contract backlogs
DORA, NIS2, the EU AI Act or new anti-money laundering rules tie up capacity your team does not have, on top of contract review backlogs. Project lawyers and compliance officers handle clearly defined work packages, for example in regulatory change, data protection and AI governance or contract management. Duration: aligned with the project phases. Workload: full-time at peaks, reduced afterwards.
Interim leadership for legal or compliance
If the head of the legal or compliance function is missing, an interim head of legal takes over leadership, prioritisation and reporting to management. Smaller companies without a legal department bring in a fractional general counsel on fixed weekdays. Duration: several months or longer.
Example from the DACH region (anonymised)
KYC task force, financial institution in Switzerland: in 2025 eight compliance officers including a team lead, each full-time through staff leasing, handled KYC remediation, file reviews, transaction monitoring and alert handling. The team lead reported to in-house compliance. Profiles were available within 48 hours, the team started around two weeks after the order, and the project was completed after ten months. We assemble teams like this for assignments in Austria too.
Lawyers and compliance professionals at every level
Whether junior, mid or senior fits depends on the work: how independently it is done, how complex the questions are and whether leadership is involved. In practice the mid level (experienced) is deployed most often.
| Level | Experience | Typical roles | Typical tasks |
|---|---|---|---|
| Junior | 0–2 years | Junior legal counsel, KYC analyst, project lawyer | Review client files, sift documents, apply template contracts, research |
| Mid (experienced) | 3–6 years | Legal counsel, compliance officer, AML specialist | Negotiate contracts, prepare suspicious activity cases, advise business units, coordinate law firms |
| Senior | 7+ years | Senior legal counsel, head of compliance, interim head of legal, team lead | Lead teams, steer projects and transactions, decide escalations, report to management |
Formal functions are possible too, such as a compliance officer with regulatory responsibility or a data protection officer – through staff leasing or freelancing, depending on your requirements and the rules in Austria. For the money laundering reporting officer, regulatory requirements may exclude an external appointment or require staff leasing; legally required independence and responsibilities are maintained.
How the professional joins your team
01 · Discuss the requirement
We clarify area of law, tasks, level, languages, place of work, workload, duration and model – and whether a specific qualification or function is required.
02 · Review profiles
Within 48 hours you receive selected profiles from more than 7’500 legal & compliance professionals we have personally interviewed and assessed in our qualification process. Two to four profiles are usual.
03 · Hold interviews and decide
You meet the candidates in short interviews and make the selection.
04 · Start the assignment
We prepare the contract, access and onboarding together. After two to four weeks we take stock with you; we remain your contact until the handover. A move into your team (temp-to-perm) is possible.
Supervision, employer and pay in Austrian staff leasing
Staff leasing: supervision at the user company
In Austrian staff leasing (Arbeitskräfteüberlassung) the professional is integrated into the user company and works under its professional supervision (§ 4(2) no. 3 AÜG, as of 30 Oct 2026). You set tasks, priorities and approvals; the leasing agency and the user company share responsibility for occupational safety (USP, as of 30 Oct 2026).
The leasing agency remains the employer
The employment contract is between the professional and the leasing agency; the work is performed at the user company (§ 3 AÜG, as of 30 Oct 2026). Leased professionals are entitled to appropriate pay customary in the locality, measured against comparable employees at the user company, whose working time and leave rules apply (§ 10 AÜG, § 6 LSD-BG, as of 30 Oct 2026).
Freelancing: independent within the mandate
Freelancers deliver their work independently within the agreed mandate. In both models we set out authority, access and escalation paths in writing before the start.
Staff leasing and freelancing in Austria
Staff leasing (Arbeitskräfteüberlassung)
Staff leasing is a regulated trade in Austria. Leasing agencies from the EU/EEA notify the competent ministry of their cross-border activity in advance and report each assignment to the Central Coordination Office of the Ministry of Finance before work starts; according to the Austrian business service portal, this reporting duty also applies to agencies from Switzerland (USP and Ministry of Social Affairs, as of 30 Oct 2026). At Alpinum, assignments in Austria run through the German or the Swiss company. The German Alpinum Solutions GmbH holds the staff leasing licence of the Hesse regional directorate of the Federal Employment Agency. More on legal & compliance staff leasing.
Freelancing
Whether someone counts as an employee, a freelance employee or self-employed depends in Austria on how the work is actually organised, not on the contract label; personal and economic dependence are decisive (§ 4 ASVG, as of 30 Oct 2026). Even a contract for work can amount to staff leasing if the person is integrated, works under professional supervision and owes no defined piece of work (§ 4 AÜG, as of 30 Oct 2026). For defined mandates freelancing can fit; we clarify which model suits your task before signing.
Switzerland and Germany
If your team works across borders, we also staff assignments in Switzerland and Germany – with the model and contracting party that fit there.
How much does an interim lawyer cost in Austria?
For Austria our euro ranges apply: between EUR 480 and EUR 2’000+ per day depending on level and model (excl. VAT, as of 18 Oct 2026):
- Junior (0–2 years): staff leasing EUR 480–720, freelancing EUR 720–960 per day
- Experienced (3–6 years): staff leasing EUR 720–960, freelancing EUR 960–1’360 per day
- Senior (7+ years): staff leasing EUR 960–1’440+, freelancing EUR 1’360–2’000+ per day
Hourly rates, a worked example and factors such as area of law, languages, workload, duration and on-site presence are explained in our guide “what an interim lawyer costs” (link below).
Office and contact
Alpinum Solutions · Vienna office
Opernring 1 / R 745-748
1010 Vienna, Austria
Email info@alpinumsolutions.com
Contact form: Discuss your needs
Contact for Austria: Christian Steinmetz, Founder & CEO, MLaw (University of Zurich). Further offices in Zurich and Frankfurt.
Let’s discuss your needs in Austria.
Briefly describe the task, area of law, workload and preferred start date. We will propose a profile, model and approach.
Practice areas, roles and occasions
For specific tasks, find the right service page here – from AML compliance to interim head of legal.
Frequently asked questions about interim lawyers and staff leasing in Austria
Who employs the professional in Austrian staff leasing?
The leasing agency. The employment contract is between the professional and the agency; your company is the user company where the work is performed (§ 3 AÜG, as of 30 Oct 2026).
Which company handles assignments in Austria?
Assignments run as freelancing or as staff leasing through the German Alpinum Solutions GmbH or the Swiss Alpinum Solutions AG. We clarify the right option with you before signing.
Can I engage a freelance lawyer in Austria?
Yes, provided the person really is self-employed. What counts is how the work is actually done, not the contract title (§ 4 ASVG, § 4 AÜG, as of 30 Oct 2026). Where the lawyer will be embedded in your team, staff leasing is the better fit.
How quickly do I receive profiles?
We usually present selected profiles within 48 hours. We agree the start date together – depending on availability, notice periods and onboarding.
Are part-time and remote work possible?
Yes. A workload between 20 and 100 percent works, at your premises, hybrid or remote. A move into your team (temp-to-perm) is possible.
Does Alpinum give legal advice?
No. Alpinum is not a law firm and does not provide legal advice of its own. We provide professionals who work within your organisation; your company directs the assignment.