Felipe Pappini – Zubale

As the head of legal for Latin America at Zubale, a fast-growing e-commerce logistics platform, Felipe Pappini is at the forefront of helping the company navigate the complex legal landscape of multiple countries while fostering a culture of compliance, dignity, and innovation.

Since joining Zubale in July 2022, Pappini has established himself as a critical partner in the company’s expansion across Latin America, building systems and programs that ensure the company’s third-party workforce is treated fairly and that legal requirements are met without compromising the business’s agility.

Zubale is a logistics and fulfillment platform that partners with major retailers like Walmart, Carrefour, and Sencosud to simplify the last-mile delivery process. The company connects retailers with third-party workers, such as pickers and delivery personnel, to fulfill online orders. Through its technology platform, Zubale provides a seamless way for retailers to manage e-commerce logistics, making the process faster and more efficient.

With the rise of e-commerce in Latin America, Zubale’s mission goes beyond logistics. The company aims to drive digital inclusion, helping people in underserved communities trust and engage with online shopping. For many of these third-party workers, Zubale provides new economic opportunities and a chance to participate in the growing digital economy.

However, managing an extensive network of third-party workers across multiple countries presents unique legal challenges that fall squarely on Pappini’s shoulders.

A vision built on people, purpose

Pappini, an expert in labor law with a degree from the Universidade de São Paulo, has extensive experience in navigating the legal complexities of gig-economy companies. Before joining Zubale, he worked for several prestigious law firms in Brazil and later held leadership roles at QuintoAndar, a prominent Brazilian real estate tech company. His work at QuintoAndar included opening the company’s Mexico operations and managing legal issues related to commercial, operational, and product design.

At Zubale, Pappini’s legal expertise has been essential in creating policies that balance business growth with worker rights.

“Legal is key to supporting business growth,” Pappini explains. “Our revenue is 80 percent based on third-party work. Without our pickers and delivery people, we wouldn’t be able to perform on time, and our clients wouldn’t be happy. But we also can’t force these workers—it’s a balance of keeping people motivated and ensuring our retailers get the service they need.”

To achieve this balance, Pappini launched an employee training program to ensure Zubale’s workforce understands their legal rights and that the company’s managers treat them with dignity and respect. The training emphasizes Zubale’s core values and the importance of treating third-party workers as key partners in the business’s success.

“We’ve completed 90 percent of the training for over 1,000 employees,” Pappini says. “The most important part is engaging people and helping them understand why this topic is so important.”

A business-first approach

One of Pappini’s most significant initiatives at Zubale has been the creation of three compliance committees that bring together key stakeholders from different departments, including the general manager, head of finance, and head of operations. These committees meet regularly to discuss the company’s legal obligations and assign responsibility for compliance tasks.

“I lead the compliance committees, acting like a project manager,” Pappini says. “These meetings have helped us understand each other better and identify different departments’ worries.”

Unlike the traditional perception of legal departments as barriers to business, Pappini has worked hard to position himself and his team as business partners.

“I was the first-ever lawyer employed by the company,” Pappini recalls. “It was a challenge to overcome the traditional view of legal as a roadblock. But I always remind people — we are all salespeople. The only difference is that we know the law.”

Pappini’s approach has been to translate legal advice into practical business solutions. He takes pride in helping Zubale’s leadership make informed decisions that keep the company compliant without slowing down growth.

One of the biggest challenges Pappini faced when joining Zubale was managing legal compliance across multiple jurisdictions.

“When I started, it was a big challenge because I had never worked with so many jurisdictions before,” he says. “But I enjoy the role because it involves both small and strategic issues. It’s fun to adapt and translate legal advice for different business partners in different countries.”

Pappini’s work spans labor law, contracts, compliance, and risk management, and he supports Zubale’s rapid growth. He is pivotal in helping Zubale expand its operations across Latin America by building scalable legal frameworks that adapt to different countries’ laws and regulations.

Inclusion and innovation

Pappini’s journey to becoming Head of Legal for Zubale started in private practice, where he specialized in labor law and worked with companies like Uber to address gig-economy challenges. His experience led him to QuintoAndar, where he quickly rose through the ranks, taking on commercial, operational, and product legal support roles.

This passion for solving problems and being a trusted partner ultimately led Pappini to Zubale.

Zubale’s mission of digital inclusion resonates deeply with Pappini. In Brazil, 90% of the population still doesn’t fully trust e-commerce, and Zubale is working to change that by creating seamless, reliable logistics solutions.

The legal department’s role at Pappini is to ensure that the business operates ethically and sustainably while contributing to its mission.

“We are making e-commerce more accessible and showing people that it doesn’t have to be more expensive,” he says. “Our third-party workers are essential to this process, and it’s our job to ensure they are treated with respect and fairness.”

Looking ahead, Pappini dreams of working for an investment fund to help other startups navigate legal challenges.

Outside of his professional life, Pappini is a dedicated family man who enjoys spending time with his six-year-old brother and dog. He is also passionate about sports, particularly open-sea swimming and marathons.

When he’s not running or swimming, you can find him listening to his favorite music, finding inspiration in melodies as he tackles legal challenges for one of Latin America’s most innovative logistics startups.

With his unique blend of legal expertise, business acumen, and a people-first approach, Pappini is helping Zubale redefine e-commerce logistics in Latin America—one compliance committee, one legal framework, and one third-party worker at a time.