General Counsel

Emerald Lane Recruitment•Boca Raton, FL

1d•Onsite

About The Position

Our client is an established, vertically integrated, multi-state cannabis operator (MSO) seeking a part-time General Counsel to serve as a senior enterprise leader, guiding organizational strategy, operational governance, executive decision-making, and enterprise risk management across a complex, highly regulated business. This role operates as a core member of executive leadership and a strategic partner to ownership, executive management, and operational leadership. It is not a purely advisory legal position. The position requires a sophisticated business executive capable of evaluating organizational decisions through operational, financial, legal, regulatory, and strategic lenses simultaneously. The successful candidate must bring judgment, executive presence, and leadership maturity to high-level business decisions affecting company growth, organizational structure, operational performance, risk exposure, and long-term enterprise strategy. Rather than functioning solely in a legal advisory capacity, this role is designed for an executive who can integrate governance, operational leadership, strategic execution, and organizational oversight in a fast-moving, highly regulated industry. The successful candidate will bring prior cannabis industry experience, 10+ years of senior leadership or executive experience, and a Juris Doctor (JD) degree or extensive equivalent experience across business law, corporate governance, regulatory affairs, contracts, and enterprise risk management.

Requirements

Prior cannabis industry experience, including cannabis compliance experience.
10+ years of senior leadership or executive experience.
A Juris Doctor (JD) degree or extensive equivalent business and legal leadership experience.
Experience operating within multi-state or highly regulated business environments.
Sophisticated understanding of governance, contracts, negotiations and enterprise risk.
Demonstrated ability to influence executive decision-making and organizational strategy.
Strong executive judgment and leadership presence, with political judgment, discretion and high emotional intelligence.
Must be located in, or willing to relocate to, the South Florida area and work onsite three days per week in Boca Raton.
Must be legally authorized to work in the United States.

Nice To Haves

Senior leadership experience within other highly regulated sectors such as healthcare, pharmaceuticals, financial services, gaming or alcohol.
Experience reviewing credit agreements and working directly with lenders.
Board-level experience, including leading or chairing board meetings.
Working knowledge of HR policies and employment practices.

Responsibilities

Participate in enterprise-level strategic planning and organizational decision-making as a core member of executive leadership.
Advise ownership and executive leadership on governance, operational risk, regulatory exposure, and business strategy.
Support growth initiatives, expansion strategy, licensing matters and corporate development activities.
Partner with operational leadership to evaluate complex business decisions and priorities.
Assist in developing scalable operational infrastructure, leadership systems and decision-making processes.
Lead board meetings and support board-level reporting and governance cadence.
Oversee and coordinate governance structures, executive policies and contractual matters.
Lead or support strategic business negotiations across commercial, corporate and operational matters.
Review vendor contracts and manage contractual risk across the enterprise.
Apply a strong working understanding of HR policies to employment and workplace matters.
Serve as a senior liaison between executive leadership, ownership, regulators, external counsel and key business stakeholders.
Provide compliance oversight across cannabis operations in each operating state.
Conduct quarterly onsite compliance and operational audits at operating locations.
Monitor regulatory developments in each operating state and assess their impact on business strategy and licensing.
Support license applications, renewals, regulatory filings and regulator engagement.
Liaise with outside counsel, including regulatory attorneys, tax advisors and corporate lawyers.
Evaluate enterprise risk across operational, financial, legal, reputational and regulatory dimensions.
Provide leadership during organizational change, operational complexity, crisis management or strategic transition.
Balance business growth objectives against regulatory and operational realities.
Escalate material risks to ownership and executive leadership with practical mitigation options.
Contribute financial acumen to enterprise decision-making, including reviewing credit agreements.
Work directly with lenders and support financing, capital and banking relationships.
Evaluate the financial implications of contracts, transactions and expansion opportunities.
Support corporate development activity, including diligence and deal structuring.