General Counsel

Overview

The organization is seeking an entrepreneurial, business-minded General Counsel to build and lead the legal function during a period of rapid growth. This is the first dedicated legal leadership role, with the opportunity to establish the legal foundation, processes, and governance that will support the next stage of scale.

Reporting to the executive leadership team, you will serve as a trusted legal advisor while designing a modern, business-focused legal function. The role emphasizes building from the ground up—developing legal strategy, creating scalable processes, standardizing contracts, implementing governance frameworks, and determining when and how to use outside counsel.

This role requires someone who thrives in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment, enjoys building from scratch, and can balance legal risk with practical solutions that enable growth.

Responsibilities

Build & Scale the Legal Function

• Design, build, and continuously improve the legal function, including policies, workflows, governance, and operational processes.
• Establish scalable legal review and contract management processes that support a high-growth business.
• Develop contract templates, playbooks, approval workflows, and self-service tools to improve efficiency while managing risk.
• Determine when to leverage outside counsel versus building internal capabilities over time.
• Build trusted relationships across the organization so Legal is viewed as a strategic business partner.

Corporate & Commercial Law

• Serve as a primary legal advisor to the executive leadership team on strategic business initiatives.
• Draft, negotiate, and manage a broad range of commercial agreements, including vendor, supplier, manufacturing, logistics, technology, SaaS, consulting, licensing, partnership, distribution, and customer agreements.
• Support corporate transactions, strategic partnerships, new business initiatives, and international expansion.
• Develop practical contracting standards that enable the business to move quickly while appropriately managing legal risk.

Employment Law & Human Resources

• Partner closely with Human Resources on all employment-related legal matters.
• Advise on employee relations, investigations, performance management, accommodations, leave administration, wage and hour compliance, restrictive covenants, executive employment agreements, reductions in force, and separations.
• Support development of compliant employment policies and HR programs as the company scales globally.

Regulatory & Compliance

• Develop and oversee the company’s legal compliance framework across applicable federal, state, and international laws.
• Partner with Quality, Regulatory Affairs, R&D, Marketing, and Commercial teams to evaluate product formulations, labeling, structure-function claims, substantiation, comparative claims, testimonials, endorsements, and other product communications.
• Advise on dietary supplement manufacturing and distribution requirements, quality agreements, supplier qualification, adverse-event reporting, product complaints, recalls, product holds, regulatory inquiries, and corrective actions.
• Assess the strength of scientific and clinical substantiation supporting product claims and establish practical standards for legal review of new products and marketing materials.
• Develop response plans for product safety incidents, quality failures, customer claims, regulatory inquiries, and threatened consumer litigation.
• Monitor evolving FDA, FTC, employment, consumer protection, and privacy regulations and proactively advise leadership on business impacts.

Sales, Marketing & Operations

• Provide legal support across Sales, Marketing, Operations, Supply Chain, Finance, and Technology.
• Review and negotiate agreements supporting commercial growth initiatives, including influencer partnerships, affiliate programs, advertising campaigns, retail partnerships, procurement, manufacturing, fulfillment, and logistics.
• Partner with business leaders to identify practical solutions that balance commercial objectives with legal and regulatory requirements.

Privacy, Data Security & Technology

• Build and oversee the company’s privacy and data governance framework.
• Partner with Information Security and IT to support compliance with applicable privacy regulations, including GDPR, CCPA, and emerging global privacy requirements.
• Review cybersecurity incidents, advise on legal obligations, and negotiate technology, software, SaaS, AI, and data-processing agreements.

Intellectual Property

• Develop and oversee the company’s intellectual property strategy, including trademarks, copyrights, licensing, and brand protection.
• Manage outside counsel supporting trademark filings and intellectual property enforcement.

Litigation & Risk Management

• Oversee disputes, litigation, and claims while managing outside counsel relationships.
• Develop proactive risk management strategies to reduce legal exposure while supporting continued business growth.
• Manage legal budgets and optimize external legal spend.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• Juris Doctor (JD) from an accredited law school.
• Active membership in good standing with at least one U.S. state bar.
• 10+ years of legal experience, including significant in-house experience or a combination of law firm and corporate legal leadership.
• Experience building or significantly expanding legal processes, governance, or legal operations within a growing organization.
• Strong expertise in commercial contracts, employment law, regulatory compliance, privacy, and corporate governance.
• Demonstrated ability to partner with executive leadership and influence business decisions.
• Excellent business judgment with a pragmatic, solutions-oriented approach.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in a high-growth consumer products, dietary supplement, wellness, healthcare, pharmaceutical, food & beverage, or e-commerce company.
• Experience supporting founder-led or private equity-backed organizations.
• Knowledge of FDA and FTC regulations applicable to dietary supplements.
• Experience supporting international expansion and global workforce compliance.
• Experience with mergers and acquisitions, fundraising, or other strategic corporate transactions.
• Familiarity with legal operations, contract lifecycle management (CLM) systems, and AI-enabled legal technologies.

Compensation & Benefits

Compensation and benefits details are not specified.

Location

Remote – US

Success Measures (What You’ll Help Achieve)

• A scalable, business-oriented legal function established with efficient processes, governance, and contracting standards.
• Legal recognized as a trusted strategic partner enabling growth through practical, timely guidance.
• Improved contract turnaround times through standardized templates, workflows, and self-service resources.
• Proactive identification and management of employment, regulatory, privacy, and commercial risks.
• Outside counsel leveraged strategically to balance specialized expertise with cost-effective internal capabilities.
• Executive and business leaders engage Legal early in strategic initiatives because the function is collaborative, responsive, and solutions-oriented.
• As the organization grows, the legal function scales alongside the business, providing infrastructure and guidance for long-term success.