General Counsel & Chief of Staff to Founder

Description
WHAT YOUR WEEK LOOKS LIKE

Monday you’re drafting a term sheet for a clinic to become an IND research site. Tuesday you’re building the a board deck, synthesizing operational data from the COO, financial data from the Controller, and clinical data from the PI into a narrative that shows progress against milestones. Wednesday you’re on a call with outside counsel about setting up a new entity, then spending the afternoon analyzing a competitor’s patent filings. Thursday you’re in the Founder's meeting with a strategic partner, capturing commitments and preparing follow-up. Friday you’re reviewing employment agreements for three new hires, coordinating with the IP team on a patent filing decision, and flagging a regulatory constraint in a partnership contract that nobody asked you to review.

 

GC Function (30%)

•       Take over ALL CEO legal relationships: Morgan Lewis (corporate, IP, employment) and Frier Levitt (compounding regulatory) and any future firms. You are the single point of legal coordination.

•       Own the legal calendar across all entities and operating states (CA, TX, MT minimum)

•       Draft and negotiate partnership term sheets: Multiple deals in the first 6 months. Work with the COO on commercial terms; you own the legal structure.

•       Entity consolidation, coordinate with Morgan Lewis, ensure QSBS compliance, investor consent, clean cap table

•       IP strategy: patent filing decisions for formulation patents, method-of-use patents, trade secret protections, FTO analysis. Our VP Pharmaceutical Sciences handles the scientific substance; you handle the legal strategy and execution.

•       Employment agreements: standardized templates for 20+ hires. ISO stock options structured for QSBS compliance. State-specific issues handled through outside employment counsel.

•       Regulatory counsel coordination: 503A/503B, IND, 505(b)(2), state pharmacy licensing. You don’t need to be a regulatory attorney, but you coordinate with specialized counsel and ensure commercial activities comply with existing agreements.

 

CoS Function (40%)

•       Board meeting preparation: build every deck, every investor update, every quarterly report for institutional investors.

•       Strategic analysis: competitive intelligence, market sizing, partnership evaluation, M&A screening, regulatory scenarios. AI tools (Claude, etc.) are the analytical engine — expected to be used aggressively.

•       Cross-entity coordination: master priority dashboard covering all workstreams (IND filings, 503B construction, clinic partnerships, hiring, regulatory milestones)

•       Entity consolidation project management: coordinate legal (your GC hat), financial (Controller), and strategic (CEO) workstreams

•       Hiring process coordination: JDs, candidate pipelines, interview scheduling, offer structuring

•       CEO meeting attendance: ~30% of CEO meetings Day 1. Board access at ~Month 3. Prepare pre-reads, capture actions, ensure follow-through.

 

Special Projects (30%)

Whatever the CEO needs most that week. Financial modeling for a partnership (using AI to build, using judgment to validate). Deep dive into a competitor’s patent portfolio. Regulatory scenario analysis. Prep for a meeting that didn’t exist on Monday. If you need a fixed scope, this role doesn’t work for you.

Requirements

Required

• J.D. from an ABA-accredited law school
• 6+ years at a major law firm (AmLaw 100 or equivalent). Practice area open; transactional/corporate strongly preferred over litigation.
• Bar admission (California required)
• Commercial instinct: you were the attorney who understood the business strategy, not just the legal risk
• Financial competence: can read a model, challenge assumptions, understand unit economics. AI builds the model; you determine if the output makes sense.
• AI fluency: uses Claude, ChatGPT, or equivalent daily for drafting, research, and analysis. Baseline competency, not optional.
• Exceptional written communication: investor memos, board decks, term sheets, strategic analyses
• Organizational discipline: legal calendar, priority dashboard, consolidation timeline, hiring pipeline, board prep — simultaneously
• Discretion: full visibility into strategy, finances, personnel, partnerships

Preferred

• Already transitioned in-house at a Series A–C biotech, pharma, or health-tech company
• Life sciences knowledge: FDA regulatory pathways, pharma IP, compounding regulation, clinical trial agreements
• Prior CoS, VP Strategy, VP Legal, or Associate GC at a high-growth company
• Experience with multi-entity structures, QSBS, ISO stock options, entity consolidation
• Experience working directly with a founder-CEO

NOT Looking For

• Pure litigators. Compliance lawyers whose instinct is to create review committees. Lawyers who view non-legal work as beneath them — half this job is strategy, analysis, and operational coordination. Anyone who needs structured onboarding and a 30-day plan handed to them.

Benefits

• Medical, dental, and vision insurance (Kaiser HMO or BlueShield PPO. Employer pays 90% for Employee and 75% for Employee’s family; Dental: Aetna Dental, Delta Dental, Guardian Dental, MetLife Dental. Vision: VSP and Aetna EyeMed)
• Basic life ($20,000 paid by company) and supplemental life insurance (optional supplemental).
• Disability insurance 50% standard employer paid.
• 401k 10% 1:1 match
• PTO policy. 10 days PTO
• Companywide paid holiday during: Week of July 4, Thanksgiving (2 days), Week of December 25
• Carpool, clean air vehicle, and cell phone reimbursement
• Employee rewards and recognition program
• Company organized social events
• Quarterly sponsored team building activities