General Counsel & Chief of Staff to Founder

What Your Week Looks LikeMonday 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 agreementsCoS 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-throughSpecial 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.RequirementsRequiredJ.D. from an ABA-accredited law school6+ years at a major law firm (AmLaw 100 or equivalent). Practice area open; transactional/corporate strongly preferred over litigationBar admission (California required)Commercial instinct: you were the attorney who understood the business strategy, not just the legal riskFinancial competence: can read a model, challenge assumptions, understand unit economics. AI builds the model; you determine if the output makes senseAI fluency: uses Claude, ChatGPT, or equivalent daily for drafting, research, and analysis. Baseline competency, not optionalExceptional written communication: investor memos, board decks, term sheets, strategic analysesOrganizational discipline: legal calendar, priority dashboard, consolidation timeline, hiring pipeline, board prep — simultaneouslyDiscretion: full visibility into strategy, finances, personnel, partnershipsPreferredAlready transitioned in-house at a Series A-C biotech, pharma, or health-tech companyLife sciences knowledge: FDA regulatory pathways, pharma IP, compounding regulation, clinical trial agreementsPrior CoS, VP Strategy, VP Legal, or Associate GC at a high-growth companyExperience with multi-entity structures, QSBS, ISO stock options, entity consolidationExperience working directly with a founder-CEONOT Looking ForPure 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 themBenefitsMedical, 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 paid401k 10% 1:1 matchPTO policy. 10 days PTOCompanywide paid holiday during: Week of July 4, Thanksgiving (2 days), Week of December 25Carpool, clean air vehicle, and cell phone reimbursementEmployee rewards and recognition programCompany organized social eventsQuarterly sponsored team building activities