Director of Compliance

Key Responsibilities:

Regulatory strategy, enforcement readiness, and agency interface 

• Serve as the company's primary strategic interface with DPS and, upon federal registration, the DEA — managing these relationships with professionalism, credibility, and sound legal judgment. 

• Lead the company's response to inspections, audits, investigations, information requests, and any administrative or enforcement action — coordinating with outside regulatory counsel on contested or high-stakes matters and escalating appropriately. 

• Provide authoritative in-house interpretation of the Texas Compassionate Use Program (CUP), DPS Administrative Rules, and applicable state and federal law; translate legal requirements into defensible, practical operating procedures across the business. 

• Monitor legislative and regulatory developments, assess their impact, and position the company ahead of change. 

Diversion prevention and program integrity — the paramount risk 

• Lead and manage a best-in-class diversion-prevention and inventory-integrity program (seed-to-sale / track-and-trace, reconciliation, and loss investigation) engineered to withstand scrutiny. 

• Lead internal audits to identify and close any potential gaps; maintain continuous inspection readiness across all licensed cultivation, manufacturing, laboratory, fulfillment, transportation, and retail locations. 

• Develop, implement, and monitor corrective and preventive action (CAPA) plans arising from audits, inspections, or investigations, and track outcomes to closure. 

• Maintain all required compliance documentation, records, licenses, registrations, permits, and inspection files, and coordinate all regulatory reporting, submissions, renewals, and correspondence. 

Federal / DEA controlled-substance compliance (upon registration) 

• Own the company's DEA registration compliance: registration-file maintenance, initial inventory upon grant of registration, biennial inventories, and federal recordkeeping under 21 CFR Parts 1301 and 1304. 

• Implement DEA-conformant employee screening (21 CFR 1301.90) and required security controls. 

• Serve as the company's point of contact for DEA inspections alongside DPS. 

Oversight of physical security (delegated) 

• Set the standards and policy for the company's physical-security program and oversee the Security Manager, who administers access control, credentialing, visitor management, CCTV surveillance, alarm and intrusion-detection systems, key/badge control, and incident response. 

• Ensure the security program satisfies all regulatory requirements and that surveillance, access, and product-handling controls will hold up under regulator review — setting direction and verifying results rather than personally operating systems. 

Leadership and culture 

• Direct investigations into any inventory discrepancies, unauthorized access, and compliance concerns — ensuring reportable incidents reach regulators within required timelines. 

• Build and lead the compliance function; partner with Operations, Manufacturing, Cultivation, Retail, Quality, Facilities, IT, HR, and Finance to embed compliance into daily operations and support new openings, expansions, and operational changes. 

• Develop and deliver training on regulatory compliance, diversion prevention, incident reporting, and confidentiality; instill a company-wide culture in which compliance is understood as the company's protection, not a constraint. 

• Define KPIs for the compliance and security programs and report regularly to executive leadership on regulatory risk and posture. 

What You'll Need to Succeed:

Required 

• Juris Doctor (J.D.) from an accredited law school and active membership in good standing with the State Bar of Texas — or active U.S. bar membership with the ability to become licensed in Texas. 

• Five (5)+ years in regulatory compliance, regulatory or administrative law, or government/agency enforcement — with meaningful experience in a heavily regulated, enforcement-intensive industry (e.g., cannabis, pharmaceuticals or controlled substances, alcohol/TABC, gaming, healthcare, or financial services). 

• Proven ability to interpret complex regulations and translate them into practical, defensible operating procedures. 

• Three (3)+ years of leadership or supervisory experience, with sound judgment, discretion, and executive-level written and verbal communication. 

Strongly preferred 

• Experience with controlled-substance regulation (DEA / 21 CFR), Texas administrative law, or prior service with a government or regulatory agency (e.g., DPS, the Office of the Attorney General, or a comparable enforcement/regulatory body). 

• Prior in-house regulatory/compliance leadership or regulatory practice at a law firm; experience standing up a compliance program in a newly regulated or licensing-driven business. 

• Experience overseeing multi-site operations and a subordinate security or investigations function. 

Working Conditions:

• Ability to travel between company locations throughout Texas as needed, and to walk cultivation, manufacturing, warehouse, and retail facilities; occasional lifting up to 25 pounds. 

• Availability to respond to time-sensitive regulatory or security matters outside normal business hours when necessary.