General Counsel

United States (Remote-first with hubs in San Francisco and Denver; corporate roles not hiring in AK, AR, DE, HI, ME, MS, NM, OK, SD, VT, WI)

The legal profession is undergoing a seismic shift, and nowhere is that more evident than in the emergence of the modern General Counsel (GC) as a strategic co-pilot to the C-suite. When a mission-driven healthcare technology company like Virta Health opens a search for its top legal officer, the opportunity transcends a mere job posting—it signals the growing importance of legal leadership in transforming an entire industry.

Virta Health, a company dedicated to reversing metabolic disease in one billion people, is looking for a forward-thinking General Counsel who can balance legal rigor with commercial instinct, operational pragmatism, and a builder mentality. This is not a back-office compliance role; it is a mandate to shape the future of a company on the brink of scale, with an explicit focus on public company readiness and the strategic adoption of artificial intelligence.

For legal professionals eyeing the pinnacle of in-house practice, this role represents a rare convergence of purpose, innovation, and executive influence.

The job posting, shared on Linked In just a day ago, has already attracted over 200 applicants—a testament to the allure of both Virta’s mission and the role’s seniority. But beyond the numbers, the description itself reads like a manifesto for the next generation of legal leadership. Virta is not merely hiring a lawyer; it is seeking a partner who can help accelerate growth while navigating a complex, evolving healthcare landscape.

This is the archetype of the GC as a business enabler, and understanding its contours is essential for any serious candidate.

For decades, the General Counsel role was often perceived as a gatekeeper—a professional tasked with saying “no” and minimizing risk. Virta Health’s job description explicitly rejects that paradigm. The company states:

“This role is not designed for a purely defensive or compliance-oriented legal executive. We are seeking a leader who can help accelerate growth while appropriately managing risk in a complex and evolving healthcare environment.” This positioning reflects a broader industry trend: the GC is now a value creator, a member of the executive leadership team who shapes strategy, drives efficiency, and embraces innovation.

Virta’s emphasis on “modernizing the legal function through the thoughtful adoption of AI-enabled tools and workflows” is particularly striking. The successful candidate will not only lead the legal team but will also be expected to architect durable AI systems that solve cross-functional challenges.

To fully appreciate the weight of this opportunity, one must understand Virta Health’s foundational mission. The company is on a mission to reverse metabolic disease in one billion people—a staggering ambition given that over half of US adults have type 2 diabetes or prediabetes, and obesity rates are at an all-time high. Virta is tackling this epidemic through innovations in technology, personalized nutrition, and virtual care delivery reinvented from the ground up.

The company has raised over $350 million from top-tier investors and partners with the largest health plans, employers, and government organizations. For a General Counsel, this means working at the intersection of healthcare regulation, technology innovation, and commercial scalability. The legal challenges will be as diverse as they are complex: HIPAA compliance, healthcare regulatory frameworks, complex commercial contracting with enterprise customers and health plans, governance issues, and the inevitable litigation management that accompanies a disruptive player in a traditional industry.

This is not a role for the faint-hearted; it demands a legal leader who thrives on ambiguity and has the intellectual dexterity to operate in a fast-moving, venture-backed environment.