General Counsel and Head of Compliance – San Francisco, CA; -SLS

Hybrid (In-office minimum 3 days per week: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday)

Our client, a publicly traded Health Tech company has exclusively retained Solutus Legal Search to assist the executives with their search for a General Counsel and Head of Compliance Officer to lead its high-performing legal function. This legal executive will report directly to the Founder & CEO and will manage a team of 12 legal professionals.

As the company’s senior legal and compliance leader, and principal advisor to the executive team and board, you will lead with business acumen – safeguarding the company from risk while enabling innovation and growth. You will own public company legal and compliance operations including corporate securities/governance, IP protection, and employment law, product and commercial counseling, and regulatory and privacy programs for a tech-first digital health business.

You’ll mature legal operations, shepherd strategic M&A transactions, strengthen IP and data‑rights position, and partner cross‑functionally to enable developer velocity and scalable go‑to‑market execution.

• 15+ years of experience spanning top‑tier law firms and in‑house roles across venture‑backed startups/high‑growth companies and public companies in technology (digital health strongly preferred).
• Proven success scaling legal teams in tech companies: building org structures, processes, and legal operations to support rapid growth.
• Lead teams of 10+ professionals across legal, compliance, privacy, and legal ops in remote/hybrid environments.
• Healthcare, AI and privacy expertise with a strong understanding of the digital health regulatory landscape and emerging AI governance.
• Strong corporate law experience including entity formation and governance, board/committee support, capitalization and equity programs, venture/private financings, corporate policies/secretarial practices; capital markets familiarity a plus.
• Led or co‑led M&A transactions and strategic investments, including diligence, negotiation and drafting (LOIs, merger/asset purchase agreements, disclosure schedules), regulatory approvals, closing mechanics, and post‑close integration.
• Designed and operated risk‑based compliance programs; experience with monitoring/auditing, internal investigations, and regulator interactions (e.g., OCR, FTC, state AGs).
• Experience partnering with founder‑led organizations.
• Strong interpersonal skills, responsiveness, working with a sense of urgency.
• Business partner who views value in facilitating the business.
• JD with strong academic credentials and active bar membership in good standing.

• Legal Excellence
  :
  Deep command of healthcare, privacy, AI, and data protection laws; adept at risk assessment, pragmatic counseling, and contract strategy; understands payer/employer/provider dynamics in digital healthcare delivery.
• Healthcare Regulatory & Compliance Oversight
  :
  Manages OCR/state AG/FTC interactions and remediation; integrates legal and compliance for a unified approach.
• Executive Partnership & Business Acumen
  :
  Trusted advisor to the CEO, senior leadership team, and board; anticipates business needs, translates regulation into enablement, and makes timely decisions under uncertainty.
• Team & Talent Management
  :
  Scales teams with clear roles, reporting lines; sets vision, coaches talent, and builds cross‑functional relationships across legal team and other key business functions; implements career paths, performance management, and professional development; partners effectively with recruiting to attract top talent.
• Operational Excellence
  :
  Scales workflows / processes, and quality controls; scales knowledge management and training; uses KPIs, metrics and dashboards to drive accountability.
• Strategic & Commercial Acumen
  :
  Structures strategic partnerships and complex deals; leads M&A diligence and contracting; understands complex payment flows and regulatory trends.
• Crisis Management & Communication
  :
  Partners with Security and leadership to lead cross‑functional crisis response; crafts clear communications for executives, board, regulators, customers, and media; makes sound decisions with incomplete…