Head of Legal and Compliance

Job description

Hazel Health is the largest and most equitable front door to pediatric care. We partner with K-12 schools and health plans to provide whole-child mental and physical health services that drive unprecedented access, engagement, and outcomes improvement. We are entering a new chapter as a leaner, AI-forward organization — fewer people doing more impactful work, supported by modern systems and tech-enabled processes. We're building the future of pediatric care — delivering high-quality, evidence-based services directly to students and families in the moments they need them most. Helping students and their families feel better takes a team of smart, dedicated people. As an integral part of our team, you'll have the opportunity to: - **Make an Impact**: Work with a team that is increasing equitable access to quality health care experiences for students and families. - **Enable Scale**: Work with a team that is building and operating a lean, high-impact health enterprise where every role meaningfully moves the business. - **Feel Valued**: Work with a team that is being compensated competitively, developed professionally, and celebrated personally. **The Role** As Hazel's Head of Legal & Compliance, you will serve as the company's senior in-house lawyer and compliance leader. You will provide practical legal advice across healthcare regulatory matters, corporate and entity governance, employment, commercial contracts, privacy, enterprise compliance and risk. You will personally handle the recurring legal work that can be done effectively in-house and manage specialized outside counsel for matters that genuinely require external expertise. A central first-year mandate is to reduce Hazel's reliance on outside counsel without sacrificing rigor. You will bring high-volume and repeatable work in-house, establish templates and playbooks, improve matter intake and budgeting, and build a disciplined legal operating model. You will report administratively to the VP of People & Operations, work closely with the CEO and senior leadership team, and have direct access to the Board or its designated committee on material legal, compliance and risk matters. This is a hands-on leadership role for a lawyer who moves comfortably between strategy and execution. You will draft and negotiate agreements, advise business leaders, assess regulatory questions, manage sensitive matters and create the infrastructure Hazel needs to operate efficiently with a lean internal team. **Location: Remote** **What You'll Do** - **Legal Operating Model & Outside Counsel Spend:** Lead a structured review of legal matters and spend; determine what should move in-house, remain with specialized firms, or be supported by lower-cost vendors. Establish matter intake, budgets, billing guidelines, preferred-counsel relationships and alternative fee arrangements. Deliver measurable reductions in outside legal spend while maintaining appropriate quality and risk management. - **Commercial Contracts:** Own legal strategy and negotiation for district and health-plan customer agreements, payer contracts, partnership agreements and material vendor MSAs. Build practical templates, fallback positions and escalation thresholds so routine work moves quickly and consistently. Partner with Growth, Finance, Operations and Security on high-stakes terms. - **Healthcare Regulatory & Telehealth:** Advise on the legal and regulatory requirements affecting Hazel's mental and physical health services, including telehealth, provider licensure, scope of practice, prescribing where applicable, corporate-practice-of-medicine considerations and the boundaries between administrative and clinical decision-making. Handle recurring questions internally and engage state or specialty counsel when targeted expertise is warranted. - **Entity Structure & Corporate Governance:** Maintain Hazel's multi-entity legal architecture, including its MSO/PC structure, PC owner arrangements, intercompany services and lease agreements, foreign qualifications and governance records. Maintain a clear entity map and coordinate with Finance, Clinical leadership and outside counsel as Hazel enters or exits states or modifies its structure. - **Compliance Program & Governance:** Lead Hazel's enterprise compliance program and maturity roadmap, including policies, training, monitoring, reporting, investigations, corrective actions and clear escalation pathways. Steward the Compliance Committee and regular Board reporting. Partner with operational owners to maintain controls aligned with applicable healthcare-program and OIG guidance. - **Privacy, Security & Data Governance:** Serve as or oversee the designated Privacy Officer role and advise on HIPAA, FERPA, state student-data privacy, data use, vendor obligations and responsible AI governance. Establish the legal and compliance framework for incident response, minimum-necessary access and regulatory reporting while partnering with Security, Technology and Operations leaders who own technical implementation. - **Employment & Workforce Matters:** Partner with People leadership on reductions in force, WARN analysis, separations, releases, investigations, leave and accommodation processes, employee relations and multi-state employment compliance. Personally handle recurring counseling and documentation while using employment specialists selectively for novel or high-risk matters. - **Enterprise Risk & Investigations:** Maintain a prioritized legal and compliance risk assessment; advise leadership and the Board on risk appetite and mitigation; oversee regulatory inquiries, internal investigations and corrective-action planning; and ensure appropriate independence and privilege protocols for sensitive matters. - **Specialty Matters:** Manage outside counsel for financing and M&A, complex litigation, government investigations, malpractice and professional-liability defense, intellectual property, tax and novel state-specific regulatory work. Set a clear brief, define decision rights, control scope and spend, and integrate external advice into practical business action. **What Excites Us** - **Legal Qualifications:** A JD from an accredited law school and active membership in good standing in at least one U.S. jurisdiction are required. You bring approximately 6-10+ years of progressively responsible legal experience, including meaningful in-house work in healthcare or a closely related regulated industry. - **Healthcare Generalist Judgment:** You have a strong foundation in healthcare regulation and compliance and can translate complex and evolving regulatory requirements into practical operating guidance. Experience with virtual care, behavioral health, pediatric care, managed care, school-based healthcare or multi-state provider operations is especially valuable. - **Compliance Program Leadership:** You have built, operated or materially advanced a healthcare compliance program. You are familiar with HIPAA, healthcare privacy and security, Medicaid billing integrity, fraud, waste and abuse controls, OIG compliance frameworks, training, monitoring, investigations and Board reporting. FERPA or student-data privacy experience is a plus. - **Commercial & Employment Fluency:** You are a strong contract drafter and negotiator who can support revenue and strategic relationships without creating unnecessary friction. You are also comfortable advising People teams on sensitive workforce matters and know when specialized employment counsel is appropriate. - **Healthcare Entity Experience:** You understand the practical implications of operating through an MSO and affiliated professional entities. Experience with PC governance, intercompany arrangements, multi-state qualifications or corporate-practice-of-medicine issues is strongly preferred. - **Builder Mentality:** You create systems, templates and playbooks rather than solving the same problem repeatedly. You use technology thoughtfully, improve workflows and are willing to perform important work personally. You do not require a large internal team to be effective. - **Outside Counsel Discipline:** You know how to select and manage firms, define scope, challenge unnecessary work, negotiate fees and determine when external expertise creates real value. You are motivated by delivering better legal support at a materially lower total cost. - **Executive Communication & Independence:** You exercise sound judgment, communicate clearly with clinical and business leaders, and are comfortable raising difficult issues. You understand the distinct responsibilities of legal counsel and compliance leadership and can report candidly to senior management and the Board. - **Mission Alignment:** You care deeply about expanding access to pediatric care through schools and building the disciplined, trusted infrastructure that enables Hazel to deliver an outsized impact. If you're excited about this role but your past experience doesn't align with every qualification in the job description, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate. Total compensation for this role is market competitive, with a base salary range of $205,000 - $225,000, healthcare coverage, paid time off, stock options, and a broad range of other benefits and perks. Review our benefits at Hazel Health Benefits. We are committed to creating a diverse, inclusive and equitable workplace. Hazel Health values the minds, experiences and perspectives of people from all walks of life. We are proud to value diversity and be an equal opportunity employer. Hazel will consider qualified applicants with an arrest or conviction record for employment in accordance with the Fair Hiring laws. Learn more about working with us at Hazel Health Life.