Director of Compliance
Pioneer Interests, Inc.
Location: Denver, Colorado
Employment Type: Full-Time
Salary Range: $80,000–$100,000 annually
Reports To: Executive Leadership
Position Overview
Pioneer Interests, Inc. is seeking an experienced Director of Compliance to lead regulatory compliance across our vertically integrated cannabis operations throughout Colorado.
Pioneer Interests operates multiple licensed retail, cultivation, and marijuana-infused products (MIP/manufacturing) facilities across Colorado.
The Director of Compliance will provide company-wide compliance leadership and serve as a primary regulatory subject-matter resource. This position oversees state and local regulatory compliance, licensing, new locations, Methods of Operation, Modification of Premises applications, permitting, facility compliance, required inspections and maintenance, security and surveillance compliance, METRC, facility audits, safety and compliance training, signage, incident response, and regulatory documentation.
This is a hands-on leadership position requiring strong regulatory knowledge, organization, project management, attention to detail, and cross-functional collaboration. The ideal candidate has significant experience within Colorado's regulated cannabis industry and is comfortable working directly with regulators, operational leaders, facility teams, and third-party vendors.
Key Responsibilities
Regulatory Compliance & Licensing
- Maintain comprehensive knowledge of Colorado Marijuana Enforcement Division (MED) rules and applicable state and local cannabis regulations.
- Monitor regulatory changes, assess operational impact, and coordinate implementation across affected departments.
- Serve as a company-wide subject-matter resource for cannabis compliance and regulatory matters.
- Oversee state and local cannabis licenses, applications, renewals, amendments, changes of ownership, changes of location, and other regulatory filings.
- Maintain licensing and regulatory calendars across all facilities.
- Communicate directly with MED and local licensing and regulatory authorities.
- Coordinate regulatory inspections, responses, deficiencies, and required follow-up.
- Maintain organized regulatory files including applications, approvals, permits, floor plans, MOPs, Modification of Premises records, inspection reports, regulatory correspondence, corrective actions, and certifications.
- Identify compliance risks and escalate significant concerns to executive leadership.
New Locations, Permitting & Openings
- Lead compliance and regulatory workstreams for new locations, relocations, expansions, and new licensed operations.
- Identify applicable state and local licensing, zoning, permitting, signage, fire, building, security, surveillance, and inspection requirements.
- Coordinate licensing requirements with MED and applicable local jurisdictions.
- Manage applications, permits, inspections, approvals, certificates, and regulatory conditions required for facility openings.
- Partner with Operations, Facilities, Security, vendors, contractors, architects, landlords, and leadership throughout development and licensing.
- Review facility plans and operational designs for regulatory compliance.
- Maintain opening-readiness checklists and verify regulatory requirements are satisfied prior to opening.
Modification of Premises
- Manage state and local Modification of Premises applications for existing licensed facilities.
- Determine when renovations, expansions, reductions, reconfigurations, changes in use, security changes, or other facility modifications require regulatory notification, application, approval, or inspection.
- Prepare and coordinate applications and supporting documentation with MED and local licensing authorities.
- Coordinate required updates to floor plans, diagrams, security plans, surveillance coverage, MOPs, and licensing documentation.
- Review proposed changes for impacts to restricted-access areas, security, surveillance, inventory controls, operational flow, fire/building requirements, and other regulatory obligations.
- Track applications, approvals, inspections, conditions, and corrective items through completion.
- Confirm required regulatory approvals are received before modified areas are placed into operation when applicable.
Methods of Operation
- Develop, review, update, and maintain required Methods of Operation and related operational plans.
- Ensure MOPs accurately reflect licensed operations, facility practices, security procedures, and regulatory requirements.
- Coordinate updates when operations, facility layouts, security measures, ownership, licensing, or regulatory requirements change.
- Partner with operational departments to obtain and validate information necessary for MOP development and amendments.
- Maintain current and historical MOP documentation.
- Ensure operations remain consistent with approved MOPs and regulatory commitments.
Facility Compliance & Required Maintenance
- Maintain a centralized calendar for facility inspections, permits, testing, certifications, renewals, and recurring compliance-related maintenance.
- Coordinate and track required scale calibrations, certifications, registrations, and scale permits and maintain supporting documentation.
- Coordinate and track fire permits, fire inspections, fire extinguisher inspections/service, fire alarm requirements, and other fire and life-safety obligations.
- Coordinate backflow prevention testing/certification and other jurisdiction-specific facility requirements.
- Monitor expiration and renewal dates for facility permits, certificates, registrations, and inspections.
- Coordinate with Operations, Facilities, vendors, contractors, and facility leadership to ensure required testing, inspections, maintenance, and certifications are completed on time.
- Maintain inspection reports, service records, certificates, permits, and corrective-action documentation.
- Track deficiencies through documented resolution.
Security, Surveillance & Vendors
- Oversee regulatory compliance related to alarm systems, surveillance/camera systems, access control, and required security systems.
- Coordinate with alarm, surveillance, security, monitoring, and other applicable vendors.
- Track alarm permits, registrations, monitoring requirements, inspections, service requirements, and renewals.
- Ensure required camera coverage, placement, recording, retention, accessibility, and system functionality remain compliant.
- Coordinate resolution of camera outages, alarm issues, equipment failures, and other security deficiencies.
- Maintain records of security inspections, service, testing, permits, outages, corrective actions, and vendor documentation.
- Coordinate regulatory requests for surveillance footage or security records.
- Evaluate security and surveillance changes for potential licensing, MOP, Modification of Premises, or regulatory notification requirements.
Facility Audits & Inspections
- Develop and execute a formal facility compliance audit schedule covering retail, cultivation, and MIP/manufacturing operations.
- Conduct scheduled, follow-up, and risk-based facility audits and compliance walkthroughs.
- Audit facilities against MED rules, local requirements, approved MOPs, licensing conditions, company SOPs, security requirements, signage, permits, and recordkeeping obligations.
- Prepare facilities for MED, local licensing, fire, security, health, building, zoning, and other regulatory inspections.
- Document findings and establish corrective-action plans with responsible owners and deadlines.
- Track corrective actions through completion and conduct follow-up reviews as needed.
- Identify recurring deficiencies and recommend systemic improvements.
- Provide leadership with visibility into audit results, overdue corrective actions, and emerging risks.
METRC & Inventory Compliance
- Maintain strong working knowledge of METRC and Colorado cannabis inventory tracking requirements.
- Provide METRC compliance oversight across retail, cultivation, and MIP/manufacturing operations.
- Conduct or coordinate METRC compliance reviews and identify discrepancies, procedural deficiencies, and training needs.
- Partner with operational leadership to ensure physical inventory practices align with METRC records and regulatory requirements.
- Assist with investigating and resolving compliance-related inventory discrepancies.
- Develop, coordinate, and/or conduct METRC training and refresher training for applicable employees and managers.
- Provide targeted retraining following audit findings, discrepancies, regulatory changes, or procedural concerns.
- Maintain appropriate METRC training documentation.
Operational Compliance, Signage & Documentation
- Review compliance relating to inventory, facility access, employee licensing, transportation, waste, security, recordkeeping, packaging, labeling, and other regulated activities.
- Evaluate new processes, products, facility changes, and initiatives for regulatory impact.
- Oversee required regulatory signage and facility postings.
- Ensure required licenses, permits, certificates, consumer notices, restricted-access signage, security signage, and safety postings remain current and properly displayed.
- Develop and maintain compliance-related SOPs, forms, logs, checklists, training materials, and reference resources.
- Maintain effective document control and ensure current procedures and regulatory records are readily available for inspection.
Safety & Compliance Training
- Identify, develop, coordinate, and/or conduct required safety, regulatory, METRC, and compliance training for employees and managers.
- Maintain training calendars and track initial, annual, recurring, and remedial training requirements.
- Coordinate facility-specific safety training with operational leadership and appropriate subject-matter experts.
- Maintain training records, attendance documentation, acknowledgments, and certifications.
- Provide targeted retraining following regulatory changes, incidents, audit findings, inspection deficiencies, or identified concerns.
- Monitor training completion and escalate overdue requirements.
- Promote a proactive culture of safety and compliance throughout company operations.
Incident & After-Hours Response
- Maintain clear reporting and escalation procedures for safety, security, regulatory, surveillance, and compliance-related incidents, including incidents outside normal business hours.
- Serve as a designated compliance escalation resource for significant after-hours incidents requiring regulatory assessment, documentation, reporting, or leadership coordination.
- Determine potential state or local regulatory notification requirements and coordinate timely reporting when required.
- Ensure incidents are appropriately documented, escalated, investigated, and tracked through resolution.
- Maintain emergency and after-hours escalation procedures and contact information.
- Coordinate with Operations, Security, HR, Facilities, vendors, and executive leadership following significant incidents.
- Conduct post-incident reviews and identify corrective actions, training needs, or preventative measures.
Compliance Systems & Reporting
- Maintain centralized systems for licenses, permits, inspections, regulatory deadlines, MOPs, Modification of Premises applications, facility requirements, training, corrective actions, and incidents.
- Maintain regulatory, licensing, facility compliance, and training calendars.
- Provide leadership with visibility into upcoming deadlines, inspections, audit findings, outstanding corrective actions, and regulatory risks.
- Maintain accurate and organized records that can be efficiently retrieved during inspections, investigations, audits, or regulatory requests.
Required Qualifications
- 5+ years of compliance, regulatory, licensing, or cannabis operations experience, preferably within Colorado's regulated cannabis industry.
- Strong working knowledge of Colorado MED rules and regulations.
- Experience with Colorado cannabis licensing and regulatory processes.
- Experience with METRC and regulated cannabis inventory requirements.
- Experience with state and local licensing, permitting, and inspection processes.
- Experience conducting facility compliance audits and managing corrective actions.
- Ability to interpret regulations and translate requirements into practical operational procedures.
- Experience managing multiple facilities, regulatory calendars, permits, deadlines, and projects simultaneously.
- Strong written and verbal communication, organization, project-management, and attention-to-detail skills.
- Ability to communicate professionally with regulators, vendors, leadership, managers, and operational teams.
- Proficiency with Microsoft 365.
- Ability to travel between Colorado facilities as needed.
- Ability to provide reasonable after-hours availability for urgent safety, security, or regulatory matters.
- Must meet requirements necessary to work within Colorado's regulated marijuana industry.
Preferred Qualifications
- Previous cannabis Compliance Director, Compliance Manager, Licensing Manager, Regulatory Affairs Manager, or comparable experience.
- Experience supporting vertically integrated retail, cultivation, and MIP/manufacturing operations.
- Direct experience preparing and managing state and local Modification of Premises applications.
- Experience developing and maintaining Methods of Operation (MOPs).
- Experience with new facility openings, relocations, permitting, inspections, and licensing.
- Experience managing facility compliance requirements including scales, fire/life safety, backflow, alarms, surveillance systems, and recurring inspections/certifications.
- Experience developing or conducting safety, METRC, and regulatory compliance training.
- Experience preparing facilities for MED and local regulatory inspections.
- Experience with regulatory investigations, self-reports, security/safety incidents, and after-hours escalation processes.
About Pioneer Interests
Pioneer Interests, Inc. is a Colorado-based, vertically integrated cannabis company operating licensed retail, cultivation, and marijuana-infused products (MIP/manufacturing) facilities throughout Colorado. Our operations span multiple facilities, license types, municipalities, and regulatory authorities.
Our mission is simple: We grow plants, people, and community.
Compensation & Benefits
Salary Range: $80,000–$100,000 annually
Final compensation will be based on relevant experience, qualifications, regulatory knowledge, and demonstrated ability to manage compliance across vertically integrated cannabis operations.
Pioneer Interests offers benefits to eligible employees. Additional benefit information will be provided during the interview process.
Pioneer Interests, Inc. is an Equal Opportunity Employer. Employment decisions are based on qualifications, merit, and business needs and are made without regard to any status protected by applicable federal, state, or local law.
Pay: $80,000.00 - $100,000.00 per year
Benefits:
- 401(k)
- Dental insurance
- Employee assistance program
- Employee discount
- Health insurance
- Life insurance
- Paid parental leave
- Paid time off
- Parental leave
- Vision insurance
Application Question(s):
- Which Colorado cannabis operations have you directly supported from a compliance or regulatory perspective?
- Have you directly supported the regulatory opening, relocation, or licensing of a new cannabis facility, including coordination of licensing, permitting, inspections, signage, or other opening requirements?
- How would you describe your professional experience with METRC?
- Do you have experience conducting cannabis compliance audits and/or preparing licensed facilities for MED or local regulatory inspections?
- Briefly describe why you believe you are a strong candidate for this position.
- Do you have direct experience preparing, submitting, or managing Colorado cannabis license applications, renewals, amendments, modification of premises or other regulatory filings with MED and/or local licensing authorities?
Experience:
- Colorado Cannabis Compliance: 3 years (Preferred)
License/Certification:
Work Location: In person
