Senior Counsel

veritree and Job Overview

veritree is an award-winning climate tech startup based in Vancouver. Launched in 2021, our technology measures and verifies the impact of global restoration efforts from the ground up. We are a small team on a big mission to plant billions of verified trees by 2030 with our community of businesses, planting organizations, and consumers who believe in `the transformative power of verified restoration projects to create real and meaningful impact for the planet, nature, and people.

We’re seeking our first In-House Counsel, a foundational role that will build veritree’s legal function. Reporting to the COO and working closely with our executive team, the successful candidate will lead contract development, commercial legal strategy, and transactional design across all of veritree’s operations. They will support decisions that span corporate, charitable, and multi-stakeholder environments as veritree grows and experiments with new business models.

Ideally, this individual will eventually build and oversee a team.

This is a rare opportunity to architect the legal backbone of a global restoration platform, ensuring we scale with clarity, compliance, and commercial rigour, while demonstrating high levels of mission integrity.

Contract Development & Commercial Legal Strategy

• Review, update, draft, negotiate, and manage a wide range of agreements (MSAs, Sales Order Forms, partnership agreements, licensing, NDAs, vendor contracts, employment agreements), ensuring compliance across jurisdictions.
• Build and maintain contract templates/clause libraries/negotiation playbooks, establish contract approval workflows, and implement a scalable contract management system.
• Provide pragmatic legal counsel to support the needs of Revenue, Product, Forests, Operations, and Corporate Development.

Transaction Strategy for New Business Models

• Advise on how to structure and document these models (i.e., licensing, cross‑entity transactions, JV‑style arrangements).
• Alongside Finance, ensure compliant and well‑documented flows of funds, services, and rights across entities and partners.
• Support modelling, structuring, and execution of new offerings in areas such as restoration financing, reclamation markets, and planting‑partner licensing.

Corporate Governance & Compliance

• Own and evolve veritree’s corporate governance framework across veritree Inc. and veritree Foundations, including inter‑entity controls and boundary management
• Prepare and maintain board materials, corporate records, and regulatory filings in partnership with leadership team.
• Advise on privacy (PIPEDA/GDPR), marketing claims, impact reporting, and emerging regulatory trends (i.e., CSRD, TNFD).

Legal Risk Management & Product Support

• Work alongside Finance to assess enterprise risk and ensure veritree maintains appropriate insurance policies and coverage.
• Provide legal review for marketing, partnerships, and public communications.
• Partner with Product on data privacy, IP protection, and feature/compliance considerations.

Outside Counsel Management

• Manage and coordinate external lawyers (corporate, tax, employment, international, charity).
• Create an efficient workflow for when to elevate issues to external specialists.
• Own the legal budget and vendor relationships.

• Entrepreneurial mindset with a bias toward a rapid pace.
• Intellectual curiosity and systems thinking aptitude.
• J.D. or bachelor’s degree in law from an accredited law school.
• Current member in good standing of the British Columbia law society.
• 5–7 years of experience in commercial, corporate, or charity law (mix of law firm + in‑house preferred).
• Experience navigating cross‑border contracting…