Paralegal / Legal Assistant

About the Role

Minnesota Cannabis Services (MCS) is the premier consulting, staffing, and technology partner for the cannabis industry — helping cultivators, manufacturers, distributors, and retailers launch and scale across one of the most highly regulated markets in the country. Our Legal & Regulatory Services team supports a portfolio of clients ranging from social equity licensees and startups to established operators and multi-state enterprises.

As a Paralegal / Legal Assistant, you'll be the operational backbone of our Legal & Regulatory team — owning the day-to-day flow of entity filings, leases, contracts, licensing files, and regulatory submissions on behalf of our clients. This is a high-trust, high-ownership position for someone who has worked inside a business legal department, who knows how to partner with non-lawyer stakeholders, and who can be trusted to put a clean, complete, deadline-driven package in front of a state regulator.

We're looking for someone who wants to help set the professional standard for the cannabis industry by being the person clients, attorneys, and regulators can rely on.

What You'll Do

• Prepare and submit documents to state and local regulators on behalf of clients — licensing applications, renewals, ownership disclosures, change-of-information filings, audit responses, and ad hoc agency requests. Track every submission to completion.
• Maintain entity filings for clients across multiple states: formation documents, annual reports, registered agent records, officer/director updates, good-standing certificates, and foreign qualifications.
• Manage client lease files end-to-end: organize executed agreements, track key dates (commencement, options, renewals, terminations), coordinate landlord consents and estoppels, and surface obligations before they become problems.
• Draft, redline, and route NDAs, vendor agreements, leases, and routine commercial contracts for attorney review — working directly with client stakeholders who need them signed.
• Own the contract lifecycle management (CLM) workflow: intake, naming conventions, executed copies, renewal calendars, and surviving obligations across the client portfolio.
• Track state and local cannabis licensing files: build and maintain renewal calendars, prepare disclosure packets, assemble exhibits, and coordinate signatures across multiple business units and jurisdictions.
• Utilize Legal ERP Software to track, deadline calendars, and reporting dashboards that give attorneys, clients, and leadership real-time visibility into licensing status, contract pipeline, entity standings, and regulatory deadlines.
• Communicate clearly and professionally — in writing and on the phone — with clients, state agency personnel, outside counsel, landlords, vendors, and internal teams. You'll often be the first voice or written word a client or regulator hears from MCS on a matter.
• Conduct practical legal research on regulatory, employment, real estate, and commercial matters and translate findings into clear, client-ready summaries for attorneys.
• Coordinate e-signature workflows (DocuSign), signature blocks, exhibits, and pre-signature checklists.
• Support litigation, subpoena response, and litigation hold administration — coordinating with outside counsel rather than running the matter yourself.
• Maintain strict confidentiality, attorney-client privilege, and document retention standards.

Who You Are

You've worked in-house and you understand the difference. You know the "client" is the business — not a billable matter — and you've learned to balance legal rigor with commercial pragmatism.

You're a strong writer and a confident communicator. You know that a clean cover letter to a state regulator, a well-organized exhibit list, and a follow-up email that anticipates the next question can be the difference between a license issued on time and a deficiency notice. You're equally comfortable explaining a corporate filing requirement to a first-time founder and trading edits on a lease with an experienced landlord's broker.

You're detail-obsessed, accountable, and discreet, and you treat every document like it's going to be reviewed by a regulator or a court. You hold yourself to the highest standards of accuracy and integrity, embrace technology to move work faster without losing precision, and take pride in being the person the legal team — and the clients — can rely on.

Why Join Us

We believe in integrity, dependability, and commitment to excellence. MCS exists to elevate the cannabis industry — providing the people, systems, and insights that power growth for licensees and operators across the country. This is an opportunity to grow with a company that rewards performance, values innovation, and is building the legal and compliance backbone of a maturing industry — helping redefine what legal cannabis can be.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree and/or paralegal certificate (or equivalent experience)
• 2+ years of legal assistant or paralegal experience in-house at a corporate legal department (highly preferred over law firm experience); experience at a regulatory agency or in a regulated business operations role also considered
• Demonstrated experience preparing and submitting documents to state regulators or government agencies (licensing filings, renewals, disclosures, compliance reports, or similar)
• Hands-on experience maintaining entity filings, leases, and contracts across multiple entities or business units
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills — comfortable corresponding directly with regulators, clients, landlords, and outside counsel
• Comfort working directly with business stakeholders (operations, HR, finance, procurement) and translating legal requirements into business-friendly guidance
• Experience operating without the structured support of a law firm environment — you've owned CLM intake, managed entity records, or run renewal calendars on your own
• Detail-oriented, highly organized, and comfortable working under pressure across competing client priorities and regulator deadlines
• Professional discretion and commitment to confidentiality
• Proficiency in G-Suite, Microsoft Excel, Adobe Acrobat, and project tracking systems like Monday.com and Asana
• Must be willing to work 100% on-site in our Edina Headquarters
• Successfully pass a pre-employment criminal background check

Benefits and Compensation

• Pay range between $85k - $100k annually
• Health, Dental and Vision insurance
• Employee Assistance Program (EAP)
• 401K
• Employee Discount Program offering exclusive discounts from top national retailers
• Paid Sick Leave (PSL) and Personal Time Off (PTO)
• Holidays observed include New Year's Day, 4/20, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Christmas Day