About the role
About Us
Dutch Vet is transforming veterinary care by making expert treatment accessible anytime, anywhere. Our mission is simple: help every pet live their happiest, healthiest life by connecting pet parents with licensed vets through seamless virtual visits.
We’re the only veterinary telemedicine service that can diagnose, prescribe, and ship medications directly to customers in most states. For less than $100 per year, Dutch offers real relief and convenience for pets and their families.
Backed by world-class investors including Forerunner Ventures, Eclipse Ventures, and Bling Capital, our team is made up of successful startup founders from companies like Hims, PlushCare, and Nasty Gal, with expertise in scaling enterprises including TripAdvisor, Walmart, and BARK. Featured in TechCrunch, Forbes, Wired, and Axios, Dutch is setting the standard for quality, accessibility, and compassion in pet care.
The Role
We’re looking for a VP, Legal to lead Dutch’s legal function as we scale one of the most important consumer healthcare companies in pet care.
This is a highly strategic and hands-on leadership role for someone who can operate as both a legal executive and a business partner. You will be responsible for helping Dutch navigate a complex and fast-changing regulatory environment across veterinary telemedicine, pharmacy, consumer healthcare, subscription commerce, privacy, marketing, employment, corporate governance, and strategic partnerships.
This role is ideal for someone who combines excellent legal judgment with commercial pragmatism. You should be comfortable operating in ambiguity, advising executives, managing outside counsel, building scalable legal processes, and helping the company move quickly while maintaining a high bar for compliance, trust, and long-term durability.
WHAT YOU'LL DO:
Own and lead Dutch’s legal function across corporate, regulatory, commercial, product, privacy, employment, litigation, and compliance matters
Serve as a strategic legal advisor to the CEO, executive team, and board on key business, regulatory, and risk decisions
Partner closely with clinical, pharmacy, product, operations, marketing, finance, people, and growth teams to enable compliant and scalable execution
Lead Dutch’s legal strategy around veterinary telemedicine, VCPR, pharmacy operations, prescribing, state-by-state regulatory requirements, and related healthcare compliance matters
Support Dutch’s regulatory advocacy efforts as the company works to expand access to virtual veterinary care across the United States
Build legal frameworks that allow Dutch to launch new products, expand into new states, enter new business lines, and deepen its pet health platform
Draft, review, and negotiate commercial agreements, including vendor contracts, strategic partnerships, pharmacy-related agreements, marketing agreements, data/privacy agreements, and other business-critical contracts
Advise on product and marketing initiatives, including claims review, consumer protection, advertising compliance, subscription practices, and customer-facing disclosures
Oversee corporate governance, board materials, financing support, equity matters, cap table administration, and investor-related legal work
Manage employment legal matters in partnership with the People team, including policies, employee relations, offer documentation, separations, and compliance with applicable employment laws
Develop and scale internal legal processes, templates, policies, approval workflows, and playbooks that help teams move faster with better judgment
Manage outside counsel efficiently across regulatory, corporate, employment, litigation, pharmacy, privacy, and other specialized areas
Identify and proactively mitigate legal and regulatory risk without slowing down the business unnecessarily
Help prepare Dutch for future scale, including potential strategic transactions, financing events, audits, and public-company readiness over time
WHAT WE'RE LOOKING FOR:
company experience
JD from an accredited law school and active membership in at least one U.S. state bar
Experience advising a regulated consumer, healthcare, telehealth, pharmacy, marketplace, subscription, fintech, insurance, or similarly complex business
Strong regulatory judgment and the ability to interpret state-by-state requirements in practical, business-oriented ways
Experience partnering with executive teams and advising senior leaders on high-stakes legal, regulatory, and commercial decisions
Excellent commercial contract drafting and negotiation skills
Comfort operating in a fast-moving startup environment where the legal function must be both rigorous and practical
Strong understanding of privacy, marketing, consumer protection, employment, and corporate governance issues relevant to a consumer healthcare business
Ability to build scalable legal processes from scratch, including templates, playbooks, workflows, and training
Excellent communication skills, with the ability to explain complex legal issues clearly to non-lawyers
Strong project management skills and the ability to manage multiple workstreams, outside counsel, and business priorities at once
High integrity, sound judgment, and a bias toward finding legally sound paths to “yes”
Low-ego, collaborative leadership style and a willingness to roll up your sleeves
NICE TO HAVES:
Experience with telehealth, veterinary medicine, pharmacy, digital health, consumer healthcare, or healthcare marketplaces
Experience with VCPR, veterinary board regulations, pharmacy boards, prescribing regulations, or state healthcare regulatory frameworks
Experience supporting legislative, regulatory, or policy advocacy efforts
Experience building or scaling a legal function at a venture-backed or growth-stage company
Experience managing compliance programs, privacy programs, or regulated product launches across multiple states
Familiarity with subscription businesses, consumer marketplaces, DTC healthcare, or pet health
WHY THIS ROLE IS EXCITING:
You’ll lead the legal function at a company working to redefine how pet parents access veterinary care
You’ll work at the intersection of veterinary medicine, telemedicine, pharmacy, consumer healthcare, and technology
You’ll help expand access to care in a category where regulation is evolving quickly and the stakes are meaningful
You’ll partner directly with the CEO and executive team on company-defining decisions
You’ll build the legal infrastructure for a fast-scaling business with significant long-term ambition
You’ll have the opportunity to shape the regulatory strategy for one of the most important companies in pet health
You’ll join Dutch at a moment when the company is scaling rapidly and expanding beyond telemedicine into a broader pet health platform
WHY WORK FOR DUTCH?
Competitive compensation range between $225,000 - $275,000, equity, and benefits. Actual compensation will depend on experience, qualifications, and location.
Health, dental, and vision insurance
Flexible PTO
Remote-first culture
The chance to make a meaningful impact on pets and the people who love them
The opportunity to help build one of the most important consumer healthcare companies in pet care
DUTCH'S GUIDING PRINCIPLES
Pets First – Business and medical decisions are always guided by the pet’s best interest.
Agile Like a Cat – We move quickly with thoughtfulness and precision.
Creativity is our Catnip – We push boundaries and make complex topics easier to understand.
Be the Human Your Dog Thinks You Are – Lead with kindness, clarity, and care.
We may use artificial intelligence (AI) tools to support parts of the hiring process, such as reviewing applications, analyzing resumes, or assessing responses and identifying potential inconsistencies or verification signals in application materials based on available information. These tools assist our recruitment team but do not replace human judgment. Final hiring decisions are ultimately made by humans. If you would like more information about how your data is processed, please contact us.
