Requirements and responsibilities
MUST BE WITHIN THE UNITED STATES TO BE CONSIDEREDABOUT ZEN DENZen Den is a boutique fractional HR firm for cannabis and adjacent industries. We embed directly with dispensaries, cultivators, processors, and plant-touching businesses and we do the real work alongside them. Every client knows us by name. That is the whole model.Cannabis operators are running lean teams in a high-scrutiny environment with turnover that runs between 40 and 60 percent annually, state labor departments that actively target this industry, and HR needs that generic consultants have never had to navigate. We exist because those operators deserve real HR support built specifically for how they operate, and the people inside their businesses deserve someone who actually gives a damn about them.We lead with understanding first and make decisions from there. We treat our clients' employees like our own community. We believe the strongest workplaces are built by people who are willing to do the hard work, have the honest conversations, and stay invested in the outcome. That is who we are and it is who we are looking for.THE ROLEYou will own HR for a portfolio of cannabis industry clients. That means serving as their primary HR contact, handling the full range of what comes up in a growing cannabis business, and being someone employees and managers can trust to show up prepared, stay calm, and do the right thing.This role requires someone who can operate with real autonomy. You will manage competing priorities across multiple accounts, make judgment calls, and handle complex situations without needing to escalate everything. You are expected to come in with a strong foundation and grow it here. The expectation is that you can carry your own client load and do this work at a high level.RESPONSIBILITIESEmployee RelationsHandle terminations, PIPs, disciplinary conversations, and workplace investigations from start to finishCoach managers through difficult situations and hold them accountable to doing it rightLead with understanding in every employee interaction before making any decisionsDocument properly because the work actually happened, not as a paper trail after the factProtect the business and the employees inside it at the same timeRecruiting + HiringManage full-cycle recruiting across client accounts: job descriptions, postings, screening, interviews, offersOwn hiring the way it should be owned, inside HR, not outsourced to a recruiterBuild pipelines for roles that come up repeatedly across accountsPayrollProcess and manage payroll for client accountsRun labor reports, track labor to sales ratios, and flag anything that looks offUnderstand the numbers well enough to advise clients on what they meanTroubleshoot issues and own them to resolutionGusto and ISolved required. KayaPush a strong plus.BenefitsSupport benefits enrollment, vendor coordination, and employee questions across accountsDeep benefits experience is a plus but not requiredTraining and DevelopmentBuild and facilitate trainings across client accounts as needs come up: new manager training, harassment prevention, onboarding programs, culture and communication workMake it practical and relevant to the people in the room, not genericHR Operations and DocumentationKeep handbooks, policies, offer letters, and SOPs current and useful across accountsConduct HR audits across client accounts and identify gaps before they become problemsManage I-9 compliance, employee files, and documentation standardsReview and update job descriptions, disciplinary forms, and onboarding materialsStay current on state-specific employment law and make sure client documentation reflects itBuilt for the actual business, plain language, not pulled from a templateStrategy and AdvisoryServe as a true thought partner to business owners on people decisions, org design, comp, and cultureIdentify trends inside client accounts - turnover patterns, manager issues, morale signals - and bring solutions, not just observationsHelp clients think through headcount decisions, role design, and team structure as they growAdvise on performance management, retention strategy, and how to build a workplace people want to stay inBe the person who tells leadership the truth, not what they want to hearShow up to client calls prepared, invested, and ready to move things forwardWHAT WE ARE LOOKING FORMulti-client or freelance experience is the first thing we look at. You need to have managed multiple clients or employers at the same time - the ability to context-switch, hold competing priorities, and show up fully for more than one business at once. We can teach cannabis. We cannot teach how to run a book of business.We prefer people who came to HR from somewhere else first. A background in operations, healthcare, hospitality, the military, or another field before moving into HR tends to produce the kind of grounded, practical people professional we are looking for.4 or more years of HR experience, with strong preference for those who worked in other industries or roles firstYou have had hard conversations with employees and managers and you did not flinch or hand it offSelf-directed, organized, and flexible. You figure things out.You like people. Not as a resume line. You just do.You approach this work as something you do for people, not to themCannabis experience is a meaningful plus. Real curiosity about the industry is required.Tools: Monday.com, Slack, Claude, Canva, G Suite, QuickBooks, Gusto
Optionally, you can add more information later (benefits, pre-screening questions, etc.)