Member Blog: Job Description Templates to Build Your Dispensary Team

by Gary Cohen, CEO of Cova

When it comes to opening a successful marijuana dispensary or cannabis retail store, the importance of building a strong, trustworthy team simply cannot be understated. Depending on the rules of your market, you may even be required to have certain positions filled before applying for a license. Either way, the people you hire — from front-line staff to shift leaders to managers — will ultimately make or break your operation. 

If you’re new to the industry, you may be wondering just exactly what positions you’ll need to fill. Cannabis does share some similarities with other traditional retail industries; you’ll need customer service reps (often referred to as “budtenders”) as well as shift supervisors and general managers. But there are some significant differences between cannabis retail and other industries, mainly with regard to compliance, and you’ll see these reflected in some of the critical positions listed below. 

Read on to discover a few of the most critical positions you’ll need to hire for in your cannabis dispensary — plus how you can get your hands on our free dispensary job templates guide!

Crucial Cannabis Retail Roles

Let’s take a quick look at some of the more critical cannabis-specific positions every dispensary needs. 

Compliance Manager

There’s one simple principle that cannabis business owners live by: no license equals no business. That’s why it’s imperative that you have a manager on your team whose sole function is to ensure that every aspect of your operation remains compliant at all times. 

Typical compliance manager duties include conducting regular audits of dispensary operations, investigating and resolving compliance concerns, keeping up with regulatory changes and ensuring understanding and adherence throughout the company, and liaising with regulatory and law enforcement agencies.  

Inventory Manager

While inventory managers are also found in traditional retail operations, this role is particularly important in cannabis due to inventory compliance regulations. The inventory manager is responsible for overseeing product replenishment, conducting inventory audits, and ensuring all counts and reconciliations are correct and compliant. 

Security Manager

Security is another major aspect of dispensary operations that is governed by regulation. Your local and state or provincial laws will spell out exactly what security measures you’re required to take, but at the very least, you’ll want a security manager on your team to help advise and implement security best practices and protocols. 

Additional responsibilities of the security manager include compiling security reports, recruiting qualified security agents or guards, and ensuring all security systems and equipment are maintained and operable according to regulation. 

Why Your Cannabis Job Descriptions Matter

The truth is, anyone can throw up a job ad online and attract some interest. But you don’t want just anybody working at your dispensary — you want the right people who understand the importance of the role they’re seeking and will do their best every day to uplift your operation. 

It’s also important to set standards and clear expectations for your employees from the outset. A well-thought-out job description shows that you care about the role you’re seeking to fill and take the job seriously — just as you would want from any candidate who responds to the ad. 

Finally, a thorough and comprehensive job posting that lays out all the responsibilities of the role makes it easier to hold team members accountable in their job performance. You don’t want to get caught with the old “that’s not in my job description” excuse — so cover your bases by making sure you lay out all the expectations of every position from the get-go. 

Download Your Free Dispensary Job Description Templates 

At Cova, we’ve helped hundreds of dispensary and cannabis retail operations across the U.S. and Canada maximize their operations. Plus, our parent company has 20+ years of retail tech experience under its belt — which means we know a thing or two about retail best practices. 

We’ve compiled these dispensary job description templates to help you find the absolute best candidates for your cannabis store. 

Download your free guide here.