Careers

The Alchemy hires for the positions below across both Chelsea and Flatiron. The current roster of open requisitions and their seniority levels updates at thealchemy.nyc/careers/.

Budtender. The customer-facing sales floor role. Responsibilities include greeting customers at the door check, conducting consultations at the counter that match experience level and intended outcome to the right product, building orders from the inventory display, processing the cashless ATM transaction, maintaining the sales floor presentation, completing the OCM-required second ID verification at checkout, and enforcing age verification at every step. Full-time and part-time positions available. Most new hires start here. A budtender shift typically runs eight hours with two breaks; peak retail shifts are Fridays and Saturdays after 5 pm.

Shift Lead. Oversees daily operations during shift, supports the budtender team through escalations and floor coaching, manages customer service recovery and refusals of sale, opens or closes the location with the OCM-required end-of-day Metrc reconciliation, audits the back-of-house inventory against the Metrc record, and serves as point of contact for compliance and inventory questions during shift. Most shift leads are promoted internally from budtender after 6 to 12 months on the floor. Shift lead candidates from outside The Alchemy typically come from comparable regulated-retail backgrounds (alcohol, pharmacy, fine retail, restaurant management).

Inventory Specialist. Manages stock receipt at the loading entrance with the Metrc manifest reconciliation, organizes the back-of-house storage room according to OCM separation rules, restocks the display floor as products move, coordinates with the curation team on incoming product, runs the weekly COA verification cycle on active inventory lines, and conducts the monthly freshness audit on flower inventory. The inventory specialist also handles vendor returns where defects emerge, the recall response protocol if OCM issues a recall, and the back-of-house compliance documentation. Most of the work is back-of-house with periodic sales floor support during peak hours.

Delivery Courier. A NYS Part 124 certified or trainable position. Operates delivery vehicles with locked storage compartments separated from the driver compartment, transports cannabis from dispensary to customer addresses within the licensed service zone, verifies recipient ID at handoff with the courier app capturing the verification timestamp, and completes the manifest reconciliation at end of shift. Valid driver's license, clean driving record over the prior three years, and comfort with NYC traffic patterns are required. Most courier shifts run 4 to 8 hours with the route assigned at shift start. Courier compensation includes mileage and route-density premiums.

Store Manager. Full operational ownership of one location. Manages the budtender and shift lead team of 8 to 14 people depending on season, oversees compliance documentation and weekly compliance review, drives customer service standards through one-on-ones and floor coaching, runs the weekly team education at pre-shift huddle, conducts the monthly performance review cycle, and reports to the founding leadership team weekly. Store manager candidates typically come from internal promotion or from prior retail management at a comparable scale in alcohol, specialty retail, or hospitality.

Curation and Cultivator Partnerships. Manages relationships with NYS cultivators and processors, evaluates new product submissions through the monthly vendor review cycle, sits in on cultivator-led terpene and cultivation method walk-throughs, conducts site visits to Hudson Valley cultivator facilities where geography permits, makes shelf-space recommendations, and works with the founding team on assortment strategy. Cannabis industry experience and a working knowledge of terpene chemistry, cannabinoid pharmacology, and extraction methodology are required for this role. The curation lead is typically internal-fill from inventory specialist or budtender promotion.

Compliance Coordinator. Cross-location role supporting OCM filings, Responsible Vendor training schedules, advertising review on every external creative asset before publication, Part 113 packaging audits, recall response protocol, and incident documentation. Reports to the founding leadership team and works closely with the compliance officer. Cannabis compliance experience or a regulatory background in food, alcohol, or pharmacy retail is the typical entry path. Familiarity with the Cannabis Control Board meeting cycle and OCM bulletin publication is useful at the offer stage but trainable on the job.

Age. Adults 21 and over per NYS OCM rules. No exceptions on the customer-facing floor or in any role with cannabis-product handling.

Eligibility to work. Verifiable eligibility to work in New York State. We complete I-9 verification within the federal three-day window per the standard onboarding process.

Background check. Standard background check consistent with NYS OCM Part 118 (9 NYCRR §118) requirements. The CAURD equity framework explicitly prioritizes candidates with prior cannabis-related convictions or close family members with such convictions. NYS adult-use rules do not disqualify candidates for prior cannabis offenses. We have hired team members with prior cannabis convictions at every Alchemy location since opening.

Cannabis literacy or the willingness to learn it. Working knowledge of terpenes, cannabinoid profiles, and consumption methods is preferred for budtender candidates but trainable for candidates who bring strong customer service orientation. Curation, compliance, and store manager roles require existing cannabis literacy. Inventory and courier roles do not require cannabis-specific knowledge at the application stage but build it during onboarding.

Customer service instinct. Cannabis retail is service work first, product knowledge second. We hire for warmth, patience, and the listening discipline to translate what a customer says they want into what the customer actually needs to buy. A first-time customer who walks in nervous needs a different counter presence than a returning regular who knows what cultivar they want by name. The team reads the room.

Team orientation. The team is small enough that the four people on a Tuesday shift at Chelsea know each other by name, lunch order, and home subway line. We hire for collaboration, accountability, and the willingness to flag a problem rather than route around it. We have removed candidates after the working interview shift for behavior that suggested they would not flag issues. The cost of a non-flagger in a regulated retail environment is higher than the cost of any individual gap in knowledge or skill.

For delivery roles specifically. Valid New York State driver's license, clean driving record over the prior three years, comfort handling the physical work of vehicle loading and unloading (cases of pre-rolls, cases of beverages, cases of flower jars), and NYS Part 124 certification or willingness to complete it during onboarding. Couriers also need comfort with NYC traffic patterns, building access protocols (lobby buzzers, doorman conversations, freight elevators where applicable), and the dispatch app workflow.

Compensation. At or above NYC retail industry standards for the position level. Specific rates are discussed at offer stage based on experience and role. Budtender base rates start above the New York State minimum wage and step up with tenure and shift lead promotion. Inventory specialist rates run between budtender and shift lead bands. Delivery courier rates include mileage and route-density premiums on top of the hourly base, with peak-period premiums for the Friday and Saturday evening windows. Store manager compensation is salaried with quarterly review. Curation and compliance roles are salaried.

Benefits. Medical and dental insurance for full-time employees after a 60-day waiting period. Paid time off and sick leave per the New York City Earned Safe and Sick Time Act (which mandates 40 hours minimum and we offer above). Commuter benefits via WageWorks (pre-tax MTA pass deductions). 401(k) eligibility after 12 months of service. Vision coverage available for full-time employees.

Training. A 40-hour structured onboarding curriculum across product knowledge, OCM compliance, customer consultation methodology, age verification protocol, harm reduction, and store-specific operations. Weekly team education during 15-minute pre-shift huddles. Quarterly compliance refreshers led by the compliance officer covering OCM rule changes, advertising review, age verification refreshers, and any bulletin material. Cultivator walk-throughs every 6 to 8 weeks where the team meets the cultivator behind a brand we carry, sometimes at the cultivator site (Hudson Valley) and sometimes at our back-of-house training area.

Growth. The internal promotion path is real. Most of our shift leads were promoted from budtender within the first year. Most of our inventory specialists rotated through the budtender role first. Cross-training between retail, inventory, curation, and delivery operations is available for team members who want to broaden their role. The curation team lead role is internal-fill preferred. Store manager candidates often come from internal shift lead promotion when locations expand or transition.

Discount. Employee discount on cannabis products consistent with NYS OCM rules. The employee purchases as an adult 21+ customer at a defined percentage discount, with the same daily possession-limit ceiling (three ounces of flower or 24 grams of concentrate per Cannabis Law §222(2)(d)) as any retail customer. The discount cannot be applied to off-the-floor transactions or to a friend's purchase.

Culture. Independent ownership. Small team where everyone knows everyone. No tolerance for harassment, discrimination, or unprofessional conduct, with documented removal protocol when behavior crosses the line. Accountability across all levels (the founders are reachable, the store managers are reachable, the compliance officer is reachable). A deliberate effort to keep the work environment readable for everyone who walks through the back door at the start of a shift. We hire slowly and we keep people for years.

Submit an application at thealchemy.nyc/careers/. The application asks for basic eligibility information, a resume, a brief cover letter (200 to 400 words on why The Alchemy specifically and why this role), two references, and the specific position you are applying for. We read every application, and we respond to every applicant whether or not we move forward.

The hiring process moves through four stages.

A 20-minute phone screen with the hiring manager covers eligibility, role fit, your cannabis industry interest, and any geographic or scheduling constraints. We confirm work authorization and the basic background-check posture in this conversation rather than at offer.

An in-person or video interview with the manager and one team member covers your customer service approach, your work history, and your specific interest in cannabis retail versus other regulated-retail or hospitality paths. This conversation typically runs 45 minutes and includes scenario-based questions about handling a first-time customer, a busy floor, a difficult interaction, or an ambiguous compliance call.

A working interview, a paid shift on the sales floor under observation, gives both sides a real-world look at the fit. The working interview typically runs four to six hours during a non-peak window. The candidate shadows a budtender for the first half and then handles low-stakes customer interactions under observation in the second half. The candidate is paid for the working interview shift at the role's hourly rate.

A background check completes before offer per NYS OCM Part 118 requirements. Time from application to offer typically runs two to four weeks. We move faster when the calendar allows.

We do not ghost candidates. If we move forward, the recruiting coordinator contacts you within 5 business days of each stage. If we do not move forward, the recruiting coordinator contacts you within 10 business days with a clear answer. We do not use generic rejection templates that obscure the reason; the answer is specific.

Federal law still classifies cannabis as a Schedule I controlled substance under the Controlled Substances Act (21 USC §812). The state-versus-federal conflict does not affect daily operations at a NYS-licensed dispensary, but it does create some indirect implications worth understanding before accepting an offer. Federal student loans, federal banking products at certain institutions, federal security clearances, and some federal employment paths can interact with cannabis industry employment in ways that vary case by case. We surface this transparently during the offer conversation and we do not minimize the friction; a candidate considering a future move into a federal-clearance-required role should weigh this before accepting an offer at a NYS-licensed cannabis retailer.

NYS OCM Part 118 also requires every dispensary employee to complete Responsible Vendor training within 30 days of hire and to maintain current certification. The training covers age verification, refusal of sale, transaction documentation, and responsible-use guidance. We pay for the training, the certification fee, and the time spent completing it as part of onboarding. The training is also a useful primer on the regulatory framework even for candidates with prior cannabis-retail experience in other states, because NYS rules differ from Colorado, California, Massachusetts, and the other established markets in several specifics.

The industry is high-compliance by design. Every transaction is logged to Metrc (the OCM-required seed-to-sale tracking system), every product is tracked from cultivator to register, and every employee is accountable to the compliance framework. That structure is part of what protects the licensed retail experience from the unlicensed gray market that still operates across Manhattan. Working at a NYS-licensed dispensary means working inside a framework where mistakes cost the business its license. The compliance discipline is not optional and it is not light.

The NYS cannabis market is also dynamic. New rules ship from OCM through the Cannabis Control Board on an ongoing cadence. New cultivators and processors enter the market. New product categories emerge as the testing framework expands. Working at a NYS-licensed dispensary means staying current on the regulatory landscape, the product landscape, and the customer landscape simultaneously. The 40-hour onboarding builds the foundation; the weekly and quarterly education keeps it current.

Every claim on this page is verifiable through public sources.

NYS OCM Part 118 employment rules at cannabis.ny.gov/regulations. MRTA full text at nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2021/s854a. Cannabis Law §222(2)(d) possession cap at nysenate.gov/legislation/laws/CNB. NYC Earned Safe and Sick Time Act at NYC Consumer and Worker Protection (nyc.gov/dca). The CAURD equity framework specifics through OCM at cannabis.ny.gov. Federal Schedule I status under the Controlled Substances Act at 21 USC §812. The first NYS adult-use sale (December 29, 2022) is a matter of public record through the Cannabis Control Board meeting archive.

License status for The Alchemy locations is verifiable through the OCM public licensee directory at cannabis.ny.gov/dispensary-verification by searching the storefront address.