By Allison Watman
Looking to start a career in the marijuana industry?
Cannabis jobs are exploding: Marijuana is medically legal in 33 states and recreationally legal in 11 states and Washington, D.C. By the end of 2020, 10 more states will vote on whether to legalize, further expanding the industry.
Many have compared it to the internet industry in the early 2000s, with many opportunities for major growth and development on the horizon.
Want to get your foot in the door now, but aren’t sure which marijuana job is right for you? There’s something for everyone, whether your skills are in farming, management, science, marketing, accounting, retail, or even yoga!
RELATED: How to Find Dispensary Jobs When You Want To Get Into The Cannabis Industry
Check out our list of promising cannabis careers, below, and see for yourself where you fit in.
Cannabis farm jobs
These positions deal with producing and distributing the marijuana plant itself, through growing, packaging, or extracting. For these jobs, you may find yourself working on a farm, in a greenhouse, a warehouse, or in a lab.
Bud trimmer
A great entry level position, with lots of opportunities for growth (pun intended), many people start their marijuana career as a Bud Trimmer. Working on the cultivation site, Bud Trimmers are responsible for handling plants, trimming leaves, and removing buds.
Average salary range: $12-13 per hour
Duties:
- Harvest marijuana plants by cutting the flowers from their stems
- Weigh, label, package buds
- Adhere to local and state laws and regulations related to marijuana production
Harvest crew
Harvest crew may trim buds, but are also responsible for the post-harvest production. They can perform various duties, from keeping warehouses organized, sanitized, and supplied, to performing inspections, to packaging products, to cataloging strains.
Average salary range: $12-17
Duties:
- Process plants efficiently, accurately filing, packaging, and labeling
- Assure compliance with state/local regulations
- Keep all production areas and equipment clean and sanitized
- Perform inspections to ensure the product meets quality standards
- Manage scheduling and organization
Cultivation agent
A Cultivation Agent is responsible for providing cultivation for cannabis gardens and maintaining plant production and health. They carry out day-to-day plant care, including watering, pruning, harvesting and trimming.
Average salary range: $17-20 an hour
Duties:
- Maintain quality control measures
- Prune, trim, and analyze plant health
- Maintain organization, cleanliness and efficiency of production area
- Measure and mix nutrient and plant applications
Grow technician
Grow technicians have horticulture and pest management expertise, and use that expertise to support the cultivation process. You must have previous experience in horticulture, entomology, or plant pathology, and having your Pesticide Applicator Certification is desirable.
Average Salary Range: $40,000-50,000
Duties:
- Participate in potting, trimming/de-leafing, fertilizing, and watering cannabis plants
- Apply pesticides, cleaning products, and beneficial organisms
- Document and track plant production and application of cleaning products/pesticides
Master grower
This position requires years of growing experience in the legal cannabis industry and/or a degree in horticulture. A Master Grower manages a team of growers, overseeing the daily requirements of the growing process, and also deals with law enforcement and compliance inspectors.
Average Salary Range: $85,000-145,000 a year.
Duties:
- Managing warehouses and their grow lights
- Growing tasks such as: transplanting, feeding, watering, trimming
- Training supervisors
- Managing a warehouse crew
- Managing schedules, organization, and records
Cannabis extraction technician
A competitive and high-paying job, a Cannabis Extraction Technician must have a chemistry background (many workers have PHDs) and laboratory experience. An extractor is responsible for extracting THC, CBD, and other cannabinoids, creating cannabis concentrates and products through chemical processes in a lab.
Average salary range: $75,000 – 125,000 per year
Duties:
- Safely convert cannabis materials into high-quality extractions
- Make sure all extraction procedures comply with regulations
- Ensure compliance and accuracy involving all product tracking and product security
- Perform quality assurance testing and conduct visual inspections
Dispensary jobs
These dispensary jobs take place in and around the dispensary, where customers peruse and purchase cannabis products. These positions look a lot like other retail positions, but with a marijuana focus!
Budtender
This entry level cannabis job is a great way to start out in the industry. Budtenders help direct customers to appropriate products, answer their questions, work the cash register, and check IDs and Medical Cards. They should have a knowledge of marijuana products and their uses, and have excellent customer service skills.
Average Salary Range: $12.50 to $18 an hour
Duties:
- Provide customer service
- Restock inventory
- Operate point of sales accurately
- Understand and adhere to guidelines for retail sales
Dispensary manager
Dispensary Managers are in charge of the day-to-day operations of the dispensary: they manage employees, oversee sales, interact with inspectors and vendors, and generally keep the dispensary running efficiently. This is a great position for someone with prior management experience in retail or prior experience in pharmacology.
Average Salary Range: $35,000 to $90,000
Duties:
- Manage personnel hiring and training
- Oversee inventory purchasing, pricing, sale, and tracking of products
- Have an in-depth understanding of products and services, policies and procedures, industry changes and regulations
- Communicate with higher levels of management and marketing department
Retail inventory manager
A retail inventory manager is in charge of keeping track of inventory and sales at a dispensary. They are highly organized, accurate, and detail oriented, creating schedules, tracking purchasing, and making sure the dispensary is appropriately stocked.
Average Salary Range: $35,000-60,000
Duties:
- Receive and quality control all inventory
- Organize inventory in an efficient manner that maximizes profit
- Inspect products for defects and damages
- Create and adhere to schedules
Dispensary COO or CFO
If you are an experienced accountant, you may be qualified to be a chief operating officer (COO) or chief financial officer (CFO) who manages a dispensary’s accounting department. These are senior executives who are responsible for managing the financial actions of a company, through tracking cash flow, and analyzing and correcting financial actions.
Average Salary Range: $125,000
Duties:
- Managing and reporting on finances
- Overseeing harvesting, processing, and distribution
- Analyzing operations to improve efficiency and reduce costs
- Developing and monitoring budgets
Cannabis and CBD company jobs
This is a way to jump in on the marijuana industry without coming in direct contact with the plants. Not everyone can grow or sell the plants themselves, and big brands or large companies need people to tackle the accounting, marketing, sales, and social media. These jobs likely require a degree and some prior experience in the field.
Accountant
An accountant is responsible for keeping track of the finances, payroll, taxes, budgets, etc, much like an accountant in any other industry. Cannabis is regulated differently than any other industry, so you will need to understand marijuana specific laws and taxes.
Average salary range: $40,000 and up
Duties:
- Manage existing clients, ensuring their needs are met and invoices are paid on-time
- Manage accounts
- Manage billing / invoicing for existing clients
- Maintains accurate records of account interactions and transactions
- Prepare and present quotes / proposals and monthly reports.
Sales
If you are a go-getter, with a winning personality and excellent communication and organization skills (and with a passion for marijuana products), the sales side of the cannabis industry might be for you!. Salespeople promote and sell a product/brand to dispensaries or individuals, and must be highly knowledgeable about the product they represent. Bonus: many sales jobs can be done from home.
Average Salary Range: $20,000 – 50,000 and up, may be based on commissions
Duties:
- Plan and perform sales calls, appointments, and site visits.
- Create conversations and build relationships with clients
- Keep an accurate log of schedules, meetings, and clients
- Develop and execute sales strategy
- Identify new business opportunities
Marketing
If you have experience in the marketing field, you can be successful in cannabis marketing. The goals of the job are to bring awareness to the brand you represent, through events, promotional campaigns, content development, website design, social media, and more.
Average Salary Range: $20,000-50,000 per year
Duties:
- Create and implement direct marketing communications
- Design marketing materials and promotional campaigns
- Manage social media platforms and creating content
- Work on event and in-store marketing strategies
- Measure and report social growth, website traffic, and brand perception
Social media
Sometimes, the social media side of marketing is so huge, it requires its own position. It involves being on top of current digital technologies, and having skills in communication, photography, videography, writing, data analysis, and customer service. As a social media strategist, you not only run all social media accounts, but create an in-depth strategy to drive traffic and perception, create content, engage with followers, and collect data.
Average Salary Range: $20,000-50,000
Duties:
- Administer Social Media Accounts
- Generate, edit, publish and share engaging content that is in line with the brand voice and style
- Increase followers, comments and likes
- Communicate with followers, respond quickly, and monitor reviews
- Provide progress reports and data
Creative cannabis jobs
Are you someone who doesn’t want to be confined behind a desk or behind a counter? Would you rather work for yourself, than for a company? These creative cannabis jobs might be for you!
Cannabis wellness coach
Part life coach, part cannabis expert…Cannabis coaches are health coaches that use cannabis as a tool to help people reach their health goals.
Many enter the field because they have experience with marijuana managing their chronic illness or anxiety/depression, helping them get off their prescription meds, or entering remission after cancer, and want to help others experience the same.
There are certification programs that are highly recommended, because as a cannabis wellness coach you must have extensive knowledge of medical issues and how to treat them, as well as skills in wellness coaching and holistic therapies.
Average salary range: $40,000-60,000
Duties:
- Prepare personalized plans for holistic treatment
- Educate patients on the products that will best treat their condition
- Teach patients how to make infusions and edibles
- Educate others about the benefits of CBD and cannabis and it’s various strains
- Coach in lifestyle changes to help attain life goals
Cannabis yoga instructor
If you’re an avid yoga practitioner, you probably already know that cannabis and yoga are a perfect pair. Cannabis yoga instructors mindfully combine the two to help others enhance consciousness and enter flow states. Yoga certification and prior experience is essential, and there are also cannabis yoga teacher training programs to expand your yoga practice.
Average Salary Range: $12-50 an hour
Duties:
- Implement safe practices and meet needs of individual students
- Instruct on correct form and alternative Yoga poses
- Create a welcoming class environment and build authentic relationship with participants
- Have a deep knowledge of marijuana strains, its effect on health, and how to combine marijuana with the yoga practice
Cannabis copywriter
A cannabis copywriter is someone with a cannabis focus, who uses the written word to market a product or brand, in order to increase brand awareness and to persuade an audience. Cannabis copywriters help marijuana companies gain visibility and maximise sales through blog content, landing pages, product descriptions, and website copy.
Here’s an example of a company who specializes in cannabis copywriting.
Average Salary Range: $30,000-75,000
Duties:
- Write and proofread compelling, on-brand copy
- Be able to write copy for websites, print marketing materials, product descriptions, and more
- Edit and proofread to ensure that the text speaks to the target audience, is grammatically correct, and has the appropriate brand voice
- Use SEO optimized language
Cannabis product tester and reviewer
Yes, this is a real job (though hard to come by)! Cannabis product testers do more than just smoke weed: they must have an extensive knowledge of marijuana, have excellent written/verbal communication skills, and be comfortable in front of a camera and on social media sites.
If you are lucky enough to score this job, you will test products, write about your experience, record everything on video, and provide an in depth recounting of your experience to educate readers and viewers on the effectiveness of the product.
Average Salary Range: $30,000-50,000
Duties:
- Test marijuana products
- Film “unboxing” videos, including the experience and the review, with excellent and engaging communication skills
- Write reviews of products with in depth explanations of the experience, noting how products differ from each other
- Educate readers/viewers on effectiveness of products
- Must be physically fit and healthy, in order to participate in cannabis tests regularly
Marijuana edibles chef
If you already have experience as a chef or baker, incorporating cannabis into your cooking is the logical next step! Being a marijuana edibles chef takes an understanding of how to infuse marijuana into food in tasty ways, and in quantities that are legal and enjoyable. Opportunities for additional work: blogging about your recipes and cooking techniques and catering marijuana themed events… the possibilities are wide open!
Average Salary Range: $50,000-100,000
Duties:
- Have significant experience and training in traditional cooking/ baking
- Develop recipes of infused products
- Comply with all federal and state regulations pertaining to food handling/production
- Run a kitchen and manage staff
- Supervise operation of food preparation
Cannabis delivery person
Work for apps like Eaze, Budly, or Getnugg to deliver marijuana products from licensed retailers to consumers. Apps like these usually exist in places like California or Colorado, where marijuana is fully legalized.These apps are like Instacart for cannabis, except that you technically work for the retailer, not the app itself.
Average Salary Range: $15-20 per hour
Duties:
- Efficiently and safely deliver cannabis products from retailer to consumer
- Be able to manage your time well
- Must have vehicle, valid driver’s license, valid insurance, and clean driving record
Website developer
Dispensaries, marijuana companies, and marijuana related apps are popping up all over the place, and they all need functional websites. If you have a background in website design, communications, or digital media, those skills are very marketable in the cannabis industry right now.
Average Salary Range: $40,000-100,000
Duties:
- Website design
- Software development
- Be fluent in various programming languages
- Keep up to date on modern technologies and trends
- Be able to troubleshoot and diagnose issues
RELATED: How To Find Budtender Jobs When You Want To Get Into The Cannabis Industry
Allison Watman is a writer who focuses on cannabis lifestyle and culture.