Head of Group Ip

**Job Purpose**:
Reporting to the Group Chief Legal Officer, the Head of Group IP will provide strategic vision addressing Straumann’s current and future intellectual property and work in partnership with R&D and other leaders to strengthen the Group’s IP portfolio. This is a senior level role with CEO visibility.

The Head of Group IP will be able to clearly articulate Straumann’s IP strategy, responsible for the Group’s intellectual property affairs, including client counseling, litigation, licensing and other complex business transactions, patent drafting, prosecution and enforcement, publication review, due diligence, and opinion work. The Head of Group IP will be an integral working partner with the company’s research and development organizations, strategic business development and legal, and will supervise members of Straumann’s intellectual property department, which presently comprises eight professionals in Basel (CH), Andover (US) and Curitiba (BR). The Head of Group IP will also be responsible for fostering career development of the in-house team and managing relationships with outside counsel

**Main Tasks and Responsibilities**:

- Counsel internal clients, including management and members of the R&D, technical operations, legal and strategic business development teams, on IP risks and opportunities.
- Review and assist in the drafting and/or negotiation of nondisclosure, research, license, and other agreements involving the use, transfer, or ownership of intellectual property.
- Assess and advise on IP risks and opportunities in complex transactions.
- Provide IP due diligence support for corporate development activities and manage patentability, freedom-to-operate, infringement and validity.
- Provide support for adversarial proceedings involving company technology or products, including IP litigation and European and US post-grant proceedings.
- Train internal client groups to promote awareness of IP and its implications on various functions within the organization.
- Guide, develop and supervise the Group’s IP department members, currently in Basel (CH), Andover (US) and Curitiba (BR).
- Ensuring the management of intellectual property rights for the Straumann Group, including deadline monitoring and payment of fees, involving external service providers.
- Ensuring the processing of employee inventions and determining the inventor's remuneration.
- Cost management.
- Manage the relationships with outside counsels.
- Maintaining databases (intellectual property rights database) with global information.

**Job Requirements**:
**Education, Experience, Personal Attributes**:

- A minimum of 15 years relevant professional experience in an IP firm and/or in-house setting, with experience in the medical device and/or life science industry highly preferred.
- A minimum of 5 years as Head of IP or Senior IP leader in a large multinational organization with international responsibility for a patent portfolio and with management responsibility for a team.
- Significant patent preparation and prosecution experience, including familiarity with both European and US IP rules, regulations, and practices.
- Knowledge of the role of an IP strategy in life cycle management.
- Ability to approach IP creation and protection with a strategic mindset by anticipating future business, competitive and legal risks, and opportunities and offering creative solutions.
- Experience in drafting and negotiating IP terms in business transactions.
- Experience with IP litigations in Europe as well as the US.
- Experience with collaboration and license agreements.
- Strong business acumen and the ability to creatively resolve business issues.
- Strong ability to adapt to changes and to be agile.
- Ability to manage outside counsel and other external resources for quality work product, value, and efficiency.
- Prioritizing multiple tasks under pressure
- Ability to communicate effectively, both orally and in writing
- Active listener with a sense of humor
- Flexibility, willingness, and ability to take on diverse tasks.
- Ability to facilitate and contribute to collaborative decision-making processes and work effectively on cross-functional teams.
- Required Education and Licenses:

- An engineering or other technical / natural science diploma from an accredited university and holding the European Patent Attorney qualification; additional national patent attorney qualification is a plus.
- Admission to practice at the Unified Patent Court in Munich / Paris a plus.
- business fluent in English and preferably also in German

All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, or disability.

**Employment Type**:Full Time

**Alternative Locations**:Switzerland : Basel

**Travel Percentage**:0 - 20%

**Requisition ID**:7847