Patent Counsel

Alembic Technologies; San Francisco (CA); On-site; USD 175,000 - 200,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive salary

Premium health benefits

Meaningful equity

Job summary

A leading AI firm in San Francisco seeks a Patent Attorney or Senior Patent Agent to drive IP strategy and protect innovative technologies in causal AI. This role goes beyond traditional legal work, immersing you in the technical aspects to identify breakthroughs and manage a global IP portfolio. Ideal candidates have 4-8 years of experience and a strong technical background in computer science or engineering. We offer a competitive salary range of $175K - $200K along with premium health benefits and meaningful equity.

Qualifications

• 4-8 years of experience as a Patent Attorney or Patent Agent.
• USPTO registration as a Patent Attorney or a strong track record in the IP field.

Responsibilities

• Dive into code repositories to identify patentable breakthroughs.
• Lead strategy for protecting proprietary technology.
• Implement rigorous defensibility hygiene.
• Draft and manage high-quality patent applications.
• Manage global IP portfolio against generic AI models.

Skills

Patent law understanding

Technical proficiency in Python/C++

IP strategy development

Education

Degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Physics, or Mathematics

Job description

About Alembic

Alembic is solving one of AI's defining challenges: proving cause and effect in proprietary enterprise data at scale. While generic models converge in capability, we're building the systems that process private corporate data to answer questions ChatGPT cannot—connecting marketing exposure to revenue, operations to outcomes, strategy to results.

Our customers include Nvidia, Delta Air Lines, Mars, and leading Fortune 500 companies making multi-million dollar decisions with our platform. The technical demands were so extreme we literally melted GPUs building this, which is why we're now operating one of the world's fastest private supercomputers. Backed by $145M from Prysm Capital, Accenture, and Silver Lake Waterman, we're scaling the team redefining enterprise competitive advantage in the age of AI. We work 5-days onsite at our SF SoMa HQ.

About The Role

We don't believe in "legal vs. engineering." At Alembic, IP is a core part of our engineering culture. We are seeking a tech-native Patent Attorney or Senior Patent Agent who wants to trade the billable hour for a seat at the supercomputing table.

You won't be sitting in an office waiting for disclosure forms; you will in the codebase, working alongside our scientists and engineers to ensure our causal inference breakthroughs and SNN (Spiking Neural Network) architectures are defensible, timestamped, and protected.

What You'll Do

• Code-Level IP Harvesting: Dive into our repos and PRs to identify patentable breakthroughs in causal AI and HPC optimization before they are even shipped.
• Build the "Causal Moat": Lead the strategy for protecting our proprietary technology and custom causal algorithms.
• Forensic Documentation: Implement rigorous "defensibility hygiene"—ensuring appropriate timestamps, version‑controlled records of invention, and clear human‑inventorship trails.
• End-to-End Prosecution: Draft and manage high-quality patent applications, acting as the primary bridge between our technical "magic" and the USPTO.
• Portfolio Strategy: Manage our global IP portfolio, working with our technical experts to decide what to patent vs. what to keep as a trade secret to stay ahead of "generic" AI models.

Who You Might Be

• Technically Lethal: You can read Python/C++ or follow a complex technical architecture diagram. You likely have a degree in CS, EE, Physics, or Math.
• The "Recovering" Specialist: You have 4–8 years of experience at a top-tier firm or in‑house. You're over the partner-track grind and want to be a builder.
• USPTO Registered: You are a registered Patent Attorney (J.D.) or a highly experienced Patent Agent with a track record of winning Section 101 battles in AI/Software.
• Strategic & Fast: You understand that in a startup, speed is a feature. You can deliver high-quality work without the "big law" lag.

Why This is a Rare Opportunity

This is not a traditional "back-office" legal role. This is an invitation to be a builder at the absolute frontier of causal AI. Most attorneys spend their careers documenting the past; at Alembic, you are architecting the future of a multi-billion dollar moat from the ground floor.

Benefits

We offer a competitive salary, premium health benefits, and meaningful equity that ensures you are a true partner in our success.

Compensation Range: $175K - $200K