Senior Director, Associate General Counsel, IP & Litigation

Unity; New York (NY); On-site; USD 264,000 - 467,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Comprehensive health insurance

Stock option program

Paid time off

Job summary

Unity seeks a senior leader to run the IP and Litigation function, partnering with the Chief Legal Officer and internal IP team. You will shape Unity's IP strategy and manage non-employment litigation and disputes globally.

You will direct enforcement across patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets, coordinate with outside counsel, and guide policy on open source, M&A IP issues, and related governance.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of experience leading IP strategy and complex litigation.
• Experience managing IP portfolios globally and with outside counsel.
• Strong background in patents, trademarks, trade secrets, and copyrights.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute Unity's global IP strategy across patents, trademarks, trade secrets, and copyrights.
• Lead enforcement, defense, and resolution of IP disputes, including management of outside counsel.
• Oversee open source compliance, licensing processes, and M&A IP considerations.

Skills

IP strategy

Litigation leadership

Patent enforcement

Trademark management

Copyright strategy

Open source/compliance

Education

Juris Doctor (JD)

Tools

USPTO admission

Job description

The Opportunity

In this role, you will lead Unity's IP and Litigation function by partnering closely with Unity's Chief Legal Officer and the internal IP team, developing and driving the legal strategy for Unity's IP portfolio and serving as the company's senior legal leader for all non-employment litigation and disputes. Your IP remit includes patents, trademarks, trade secrets and copyrights, as well as IP enforcement and defense, open source, IP issues in M&A, and more. You will also lead the company’s litigation and dispute resolution across IP, commercial, securities, privacy, and regulatory matters, working with the legal department’s subject-matter specialists.

What You'll Be Doing

IP strategy, enforcement, and defense

• Develop and execute enforcement and defense strategies across patents, trademarks, trade secret and copyrights, including demand letters, cease-and-desist actions, takedowns, and responses to infringement claims
• Partner with a team of IP professionals and outside counsel to build and implement Unity's global IP strategy, including developing and growing its patent, trademark, trade secrets and copyright portfolios
• Engage in invention harvesting and patent prosecution, ensuring the portfolio is strategically aligned and defensible
• Develop our trade secret strategy, including training on identification and protection of trade secrets
• Align our global trademark portfolio with business needs, including enforcement as needed
• Guide our organization around copyright issues, including risk assessment and dispute avoidance
• Partner with the legal department's product attorneys on open source compliance and licensing processes, including addressing license violations and compliance claims
• Support IP due diligence for M&A and IP-related agreements, including settlement and license agreements arising from disputes, as needed

No-Employment Litigation and disputes (company-wide)

• Strategically lead IP disputes and litigation, from pre-suit assessment through resolution, including managing outside counsel, case strategy, discovery, and settlement
• Lead and set strategy for all of Unity's litigation, arbitration, and disputes worldwide, including commercial and contract, securities and shareholder, consumer and privacy, and regulatory matters
• Manage the litigation docket and outside counsel, including budgets, staffing, motion practice, trial and appellate exposure, and settlement
• Oversee company-wide non-employment litigation management practices, including litigation holds, e-discovery and preservation, privilege protocols, case reporting, and early case assessment and reserve input to Finance and Legal leadership
• Coordinate with the CLO, Finance, and other legal team leads on disclosure considerations, insurance and D&O coverage, and communications with the Board and executive team on material matters
• Partner with the business and with legal's commercial, privacy, and regulatory counsel to identify dispute risks early, avoid disputes, and resolve them practically
• Respond to and manage government inquiries, subpoenas, and investigations in coordination with the appropriate legal and compliance stakeholders

Leadership and operations

• Prepare and deliver training on IP, litigation readiness, document retention, and dispute avoidance
• Manage a budget, including total litigation spend, outside counsel, and settlements, with forecasting and regular reporting to the CLO
• Lead, and develop a team of legal professionals (adjust to match the actual org plan)

What We're Looking For

• 10+ years of experience, including leading IP strategy (patent, trademark, and/or copyright) and complex litigation in a global organization or law firm, and creatively and practically partnering with the business
• JD from an accredited law school, with admission to at least one state bar; admission to practice before the USPTO is preferred
• Demonstrated experience managing complex IP and commercial disputes through all stages, including trial or appellate exposure, and directing outside counsel
• Experience managing a broad litigation docket across multiple practice areas (e.g., commercial, securities, privacy/consumer, regulatory) is strongly preferred
• Experience with IP enforcement, defense, litigation management, and risk mitigation in a an advertising technology or software environment, as well as experience with IP strategies and issues relating to generative artificial intelligence
• Experience with a public company, including securities litigation and related disclosure and insurance considerations, is a plus

Additional Information

• Reports to: SVP, Chief Legal Officer
• Location: San Francisco or New York, in office 3 days per week strongly preferred. Periodic travel to key hubs and events
• Travel: Up to ~15%
• Relocation support is not available for this position
• Work visa/immigration sponsorship is not available for this position

Base Salary Range: We determine the base salary range for this role based on your primary work location:

Zone A: $233,600 - $350,400 USD gross

Zone B: $264,000 - $396,000 USD gross

Zone C: $311,400 - $467,200 USD gross

This range reflects the anticipated base salary for this position. Beyond base salary, this role may be eligible for equity awards and participation in our company incentive plans (such as annual discretionary bonuses or sales commissions). The final offer amount will depend on several factors, including geographic location and the candidate's relevant experience, professional background, and skill set.

Benefits

At Unity, we want our team members to thrive. We offer a wide range of benefits designed to support well-being and work-life balance.

While specific benefits vary, here are some of the ways we strive to take care of our eligible team members globally: Comprehensive health, life, and disability insurance | Commute subsidy | Employee stock ownership | Competitive retirement/pension plans | Generous vacation and personal days | Support for new parents through leave and family-care programs | Office food snacks | Mental Health and Wellbeing programs and support | Employee Resource Groups | Global Employee Assistance Program | Training and development programs | Volunteering and donation matching program

Life at Unity

Unity [NYSE: U] is the world's leading game engine, powering play for more than 3 billion consumers each month. The top mobile games in the world, the most played PC indie titles, the most innovative console games, and virtually all of the top XR and Web Games are developed, deployed, and grown in Unity. Unity also enables teams across industries like automotive, manufacturing, and healthcare to design, simulate, and collaborate in 3D - closing the gap between ideas and reality. For more information, please visit www.unity.com.