Senior Director, Intellectual Property

BioSpace; Emeryville (CA); On-site; USD 280,000 - 330,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading biotechnology company in California seeks an experienced intellectual property attorney to manage its IP portfolio. The role involves developing IP strategies, counseling R&D teams, and managing patent applications. A J.D. from an accredited law school along with a Ph.D. in a related field are required. Candidates should have over 10 years of patent prosecution experience in biopharma, ideally with in-house experience at a publicly traded company. The compensation range is $280,000 – $330,000.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of patent prosecution experience in the life sciences field.
• Strong knowledge of patent, trade secret, and trademark practices.
• In-house experience in drug development, especially genetic medicines.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate on intellectual property strategy development.
• Implement elements of the intellectual property strategy.
• Direct outside counsel for patent application preparation.

Skills

Patent prosecution

Intellectual property law

Regulatory compliance

Contract negotiation

Education

J.D. degree from an accredited law school

Ph.D. in molecular biology, genetics, or related field

Admission to at least one U.S. state bar

Registered to practice before the USPTO

Job description

Attention recruitment agencies: All agency inquiries are vetted through 4DMT’s internal Talent Acquisition team. No unsolicited resumes will be accepted. The 4DMT Talent Acquisition team must expressly engage agencies on any requisition. Agencies contacting hiring managers directly will not be tolerated, and doing so may impact your ability to work with 4DMT in the future.

4DMT is a leading late-stage biotechnology company advancing durable and disease-targeted therapeutics with potential to transform treatment paradigms and provide unprecedented benefits to patients. The Company’s lead product candidate 4D-150 is designed to be a backbone therapy forming the foundation of treatment of blinding retinal vascular diseases by providing multi-year sustained delivery of anti-VEGF (aflibercept and anti-VEGF-C) with a single, safe, intravitreal injection, which substantially reduces the treatment burden associated with current bolus injections. The Company’s lead indication for 4D-150 is wet age‑related macular degeneration, which is currently in Phase 3 development, and second indication is diabetic macular edema. The Company’s second product candidate is 4D-710, which is the first known genetic medicine to demonstrate successful delivery and expression of the CFTR transgene in the lungs of people with cystic fibrosis after aerosol delivery.

General Summary

4DMT is seeking an experienced intellectual property attorney, with a focus in patent prosecution, to manage 4DMT’s intellectual property portfolio and provide strategic counsel and training on all facets of patent, trade secret, trademark, and copyright law, including procurement, registration, enforcement, freedom to operate, and IP litigation. The role will also counsel 4DMT’s R&D and CMC teams on a wide range of day‑to‑day transactions with partners that are central to their work, and provide IP input on strategic transactions and support IP diligence efforts. The role will work cross-functionally with R&D, CMC, Finance, Business Development, and IT teams, and may interact with other teams, depending on project needs. The role will report to and be a strategic thought partner to the Chief Legal Officer. The ideal candidate must be an experienced attorney, with a strong background in the biopharmaceutical industry and excellent business judgment and interpersonal skills. In‑depth knowledge of the drug development process, regulatory and compliance requirements, strategic partnerships, and commercial strategy is strongly preferred.

Major Duties & Responsibilities

• Collaborate with Chief Legal Officer on development of 4DMT’s intellectual property strategy.
• Responsible for implementing key elements of 4DMT’s intellectual property strategy, and manage its patent, trade secret, and trademark portfolio; implement a strategy for IP lifecycle management.
• Direct outside counsel in the preparation and prosecution of applications and responding to office actions; direct outside counsel in evaluating the patentability of invention submissions and registrability of trademarks globally; manage related outside counsel budgets.
• Identify strategic areas for patenting, trade secret protection, and trademarking; collaborate with R&D, CMC, Clinical Science, and other functions to proactively identify and develop patentable intellectual property to prepare, file, and prosecute.
• Manage patentability, freedom‑to‑operate, infringement, validity, and regulatory exclusivity analyses.
• Identify and track 4DMT trade secrets and provide counsel with respect to 4DMT’s trade secret protection practices.
• Provide IP perspective and counseling at 4DMT meetings and present on IP topics.
• Counsel and train internal clients on intellectual property practices and policies.
• Conduct IP due diligence for business development activities and support IP due diligence related to financing activities.
• Draft, review, and negotiate agreements to support R&D and CMC activities, including NDAs, MTAs, MSAs, sponsored research agreements, consulting agreements, and licenses.
• Collaborate with Legal colleagues, Business Development, and other key leaders and functions on key strategic agreements, including licenses, collaboration agreements, and other business development efforts.
• Assist with other Legal Department matters, including litigation support, SEC reporting (IP‑related sections), records management, compliance activities, and template projects.
• Other duties as assigned; nothing in this job description restricts management’s right to assign or reassign duties and responsibilities to this job at any time.

Education

• J.D. degree or equivalent from an accredited law school
• Ph.D. in molecular biology, genetics, biochemistry, or other biological field related to the biopharma industry
• Admission to at least one U.S. state bar
• Registered to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office

Experience

Required

• 10+ years of patent prosecution experience as an attorney in the life sciences field, particularly in biopharma (can be a combination of law firm and in‑house experience).
• Strong knowledge of patent, trade secret, and trademark practices, as well as current U.S. and foreign patent, trade secret, and trademark laws.
• In‑house experience in and knowledge of drug development, with expertise in genetic medicines strongly preferred; in‑house experience at one or more publicly traded, commercial‑stage biotechnology, pharmaceutical, or biopharmaceutical companies.
• Experience managing outside IP counsel and non‑attorney legal staff.

Strongly Preferred

• Experience in counseling life sciences R&D and CMC teams with respect to day‑to‑day transactions, including experience reviewing and negotiating confidentiality agreements, manufacturing agreements, material transfer agreements, sponsored research agreements, master services agreements, consulting agreements, and licenses.
• Prior experience providing IP input on life sciences strategic transactions.
• Prior IP litigation experience.

Other Competencies

• Excellent analytical and organizational skills and demonstrated ability to effectively collaborate and manage several simultaneous projects under deadline pressure.
• Excellent communication (verbal and written), listening, negotiation, and presentation skills.
• Solid interpersonal skills and the demonstrated ability to influence and partner across all levels of the Company.
• Highest integrity, excellent judgment, and the ability to proactively recognize and effectively communicate legal issues to the Chief Legal Officer and other members of company management.

Travel

5%

Physical Requirements and Working Conditions

• Physical Requirements – Sedentary work: Exerting up to 10 pounds of force occasionally and/or a negligible amount of force frequently or constantly to lift, carry, push, pull or otherwise move objects, including the human body. Sedentary work involves sitting most of the time. Jobs are sedentary if walking and standing are required only occasionally and all other sedentary criteria are met.
• Working Conditions – The worker is not substantially exposed to adverse environmental conditions (as in typical office or administrative work).

Base Salary Compensation Range

$280,000 – $330,000. Please note, the base salary compensation range and actual salary offered to the final candidate depends on various factors: candidate’s geographical location, relevant work experience, skills, and years of experience.

Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) Statement

4DMT provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, genetic information, marital status, status as a covered veteran and any other category protected under applicable federal, state, provincial and local laws.