Strategic IP Portfolio Lead for Innovation & Tech

Kubota Group; Grapevine, Northern (TX, KY); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Kubota’s North American Headquarters is seeking a highly skilled IP Specialist to support and advance the company’s intellectual property strategy. This role leads patent portfolio development, invention harvesting, and competitive intelligence, partnering with engineering, R&D, product teams, and outside counsel to protect and leverage Kubota’s IP assets across products.

The successful candidate will manage patentability, FTO, landscape analyses, and licensing activities, with strong technical

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a technical discipline or equivalent experience; advanced degree preferred.
• 8+ years of experience in patent portfolio development, analytics, competitive intelligence, commercialization support, or related IP functions.
• Experience leading invention harvesting and managing outside counsel; licensing, litigation, or enforcement experience preferred.
• Demonstrated ability to conduct patentability, FTO, and landscape analyses, manage outside counsel, and use patent search/analytics tools.
• Experience in vehicle autonomy and/or connectivity (telemetry, data integration) preferred.

Responsibilities

• Partner with engineering, R&D, and product teams to identify patentable innovations aligned with business objectives.
• Lead creation, evaluation, and strategic growth of Kubota’s patent portfolio.
• Conduct patentability, freedom-to-operate (FTO), landscape, and competitive intelligence analyses to support portfolio decisions, commercialization, and risk management.
• Track emerging technologies and competitor IP activity.
• Support invention disclosures, filing strategy, prosecution, docket oversight, and maintenance decisions.
• Contribute to licensing, litigation, enforcement, IP agreements, and due-diligence activities through technical analysis and stakeholder coordination.
• Advise teams on patent, trade secret, and trademark strategy; deliver IP awareness training.
• Other duties as assigned.

Skills

Patent portfolio development

Invention harvesting

Competitive intelligence

Licensing support

IP strategy

Communication skills

Outside counsel management

Education

Bachelor's degree in a technical discipline

Advanced degree in engineering or law

Tools

Patent search analytics tools

Job description

Kubota’s North American Headquarters is seeking a highly skilled IP Specialist to support and advance the company’s intellectual property strategy. This role leads patent portfolio development, invention harvesting, and competitive intelligence, partnering with engineering, R&D, product teams, and outside counsel to protect and leverage Kubota’s IP assets across products.

The successful candidate will manage patentability, FTO, landscape analyses, and licensing activities, with strong technical