Description:

About the Team:
The X Legal team works on the most exciting legal issues since our moonshots require creative and proactive guidance. We challenge ourselves to think big and differently in providing solutions and strategies for our clients—at X, the legal team can be audacious too! Our team aims to accelerate X while demonstrating values of respect, wellbeing, creativity, integrity, and continued development.

About the role:
X is looking for a creative and strategic Senior Intellectual Property Counsel. In this role you will create and implement unique and innovative IP strategies for X and X's exciting new businesses and technologies. You will work alongside world-class innovators to define and implement an IP strategy tailored to each project's business goals. This will include guiding a portfolio of patent and trademark assets, mitigating IP-risk in operations and agreements, and fostering awareness via counseling on patent and IP issues, including copyright. The IP portfolios you develop will have a scope stemming from the innovations X produces and a value extending far beyond the immediate products and services X launches. Your contributions here will be a key part of demonstrating return on investment for these projects. This role is distinct from standard IP roles because it focuses on “de-risking” radical technologies that don't yet have a defined market.

How you will make 10X impact:

Strategic IP Portfolio Development: Design and execute a global IP strategy that aligns with the specific commercial goals of a project, from early-stage R&D to graduation from X into stand-alone businesses, building a “moat” around the project's core, differentiating, and strategic technologies. Includes reviewing and analyzing internal and external patent assets to assess scope and value.
Cross-functional Leadership: Educate and present to engineering teams and senior management on IP issues; work closely with X's General Counsel, leadership, policy, and communications teams to ensure IP strategy aligns with the broader mission, brand, and graduation path.
Full-Spectrum Patent Strategy and Lifecycle Management: Lead the end-to-end patent lifecycle, from conducting high-touch invention review sessions, gap filling exercises, and prior art analysis to directing outside counsels on the drafting and prosecution of high-quality, high-value global assets, and making strategic maintenance/annuity decisions.
360° IP Stewardship: Act as the primary legal partner for all patent and non-patent IP matters, including establishing trade secret protocols, managing trademark clearance and brand protection, and advising on copyright and open-source strategy for projects.
Counsel on Freedom to Operate (FTO): Provide actionable risk assessments and mitigation strategies for cutting-edge, often undefined/uncharted, technology spaces.
Strategic Transactions and Deal Support: Lead IP-related due diligence and provide support to Product/Commercial counsels regarding IP provisions in all deals and complex transactions, such as inbound/outbound technology licensing, JDAs, M&A/spin-out activities, and collaborations, ensuring X's long-term interests are protected.

What you should have:

Education: Juris Doctor (JD) degree with a technical undergraduate degree (EE, CS, MS, Life Sciences, or similar).
Bar Admission: Admitted to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office as a Patent Attorney and admitted to the State Bar of California and in good standing (or otherwise authorized to practice law in California such as by having registered in-house counsel status).
Experience: 10+ years of relevant legal experience, including significant in-house experience working side-by-side with engineering, product, partnerships, marketing, and leadership teams to spot, address, and counsel on IP and AI issues.
Technical generalist who can pivot between a wide range of technical domains and manage IP across diverse technological domains.
Demonstrated experience advising on the evolving IP landscape for AI, including data ingestion rights, model training compliance, and the ownership/protectability of AI-generated outputs
Hands-on with the ability to make high-stakes decisions with 60–70% of the information and thrive with high levels of autonomy in the fast-paced, "fail-fast" ambiguous environment of the "Moonshot Factory."
Experience managing international patent and trademark prosecution and understanding of global IP frameworks.
Experience handling third-party demands and navigating cross-functional perspectives to create streamlined processes for a growing company.
Demonstrated strong interpersonal, communication, and team skills. Experience advising and presenting to senior management, business executives, and technical teams.
Ability and enthusiasm to leverage cutting-edge developments in AI to enable smarter and more efficient work processes.

It would be great if you also had these:

Knowledge of industry tools and resources to analyze patent portfolios, especially regarding AI-enabled analytics.
Solid understanding of artificial intelligence, robotics, physics, clean energy, biotechnology, bioinformatics, or related technologies.
Sophisticated understanding of open-source licensing and participation in industry standards bodies.
Eagerness to work in a startup environment and flexibly roll up your sleeves as an individual contributor to help drive our fast-paced and dynamic business within emerging and rapidly developing industries.

The US base salary range for this full-time position is $266,000 - $350,000 + bonus + equity + benefits. Within the range, individual pay is determined by work location and additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary range for your location during the hiring process.

Please note that the compensation details listed in US role postings reflect the base salary only, and do not include bonus, equity, or benefits.