Description:

Guardant Health, Inc. is seeking an experienced and motivated Senior Staff Patent Agent to join its IP Team. As a member of the IP Team, you will be responsible for providing guidance on a wide range of IP and general legal matters related to the cancer diagnostics field. You will combine your legal and technical knowledge to implement and execute the company's IP strategy for Guardant's growing patent portfolio. The technology you will be exposed to is critical to Guardant's mission of improving the lives of cancer patients.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

Continue to build and manage a global patent portfolio, including preparing and prosecuting patent applications, identifying strategic areas for patenting, harvesting patentable inventions, and evaluating the patentability of invention submissions;
Collaborate with other members of the IP Team to develop and advise on global patent and IP strategy;
Perform infringement and validity analyses and evaluate risk mitigation strategies;
Develop relationships with counsel and educate scientists and other employees on patent-related matters;
Partner with relevant stakeholders across the company to provide strategic IP counseling with respect to research and product development;
Oversee and coordinate with outside counsel as necessary with respect to IP protection;
Shape and drive global patent and IP strategy aligned with the company's scientific, product, and business objectives;
Serve as a recognized IP expert and strategic advisor to senior leadership on complex or high-impact matters;
Lead complex and novel IP matters involving significant business risk and strategic trade-offs;
Establish and evolve IP strategies, frameworks, and practices across key technology and product areas;
Influence significant R&D, product development, partnering, and business decisions through IP strategy;
Lead complex cross-functional IP initiatives and directing outside counsel on significant matters.

Qualifications:

Registration with the USPTO;
Bachelor's degree in Molecular Biology, Bioinformatics, Computational Biology; Cancer Genomics, Genetics, Statistics or similar field preferred;
12+ years of relevant patent prosecution experience at a law firm or in-house position (or 8+ years with Master's degree/5+ years with PhD/3+ years with PharmD/MD);
Experience with drafting, prosecuting, and reviewing invention disclosures and patent applications focused on methods for analyzing genomic data from diagnostic next-generation sequencing (NGS) assays;
Familiarity with library preparation methods used to generate NGS data, including targeted sequencing, whole-genome sequencing, methylation sequencing, or RNA-seq;
Understanding of algorithms and tools used in cancer genomics (e.g., sequence alignment, variant calling);
Excellent communicator, project manager, and team player;
Strong interpersonal skills and be willing to work closely with scientists, managers, and employee teams;
Adaptable, flexible, and creative in a rapidly changing environment.

AI & Digital Fluency
Demonstrate curiosity, sound judgment, and the ability to critically evaluate and responsibly leverage AI-enabled tools in accordance with company policies, ethical standards, and regulatory requirements to improve the efficiency, effectiveness, and quality of work.

Hybrid Work Model: This section is applicable to onsite employees who are eligible for hybrid work location as specified by management and related policies. Guardant has defined days for in-person/onsite collaboration and work-from-home days for individual-focused time. All U.S. employees who live within 50 miles of a Guardant facility will be required to be onsite on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. We have found aligning our scheduled in-office days allows our teams to do the best work and creates the focused thinking time our innovative work requires. At Guardant, our work model has created flexibility for better work-life balance while keeping teams connected to advance our science for our patients.