Director / Senior Director, Intellectual Property

insitro•South San Francisco, CA

8d•$255,000 - $312,000•Hybrid

About The Position

This role adds senior in-house legal capacity to protect insitro's science and pipeline. Reporting to the VP, Head of Intellectual Property, you will lead patent preparation, prosecution, and freedom-to-operate analyses across therapeutic programs and the machine-learning platform. You will also help design and implement IP strategy that keeps pace with the legal developments shaping AI-native pharmaceutical companies—translating shifts in the law quickly into filings that strengthen insitro's scientific, competitive, and IP position. Based in South San Francisco, this is a hybrid role with three days onsite and two days remote.

Requirements

J.D., active state bar membership, and USPTO registration (patent bar); this is an attorney role
Ph.D. in a life-science field
8-10+ years as a patent attorney with substantial pharmaceutical/biopharma patent preparation and prosecution experience (in-house or firm), including written-description and enablement strategy
Experience on the innovator side (offensive claiming and moat-building) and the fast-follower side (FTO analysis and navigation, licensing, and secondary patents)
Breadth across patents, trademarks, trade secrets, and copyright, with exposure to handling IP in partnerships, licensing, and business transactions is a plus
Deep expertise in nucleic-acid and/or antibody therapeutics and working knowledge of AI/ML methods and their application in drug discovery are both pluses
Comfort using— or eagerness to learn — AI tools and workflows

Nice To Haves

Exposure to handling IP in partnerships, licensing, and business transactions
Deep expertise in nucleic-acid and/or antibody therapeutics
Working knowledge of AI/ML methods and their application in drug discovery
Comfort using— or eagerness to learn — AI tools and workflows

Responsibilities

Prepare and prosecute U.S. and foreign patent applications across the therapeutic pipeline and machine-learning platform
Manage inventorship, ownership, and assignment matters across jurisdictions
Help design, implement, and evolve IP strategy and asset lifecycle management in step with the rapidly shifting legal landscape for AI-native pharma
Monitor patent filings, publications, and pipeline developments of competitors and translate complex landscape data into strategic recommendations for corporate strategy and business development
Manage the trademark portfolio and support trade-secret strategy and protection
Conduct and lead freedom-to-operate, patentability, validity, and infringement analyses, and counsel scientific and business colleagues on data-use agreements and use of open-source software, AI models, and third-party datasets
Support IP due diligence for partnerships, collaborations, and financing transactions
Identify and protect patentable innovations by partnering with research teams to establish systematic invention capture workflows and reviewing upcoming publications to prevent premature disclosure
Manage outside counsel, foreign associates, and the IP budget; prepare IP strategy and portfolio reviews for leadership
Maintain docket and information-disclosure-statement (IDS) discipline in partnership with the IP paralegal

Benefits

Annual Performance Bonus Plan
Equity Incentive Plan
401(k) plan with employer matching for contributions
Excellent medical, dental, and vision coverage as well as mental health and well-being support
Open, flexible vacation policy
Paid parental leave of at least 16 weeks to support parents who give birth, and 10 weeks for a new parent (inclusive of birth, adoption, fostering, etc)
Quarterly budget for books and online courses for self-development
New hire stipend for home office setup
Monthly cell phone & internet stipend
Access to free onsite baristas and daily lunch for employees who are either onsite or hybrid
Access to a free commuter bus network that provides transport to and from our South San Francisco HQ from locations all around the Bay Area