Sr. Director, Intellectual Property Lead

The Opportunity:

Reporting to the General Counsel, Seqirus, as the Intellectual Property Lead, you will have significant responsibility and impact. You will be instrumental in forming strategic partnerships with the respective business leads/TA leads. You will lead and oversee the global management of intellectual property matters (including patents, trademarks, copyright, contentious IP matters, regulatory exclusivities and, as relevant, trademarks and other IP rights) as well as provide strategic guidance to advance the IP assets and create commercial business value and commercial security and confidence. In this role, you will be integral to developing, defending and enforcing Seqirus' global patent and trademark portfolio, developing and enforcing the Seqirus' Regulatory exclusivities' portfolio, as well as ensuring compliance with intellectual property laws, thereby supporting the company's broader business objectives. You will lead and support all IP aspects of deals planned and executed by Seqirus. You will partner with the business stakeholders on developing life cycle management and life cycle initiatives which involve IP amongst other things. You will be the primary point of contact for Seqirus management, including the Seqirus General Counsel for all IP related matters (if required).

• Lead the Seqirus IP function, managing a team of patent and trademark professionals and technical specialists supporting products, platform technologies, and innovation pipelines. This role will report to the Seqirus General Counsel.
• Strategic oversight of IP litigation and contentious matters relating to Seqirus products, including coordination of strategy, evidence, and settlement positions with internal stakeholders and external counsel across key jurisdictions.
• Provide guidance and high-level oversight on trademark and brand protection strategy for Seqirus products, including clearance and use counseling, coordination of filings and maintenance with external counsel, and potential enforcement actions and disputes.
• Responsible for developing, managing and delivering on IP strategy for Seqirus, including relating to clinical development, commercial activities, parallel import, exclusivities (regulatory data exclusivity, orphan drug exclusivity, pediatric exclusivity, PTE/SPC), labelling, life cycle management, country support, communications, patent listings, and LoE preparedness.
• Overseeing and supporting the prosecution and leading defense of Seqirus intellectual property, including the identification and safeguarding of inventions relating to Seqirus products and activities, management of IP portfolio with respect to pending applications and granted IP rights taking into account national and international law and guidelines.
• Key business partner for senior leadership, commercial and R&D divisions in assessing and leading and strategically managing potential IP challenges relating to Seqirus development and commercial products. Strategic lead, oversight and input for IP disputes, including IP office challenges as well as court litigations (infringement and revocation lawsuits) relating to Seqirus products; advising Seqirus General Counsel.
• Lead and support IP aspects of Seqirus' deals, including licensing, collaborations, partnerships, supply and distribution agreements and M&A.
• Drive cross-functional collaboration across R&D, Commercial, Regulatory, Clinical, Manufacturing, Strategy, and Legal.
• Manage external counsel relationships and direct strategy for disputes, oppositions, litigations, and enforcement matters.

• Master's degree in life sciences discipline (chemistry, biochemistry, biotechnology) or a related field, preferably a PhD, or equivalent experience in scientific research.
• Qualified Patent Attorney or IP lawyer admitted to practice in the US, Europe or Australia or equivalent legal qualifications and experience in Intellectual Property.
• At least 12 years' post-qualification experience in Intellectual Property.
• At least 5 years of experience with life science technologies and operations of in-house IP teams with a background in a technical field relevant to Seqirus.
• Experience managing or supervising IP litigation (e.g., patent and/or trademark disputes, oppositions, and related proceedings), including instructing and overseeing external counsel.
• Experience with trademark matters (e.g., clearance and use advice, portfolio strategy, filings/maintenance managed via outside counsel, and enforcement or dispute resolution) is strongly preferred.
• Proven experience in managing an in-house IP team, preferably in pharmaceutical or biotech field.
• Proven experience in due diligence, life cycle management, IP challenges and/or negotiations.
• This role may require travel, especially to Seqirus sites in Europe, US and Australia and will involve working across different time zones.