Lead Counsel, Product & IP

The Team:

The Celonis Legal team is an energetic, proactive, and forward-thinking group of experts who serve as a key business accelerator for Celonis, focusing on identifying, avoiding, mitigating, and solving challenges across the business. The Lead Counsel will be part of a close-knit team of legal experts all over the world and will take responsibility for supporting the Celonis Products and managing the company’s IP portfolio, all while encouraging best practices, managing risks, and enabling innovation.

The Role:

The Lead Counsel, Product & IP will be part of Celonis’ global Legal, Ethics, and Compliance organization and initially report to the Vice President & AGC, Commercial and Product. A successful candidate will be expected to provide pragmatic, creative, collaborative and solution-oriented legal support; will have a strong business sense and have experience working as a self-starter in an environment that is fast-paced, business and results-oriented and team-focused.

The work you’ll do:

• Serve as legal business partner to the company’s Product and Engineering organizations, embedding legal guidance directly into the product development lifecycle and supporting new product and feature development, launches and end-of-life motions
• Manage the company’s patent and trademark portfolios with the support of outside counsel, including IP monitoring and enforcement
• IP clearance and due diligence
• Participate in the company’s Patent Council as a strategic advisor, and be responsible for reviewing invention submissions, gathering consensus opinions on whether patents should be sought for inventions in accordance with the company’s patent strategy, and managing outside counsel in the patent application process
• Administer the Celonis Patent Reward Program
• Manage policies for, and provide enablement training on, best practices for the use and protection of the Company’s intellectual property holdings
• Provide expert advice and support on technology matters pertinent to the company, including artificial intelligence, data use and handling practices and open source software
• Support People & Culture on employee-related IP policies and issues
• Consult and negotiate IP licensing provisions governing use of the company's IP by third parties
• Contribute to ongoing process improvement, reduction of friction and problem solving
• Further Celonis’ business, financial and risk management objectives through diligent, proactive and creative lawyering

The qualifications you need:

• Law degree from a highly-regarded school.
• Active bar membership in relevant jurisdiction.
• Native or bilingual fluency in English, business fluency in a second language would be a significant plus.
• 12+ years combined experience in a law firm and/or in-house legal department of a multinational organization.
• Broad understanding of technology products and business operations.
• A strong sense of ownership, inquisitive and enthusiastic about technology, enjoy being continually challenged, and demonstrated sound judgment in ambiguous situations.
• Highly adaptable and flexible – you are not stuck in your ways, but rather are comfortable with jumping into undefined programs and you are able to bring structure and results.
• Ability to think “outside the box” and address complex matters with creative solutions.
• Excellent interpersonal, written/verbal communication and negotiation skills.
• Highly organized, both in thought, approach, and in written work product.
• Ability to multi-task and prioritize, with a business-oriented mindset.
• Exceptional interpersonal, analytical, communication, and collaboration skills with a strong capacity for empathy, self-awareness, and effective relationship management.