Senior Director, Intellectual Property
About this role
About the role
Sana Biotechnology is growing, and we are hiring new team members who believe in the potential of engineered cells as medicines, who want to challenge the status quo, and who lead with the desire to work on novel ideas. As a Senior Director you will assist in the implementation of the company’s intellectual property strategy in the cell and gene therapy space, as well as counsel clients, manage patent drafting and prosecution, and assist in patent landscape activities, review publications and support business activities as needed. The Senior Director will be an integral working partner with the company’s research and development (R&D) organization.
What you’ll do
- Partner with R&D to develop a deep understanding of the science and technologies at Sana, including work in cutting edge technologies in the cell therapy space
- Be the responsible lead IP attorney for certain pre-clinical and clinical programs and leverage knowledge about Sana’s science and technologies to develop patent portfolio strategies
- Partner with R&D to identify patentable subject matter and implement patent protection strategies, including drafting, filing and prosecuting patent applications
- Conduct or direct patent landscape overviews, freedom-to-operate analyses, validity assessments and patentability assessments
- Advise and provide guidance to senior managers on IP-related issues
- Develop IP policies and provide IP-related education to the company
- Provide direction, strategy, and/or support for third-party IP issues, as needs arise (e.g., oppositions, third-party observations, inter party reviews, litigation, etc.)
- Manage external relationships with outside counsel and collaborators
- Work on additional legal projects, as needed
What we’re looking for
- Bachelors plus at least 12 yrs or equivalent combination of relevant education and experience
- J.D. degree
- Membership in at least one state bar
- Admitted to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
- 5+ years experience in patent drafting and prosecution, including global portfolios
- Experience managing high-volume intellectual property workflow
- Intense commitment to high moral standards and business ethics
- Strong collaborator who can work successfully and build relationships with internal legal colleagues, internal stakeholders, and external parties to achieve business goals
- Excellent oral and written communication skills, articulate, direct and forthright
- Be part of a team of business focused, creative, and strategic thinkers with broad perspectives
- Strong organizational and administrative skills
- Must have attention to detail and excellent drafting skills
- Strong ability to adapt to changes and be agile
What will separate you from the crowd
- Ph.D. degree in biochemistry, biology, immunology, or another technical field relevant to the biotech industry
- Experience managing intellectual property for cellular therapies
- Experience both in the law firm and in-house legal department settings
What you should know
- The base pay range for this position at commencement of employment is expected to be between $275,000 and $325,000/year for Senior Director; however, base pay offered may vary depending on multiple individualized factors, including market location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience
How we work together for patients
- Lead from every seat – we seek to understand, act with honesty, and engage in the crucial conversations
- Thrive as a team – we hire amazing people, are intensely curious, and cultivate inclusion and personal connectivity
- Make it happen – we value vigorous debate, alignment around our decisions, and resilient execution
Get to know us
At Sana, we believe that a workforce with varied backgrounds strengthens us as a company and helps us to achieve our mission to meaningfully change the outcome of many human diseases. This belief is a pillar of our business and is critical to our success. Our goal is that Sana is the place for talented people to bring their authentic selves to work, to have a great career and to deeply, positively impact patients.
Core to our values, we believe there is nothing more important than the health and wellness of you and your family. For benefit eligible employees, we cover a generous portion of the cost for employee health coverage, making high-quality care more accessible and affordable. We offer ample time-off (various paid time off benefits, such as holidays, vacation, sick time, and parental leave), short- and long-term disability, employer paid basic life insurance, additional voluntary life insurance protection, financial wellness programs including financial planning resources, a 401(k) Plan with an immediately vested employer match, Tuition Reimbursement and Student Loan Repayment, Employee Stock Purchase Plan, commuter subsidy and a variety of wellness offerings to support each person individually. For more details on our benefits, visit Sana’s Benefits Portal.
We are committed to providing a workplace free of discrimination and harassment based on race, color, religion, age, gender, national origin, ancestry, physical or mental or sensory disability (including the use of a trained guide dog or service animal by a person with a disability), genetic information, actual or perceived HIV or Hepatitis C infection, medical condition (cancer or a record or history of cancer and genetic characteristics), marital status, sexual orientation, sexual preference, pregnancy (including childbirth and related medical conditions), disability, veteran status, political ideology, social class (including caste/caste identity), taking or requesting statutorily protected leave, status as a victim of domestic violence, sexual assault or stalking, or any other basis prohibited by applicable law.
To perform this job successfully, you must be able to perform each job responsibility satisfactorily. The job description listed above is representative of the knowledge, skills, and/or abilities required for this position. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the functions described above.
Company at a glance
Sana Biotechnology is focused on utilizing engineered cells as medicines for patients. The ability to modify genes and use cells as medicines will be one of the most important advances in healthcare over the next several decades. Sana is building differentiated capabilities across the spectrum of cell and gene therapy.
Three aspirations drive Sana as we look to discover treatments for patients with poor outcomes or currently untreatable diseases. The first is the ability to repair and control the genes in any cell in the body. We are advancing novel delivery technologies with the goal of being able to deliver any payload to any cell in a specific, predictable, and repeatable manner, paving the way for next-generation in vivo gene therapy. Next is the ability to differentiate pluripotent stem cells ex vivo into immune-cloaked functional cells with the aspiration of being able to replace any missing or damaged cells in the body. Last is a belief we can enable broader access to our therapies through focusing on scalable manufacturing solutions, the cost of manufacturing, and aligning with key stakeholders.
Sana launched in early 2019 and has over 350 employees in Seattle, Cambridge, and South San Francisco. Sana was founded with the long view – bringing together great people and the best technologies to deliver on the challenging promise of using engineered cells to meaningfully change the outcome of many human diseases.
Top Benefits
- Health insurance
- Paid time off
- Parental leave
- Disability insurance
- Life insurance
- Financial wellness programs
- 401(k) plan
- Tuition reimbursement
- Student loan repayment
- Employee stock purchase plan
- Commuter subsidy
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