Corporate Counsel - Intellectual Property

Who We Are:

ACH Food Companies, Inc. (ACH) is a prominent consumer packaged goods company. In North America, we market, sell, and manufacture a premier branded portfolio of cooking oils and baking ingredients and foodservice brands in the US, Canada, Puerto Rico, and Mexico.

As the U.S. division of Associated British Foods (ABF), a $20 billion-dollar global food business, we have the backing and resources of one of the world's largest food companies, which empowers us to deliver consistent innovation and sustained growth.

We encourage an entrepreneurial spirit, where people have the autonomy to create and deliver within their business.

The Role:

ABF North America Corp. (ABFNA), a subsidiary of the multinational food and ingredients company Associated British Foods plc, is seeking an experienced lawyer for its Corporate Counsel - IP, North America position. The hybrid role is a unique opportunity with primary exposure to AB Mauri Food Inc. and ABF Ingredients, a family of specialty ingredients businesses, and occasional work for associated businesses within ABFNA. The Corporate Counsel will be a member of the legal department located in Oakbrook Terrace, IL, or with the AB Mauri business in its St. Louis, MO corporate office, working closely with ABF's Global Head of IP in London and other Global business leads.

The position seeks a commercially driven attorney with an IP focus to proactively work across multiple independent ABFNA companies to support on complex IP legal arrangements and strengthen and develop IP strategies within the businesses. An ideal candidate would have 5-7 years of legal practice in a corporate legal department or law firm, with a focus on intellectual property matters. Food ingredients or pharma experience is preferred. The ideal candidate is client-service oriented, highly collaborative, and excels at delivering high quality, actionable, and timely legal advice.

What You'll Do:

• Review, draft, and negotiate a wide range of intellectual property agreements, including material transfer, evaluation, confidentiality, joint development, collaboration, licensing, procurement, sales, co-existence, and settlement agreements.
• Collaborate closely with the Global IP leads, R&D, Quality, and Commercial teams at ABFNA ingredients businesses to develop and implement effective intellectual property strategies across the portfolios.
• Oversee the preparation, filing, prosecution and maintenance of the businesses' trademark, patent, design, copyright and domain name portfolios.
• Maintain an in-depth knowledge and understanding of existing law and monitor trends in the IP landscape to anticipate potential consequences for our businesses.
• Conduct analysis, research, and advise the businesses on freedom to operate/non-infringement matters.
• Develop and implement precedents, policies, procedures and best practices to safeguard intellectual property assets and promote compliance.
• Provide training and education to internal stakeholders on laws, policies and practices
• In collaboration with global colleagues and outside counsel, manage and develop the businesses' intellectual property portfolios.
• Advise business stakeholders on litigation risks, assess potential litigation exposure and costs, provide mitigation actions and play a leading role in managing IP disputes before the Registries and Courts.
• Oversee external counsel to ensure value for money, competency and expertise in line with developing business needs.

What You'll Need:

• A JD from an accredited law school and a license or ability to practice law in Illinois or Missouri.
• At least five years of contentious and non-contentious intellectual property law (and specifically patent) experience in a law firm or corporate legal department. Interested candidates must have a willingness to broaden or adapt their scope of expertise to include commercial and regulatory work as well.