Associate Director, IP Technology & Operations

Job Description

Position Description:

Associate Director, IP Technology & Operations

The Office of General Counsel is seeking an Associate Director, IP Technology & Operations to provide application administration and technology management support to the Intellectual Property (IP) organization.

Primary responsibilities are to oversee and manage the cloud-based IP management system and cloud-based IP document management system; enhance IP’s tools and technology portfolio and information governance programs; and design and lead technology-related solutions to further the strategic goals of the department. This position has a flexible hybrid office schedule based in Rahway, NJ. 

A successful candidate should possess prior application administration experience, strong project management skills and a curiosity for applying emerging technology. This is a people manager role and is responsible for managing two legal support professionals.

Job responsibilities include, but are not limited to: 

IP Application Administration

• Product owner and application administrator of the cloud-based IP management system (TIPMS) and cloud-based IP document management system (First-to-File)

• Responsible for the configuration, administration, and continuous enhancement of above systems

• Evaluate, test and provide training for database version releases and new features, manage data migration and improvement projects

• Apply country law updates to the IP management system and create custom rules and codes

• Design and deliver new process workflows or data-related projects and other process improvements

• Design and manage custom forms, emails and automated reporting

• Prepare and generate statistical and ad hoc reports and design and manage custom dashboards

• Prepare and generate audit and data integrity reports to identify, investigate and resolve anomalies

• Ensure compliance with all corporate and departmental IT risk management policies and practices

Technology Management

• Design and implement a long-term technology roadmap that furthers the strategic goals of the IP department

• Assess existing and emerging technology capabilities (e.g. Microsoft 365 applications, generative AI, machine learning, predictive coding, etc.) to improve technology utilization and operational efficiency

• Evaluate new vendors, suppliers, and solutions to make determinations on where to build, where to buy and where to wait

• Evaluate, test, deploy, and support technology initiatives, ensuring efficient implementation and ongoing functionality; develops standard processes, procedures, and reports for such projects

• Create, sustain, and strengthen vendor relationships to understand and influence their product roadmaps

• Maintain strong working relationships with the IT organization, while taking a customer point of view when examining implications of systems, process, or workflow changes

Operational Excellence

• Actively engage with members of the IP department to develop a deep understanding of the department’s needs and align technology initiatives with organizational priorities

• Continuously assess and identify opportunities to improve operational effectiveness through process reengineering, standardized reporting, and automation

• Automate manual processes, digitize physical tasks, and improve speed and quality through effective change management and the strategic deployment of technology solutions

• Leverage cross-functional relationships to influence the development and adoption of new processes/technologies to make a significant impact across the broader legal organization

• Participate in industry/corporate legal operations roundtables, user conferences, industry benchmarking studies to provide best practices and recommendations to IP Senior Leadership

Information Governance

• Enhance and support the company’s records management strategy and framework, including e-discovery, legal hold, and information review and preservation activities

• Ensure appropriate security for official records and information and oversee access to all sensitive, confidential, and restricted information

• Support and enhance the IP department’s internal and company-facing content management and collaboration tools and sites

• Enable efficiencies by ensuring seamless access to departmental institutional knowledge through the