Director & Senior Counsel, IP & Innovation

Which company will you join?

From Arthur Guinness to Johnnie Walker, our business was founded on people of outstanding character, and in 250 years, nothing has changed. We’re the world’s leading premium alcohol company! Our brands are industry icons including Johnnie Walker, Crown Royal, Bulleit and Buchanan's whiskies, Smirnoff, Cîroc and Ketel One vodkas, Captain Morgan, Baileys, Don Julio, Tanqueray and Guinness. Our success is thanks to the strength of our people, in every role. It’s why we trust them with our legacy and why we reward them with the career-defining opportunities that they deserve. Our ambition is to build the best performing, most trusted and respected Consumer Products Company in the world. To achieve these, we need the very best people!

At Diageo, our purpose is to celebrate life everywhere, every day. To do that, you will join an organization that is passionate about customers and consumers, and proud of what they do. Diageo teams constantly set high goals and then try hard to exceed them. We are also an incredibly diverse organization, and we value each and every one’s talent and personality.

About You:

Diageo is looking for a dedicated, independent and hardworking IP lawyer to join its global legal team. A key part of the role will be to lead the IP support for various of our highly valuable and business critical brands.

The role will report into our General Counsel, IP.

We’re looking for an individual who can deliver outstanding commercial advice to business partners, especially our global and North American marketing and innovation functions, and take responsibility for effective administration and protection of global and/or US portfolios for multiple product categories and brands, as well as support on IP-related transactional work on M&A and other investment-focused transactions. The person best suited to this role will be agile and able to deliver strategic commercial advice in a fast-paced environment. They will have a deep knowledge of IP and be able to think strategically about how best to use and develop our portfolio to clear the path and enable strategic opportunities for their business partners.

About the Role:

The Diageo IP team comprises 29 roles, based across Asia, Europe and the Americas. This exciting role is one of those 29 and will primarily lead on IP and advertising related counseling for numerous brands/categories in North America and globally.

• Be a key member of a team delivering all aspects of world class intellectual property legal services.
• Build proactive counseling relationships with marketing, innovation, tax, strategy and other corporate personnel- become a key strategic partner for relevant customers. In doing so, take ownership of business outcomes driving a flexible, commercially minded approach – encourage confidence and engagement in the business through excellent business partnering and thought leadership.
• Protect and handle global IP portfolio in a responsible manner to ensure commercially informed, efficient and strategically considered protection.
• Deliver IP-related support on Diageo’s M&A agenda, including due diligence, negotiation and drafting of agreements.
• Understand strategic priorities of market/business and provide legal counsel on global innovation and marketing initiatives, including clearance searching, rendering availability opinions, initiating and leading all aspects of filing programs, and advice on false advertising risks, claims substantiation, right of publicity issues, and other intellectual property related issues. Cut through complexity to deliver practical commercial solutions.
• Initiate and lead bold/efficient enforcement programs to challenge third-party activities that adversely affect the brands, including oppositions, cancellations and intellectual property related lit