Senior Counsel - IP, AI, and Trade

As part of Waymo's Legal team, you will work on the exciting legal issues surrounding our transformational autonomous driving technology and help drive our business lines forward from technology ideation through scaled commercial deployment. We partner with our public policy, safety, security and privacy experts to define transportation policy for the autonomous driving world to come, advising on regulatory changes that support and protect our users around the world. We collaborate with our engineering, product, strategy and operations teams to develop and protect our intellectual property portfolio and drive our corporate and commercial transactions. We ensure compliance with an increasingly complex and dynamic range of global regulations. And we anticipate, mitigate, and litigate high-profile and precedent-setting legal matters.

You will be based in or around the Bay area, and report into our Assistant General Counsel.

You will:

• Advise business teams, engineers, and researchers on IP issues, and provide counseling on IP terms in commercial and corporate matters
• Manage responses to IP-related communications, working cross-functionally across legal and business teams, including potentially evaluating acquisition and licensing opportunities
• Analyze current and emerging trade regulations and advise legal and business teams on strategies for compliance and mitigation of potential adverse impacts
• As needed, assist other attorneys with counseling on AI-related legal risks arising from current and planned uses of generative AI technologies
• As needed, actively and strategically manage a patent portfolio, including determining key areas for patenting, conducting patent harvest sessions, managing invention disclosures, and managing outside patent counsel to ensure timely, high-quality, and targeted work product

You have:

• JD degree with a strong academic record, state bar membership, admitted to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and 8+ years of relevant legal experience
• Solid technical background/understanding of technology used in autonomous vehicles, e.g., sensor hardware and/or AI/machine learning software and/or highly controlled technology
• Demonstrated experience in three or more of the following: identifying patentable technologies, patent analysis, acquisition, licensing, litigation, and/or handling of third party demands
• Experience with understanding cross-functional perspectives and navigating ambiguity. Ability to identify and create streamlined processes to support a growing company
• Execution-oriented individual with strong interpersonal, communication, and team skills. Experience presenting to senior management and engineering teams
• Eagerness to work in a startup environment and flexibly roll up your sleeves as an individual contributor to help drive our fast-paced and dynamic business within an emerging and rapidly developing industry.

We prefer:

• Prior in-house experience working side-by-side with engineering, supply chain, partnerships, marketing, and leadership teams to spot, address, and counsel on IP, AI, and trade compliance issues
• Experience developing integrated IP strategies that support business goals, spanning patent prosecution, technology licensing, and patent litigation
• Experience advising business and product teams on trade regulations, building out trade compliance programs, and developing strategies to minimize corresponding business risks
• Experience guiding teams on mitigating AI-related legal risks, including with respect to copyrights, trade secrets, privacy, and compliance with applicable regulations