Director Corporate Counsel, Intellectual Property and Operations

Job Summary

The Corporate Counsel, Intellectual Property and Operations role will require both specialization in intellectual property matters as well as ability to perform in a generalist position supporting Cirrus business teams on a variety of day-to-day legal matters, including contracts and contract negotiation, regulatory compliance, and general corporate law. The successful candidate will have at least 7 years of broad-based legal experience in dealing with sophisticated issues. A background that incorporates a mixture of law firm and in-house experience is preferred, as is specialty experience in corporate law, and intellectual property. It’s also a must to be a team player, a person willing to roll up one’s sleeves to take on new challenges, and a person who enjoys practicing law.

Duties and Responsibilities/Essential Functions

• Draft, review, and negotiate a broad range of commercial agreements and contracts, including supply/procurement agreements.
• Lead, mentor and manage one attorney, who will directly support Cirrus’s procurement teams in both direct and indirect sourcing.
• Develop and implement intellectual property strategies tailored for product development and technology initiatives, including advising senior management on patent matters and freedom-to-operate matters while driving internal education initiatives related to intellectual property.
• Lead invention review board meetings.
• Manage Cirrus’ global trademark, copyright, and domain portfolios, and provide counsel on the selection of trademarks, trademark clearance, and trademark oppositions and disputes.
• Collaborate with outside counsel on drafting, filing, and prosecuting patent and trademark applications globally.
• Provide high-quality, pragmatic, and proactive legal advice and service with a focus on the general aviation industry, including providing counsel on FAA rules and regulations.
• Organize, enable, and drive other Legal Department continuous improvement projects with minimal supervision and conduct legal research as necessary to support the Legal Department’s initiatives.
• Assist with the management and support of litigation and claims matters, including product liability litigation, intellectual property, and commercial litigation and discovery/e-discovery activities associated with each.
• Target, develop, and manage the Legal Department’s monetization and revenue generation support activities and strategic initiatives with key stakeholders.
• Monitor and maintain current knowledge of aviation industry trends in legal and compliance matters and pursuing ongoing professional development to maintain current knowledge on best practices and risk management.
• Regular, reliable, and predictable onsite attendance.
• Willingness to step outside your comfort zone and enter new areas of law.
• Travel requirements estimated at 5%.

Qualifications

The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• J.D. with excellent academic credentials.
• Current attorney licensed and in good standing in at least one state with the ability to become licensed to practice law in Minnesota or in-house counsel waiver through Minnesota Rule 10.
• 7 years of Intellectual Property and Transactional law experience (preferably a portion of which gained in an in-house corporate setting).
• Proven negotiation, drafting and analytical skills for various types of commercial contracts. Must be a skilled writer and drafter with a steadfast attention-to-detail.
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment.
• Strong oral and written communications, presentation, and facilitation skills. Must interact confidently, persuasively and diplomatically with all levels of Cirrus organization. Must also be a good listener.
• Prior general aviation legal experience.
• Prior hands-on intellectual property experience.
• Demonstrated ability to work efficiently, prioritize workflow, meet demanding deadlines, manage multi-faceted projects in a fast-paced environment, and be comfortable with minimal supervision.

Competencies

To perform the job successfully, an individual should demonstrate the following competencies:

• Customer Focus: Builds strong customer relationships and delivers customer-centric solutions.
• Action Oriented: Takes on new opportunities and tough challenges with a sense of urgency, high energy, and enthusiasm.
• Drives Results: Consistently achieves results, even under tough circumstances.
• Communicates Effectively: Develops and delivers multi-mode communications that convey a clear understanding of the unique needs of different audiences.
• Situational Adaptability: Adapts approach and demeanor in real time to match shifting demands of different situations.

Preferred Experience

• Prior in-house corporate experience.

Other Duties

Please note this job description is not designed to cover or contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this position. Duties, responsibilities and activities may change at any time with or without notice. Work beyond 40 hours per week may be required.

Cirrus is dedicated to a drug free work environment promoting equal employment opportunity. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, sex, national origin, color, age, disability, religion, pregnancy, veteran status, marital and family status, sexual orientation, receipt of public assistance, genetic information or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.

OUR BENEFITS Cirrus provides a range of exciting benefits, including:

ABOUT CIRRUS AIRCRAFT

Cirrus Aircraft is the recognized global leader in personal aviation and the maker of the best-selling SR Series piston aircraft and the Vision Jet™, the world’s first single engine Personal Jet and recipient of the 2017 Robert J. Collier Trophy. Founded in 1984, the company has redefined performance, comfort and safety in aviation with innovations like the Cirrus Airframe Parachute System® (CAPS®) – the first FAA-certified whole-airframe parachute safety system included as standard equipment on an aircraft. To date, worldwide flight time on Cirrus aircraft has passed nine million hours and over 170 people have returned home safely to their families as a result of the inclusion of CAPS® as a standard feature on all Cirrus aircraft. The company has three locations in the United States, located in Duluth, Minnesota, Grand Forks, North Dakota and Knoxville, Tennessee. Find out more at www.cirrusaircraft.com.

Duluth, Minnesota

As the home to our corporate headquarters, Duluth is a four-season city on the western tip of Lake Superior and was voted Best Town by Outside Magazine. The splendor of the largest freshwater lake in the world offers a multitude of outdoor activities for adventure or rejuvenation. The North Shore lifestyle is known its year-round activities, including bicycle and snowmobile trails, kayaking, rock climbing, fishing, hiking, golfing, sailing and skiing. And as a top employer in the area, Cirrus Aircraft was recently named “Best Overall Large Company to Work for in the Northland” and “Best Workplace Culture” by the Duluth News Tribune readers.