This is a California Remote, Exempt, Full Time position. The individual hired for this role must be located in the San Francisco, Bay Area, as occasional visits to our San Leandro, CA office will be required. This position reports to the VP of IP & General Counsel of the Company.

What we are looking for in you:

The Senior Patent Agent will join a newly formed legal team, serving as a champion of intellectual property at the organization. This key role offers the opportunity for an ownership-minded Patent Agent to build a foundational patent portfolio and help drive commercial success. This position will be trusted to manage critical touchpoints in building the organization's patent portfolio, serving as the primary point of contact for our patent portfolio and technical liaison. This role will report to our Vice President of Intellectual Property and General Counsel.

What you will be doing:

Prepare and prosecute high-quality patent applications together with outside counsel as the primary internal patent portfolio manager

Scout and drive patentable inventions through regular interactions with technical teams

Perform patentability and FTO searches in support of R&D and business teams

Build a knowledge base and establish ongoing monitoring of competitor patent portfolios

Perform IP landscape surveys in support of current and future product opportunities

Acquire a deep technical understanding of the R&D together with the business goals, and help formulate appropriate IP strategies to protect innovations

Provide education and guidance regarding patent matters across the organization

What you must have:

5+ years of experience as a registered patent agent

Admitted to practice before the USPTO

Advanced degree in life sciences, microbiology, and related fields, Ph.D. preferred

Strong patent prosecution experience in a biotechnology industry IP/legal department, including independent function and oversight over invention harvesting, pertinent filings, deadlines, and workflows

Command of both US and international patent rules and practices

Ensures accountability - holds self and others accountable to meet commitments

Action-oriented - Takes on new opportunities and tough challenges with a sense of urgency, high energy, and enthusiasm

Collaborates - builds partnerships and works collaboratively with others to meet shared objectives

Drives engagement - creates a climate where people are motivated to do their best to help the organization achieve its objectives

Cultivates innovation - creates new and better ways for the organization to be successful

Strategic mindset - sees ahead to future possibilities and translates them into breakthrough strategies

What you should have:

Preferably with at least 3 years in-house experience with a biotechnology, manufacturing, or CPG company

Excellent written and verbal communication skills; ability to communicate effectively with a wide variety of internal and external stakeholders, including executive leadership, R&D, Commercial, Regulatory, Legal, and third-party contacts

Superior attention to detail and a sense of client service

Creative problem-solving skills and initiative, flexibility, and ability to work independently

Cultural and emotional intelligence to develop and nurture collaborative relationships in a diverse environment

Check us out in the media, news, and in the community:

Forbes: The Meatless Mafia: Four Companies Revolutionizing the Future of Food

World Economic Forum: Air Protein Named WEF Technology Pioneer

TED Talk: A forgotten Space Age Technology Could Change How We Grow Food

Bloomberg: Crop Trader ADM Pours Money Into Firm Making Meat Out of Air

Benefits & Perks:

- Competitive Health Benefits, including ancillary benefits and HSA/FSA programs

- Unlimited PTO and Paid Holidays

- Parental Bonding Leave

- Retirement Plan with Company Match up to 4%

- Employee Equity

- Employee Development

- Stocked kitchen with snacks and drinks

- Weekly All-Hands Meetings

Air Protein is an equal opportunity employer:

At Air Protein, we are committed to providing equal opportunities. Because we want the absolute best people, we enthusiastically invite people of every race, color, orientation, age, gender, origin, and ability – or any other status protected by law – to apply to join our team.

Research has shown that women and people from marginalized groups may not apply for a role if they aren't a 100% match. Please don't hold back. If you think you will excel in this role, but perhaps you don’t tick every box, we'd appreciate the opportunity to consider your application.

About Air Protein:

Imagine a protein company unlike anything that has come before! Air Protein™ is on a mission to impact climate change by revolutionizing how we make protein. Founded in 2019, we make protein from elements of the air.

Air Protein is a modern food company, crafting the world’s first air-based protein to feed us more sustainably, help renew the planet’s resources and eliminate compromise between nutrition, taste and climate impact. Using novel technology inspired by NASA, we convert elements found in the air around us into protein using probiotic cultures, then turn those proteins into any meat imaginable. It’s where cutting-edge science meets bold ambition to reinvent the way we eat.

Join our team of passionate scientists, engineers, and business leaders working to transform the future of food with solutions we never thought possible, creating meat that is nutritious, delicious and more sustainable. Air Protein uses less land, less water and is significantly faster to make than any other meat available.

In addition to the chance to work with cutting edge technology to help combat climate change and working toward addressing the impending food crisis, Air Protein employees also enjoy competitive benefits and total compensation plans and a collaborative company culture. If you join us on this relentless pursuit for more, changing the world will soon feel as natural as taking a breath.

Air Protein is funded by ADM, a world leader in fermentation technology, GV (formerly Google Ventures), and Barclays, one of the world’s leading financial institutions.

Forbes:The Meatless Mafia: Four Companies Revolutionizing the Future of Food

World Economic Forum:Air Protein Named WEF Technology Pioneer

TED Talk: A forgotten Space Age Technology Could Change How We Grow Food

Bloomberg:Crop Trader ADM Pours Money Into Firm Making Meat Out of Air