Associate General Counsel (IP/Business) – Non-Profit – Seattle, Wash.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people’s health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to ensure that all people—especially those with the fewest resources—have access to the opportunities they need to succeed in school and life. Based in Seattle, the foundation is led by CEO Jeff Raikes and co-chair William H. Gates Sr., under the direction of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation seeks an Associate General Counsel (Intellectual Property/Business focused). "Guidance, Solutions, Integrity" describes the Legal Team's approach to providing responsive legal guidance supporting the implementation of the foundation's strategies. The Legal Team offers creative solutions that accomplish programmatic objectives, develops and implements efficient legal processes to streamline the foundation’s grant making and contracting practices, and applies preventive legal strategies and compliance policies to minimize risks and safeguard the foundation’s reputation.

Responsibilities and Qualifications:
• Structure and negotiate transactions related primarily to life sciences issues, including program related investments (equity, debt, guarantees, etc.), collaborative research agreements, strategic alliances, licensing and other partnering arrangements to promote the research, development, commercialization and supply of products.

• Review and prepare transactional documents, grant agreements, requests for proposals and contracts, providing guidance in developing and implementing intellectual property strategies to accomplish the foundation’s goal of global access (making access to technology available at a reasonable cost in the developing world and promoting broad dissemination of information).

• Provide guidance in the due diligence process to assess business structures and existence of necessary intellectual property rights of potential grantees.

• Provide strategic advice on issues related to collaborations and public/private partnerships, including how best to manage intellectual property to advance the foundation’s goals.

• Train and educate program personnel regarding laws and best practices applicable to business transactions and intellectual property.

• Keep current on new and emerging laws and policy developments impacting tax-exempt organizations generally, and in particular, private foundations.

• Provide support in other legal matters or foundation policies and issues as needed.

Requires Juris Doctor with a minimum of 10 years experience in the practice of law with expertise in business transactions and efforts to establish large and diverse collaborative relationships and public/private partnerships involving complex intellectual property issues.

An undergraduate degree in or other demonstrated familiarity with life sciences or a related field; and experience representing or advising pharmaceutical and bio-technology companies on business transactional and related intellectual property issues strongly preferred.

Contact:
Please visit www.gatesfoundation.org/jobs, requisition 2626BR, for further information and to apply.

As part of our standard hiring process for new employees, employment with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will be contingent upon successful completion of a comprehensive background check. It is the policy of The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to provide equal employment opportunities to all qualified persons.

Additional Info
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Employer Type: Non-Profit
Job Location: Seattle, Washington