4D Molecular Therapeutics · 1 day ago
Senior Director, Intellectual Property
Emeryville, CA
Full-time
Onsite
Director/Executive
$280K/yr - $330K/yr
10+ years exp4D Molecular Therapeutics is a leading late-stage biotechnology company advancing durable and disease-targeted therapeutics. They are seeking an experienced intellectual property attorney to manage their intellectual property portfolio and provide strategic counsel on various facets of intellectual property law.
BiotechnologyGenetics
Responsibilities
Collaborate with Chief Legal Officer on development of 4DMT’s intellectual property strategy
Responsible for implementing key elements of 4DMT’s intellectual property strategy, and manages its patent, trade secret, and trademark portfolio; implements a strategy for IP lifecycle management
Directs outside counsel in the preparation and prosecution of applications and responding to office actions; directs outside counsel in evaluating the patentability of invention submissions and registrability of trademarks globally; manages related outside counsel budgets
Identifies strategic areas for patenting, trade secret protection, and trademarking; collaborates with R&D, CMC, Clinical Science, and other functions to proactively identify and develop patentable intellectual property to prepare, file, and prosecute
Manages patentability, freedom-to-operate, infringement, validity, and regulatory exclusivity analyses
Identifies and tracks 4DMT trade secrets and provides counsel with respect to 4DMT’s trade secret protection practices
Provides IP perspective and counseling at 4DMT meetings and presents on IP topics
Counsels and trains internal clients on intellectual property practices and policies
Conducts IP due diligence for business development activities and supports IP due diligence related to financing activities
Drafts, reviews, and negotiates agreements to support R&D and CMC activities, including NDAs, MTAs, MSAs, sponsored research agreements, consulting agreements, and licenses
Collaborates with Legal colleagues, Business Development, and other key leaders and functions on key strategic agreements, including licenses, collaboration agreements, and other business development efforts
Assists with other Legal Department matters, including litigation support, SEC reporting (IP-related sections), records management, compliance activities, and template projects
Other duties as assigned, nothing in this job description restricts management’s right to assign or reassign duties and responsibilities to this job at any time
Qualification
Required
J.D. degree or equivalent from an accredited law school
Ph.D. in molecular biology, genetics, biochemistry, or other biological field related to the biopharma industry
Admission to at least one U.S. state bar
Registered to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office
10+ years of patent prosecution experience as an attorney in the life sciences field, particularly in biopharma (can be a combination of law firm and in-house experience)
Strong knowledge of patent, trade secret, and trademark practices, as well as current U.S. and foreign patent, trade secret, and trademark laws
In-house experience in and knowledge of drug development, with expertise in genetic medicines strongly preferred; in-house experience at one or more publicly traded, commercial-stage biotechnology, pharmaceutical, or biopharmaceutical companies
Experience managing outside IP counsel and non-attorney legal staff
Excellent analytical and organizational skills and demonstrated ability to effectively collaborate and manage several simultaneous projects under deadline pressure
Excellent communication (verbal and written), listening, negotiation, and presentation skills
Solid interpersonal skills and the demonstrated ability to influence and partner across all levels of the Company
Highest integrity, excellent judgment, and the ability to proactively recognize and effectively communicate legal issues to the Chief Legal Officer and other members of company management
Preferred
Experience in counseling life sciences R&D and CMC teams with respect to day-to-day transactions, including experience reviewing and negotiating confidentiality agreements, manufacturing agreements, material transfer agreements, sponsored research agreements, master services agreements, consulting agreements, and licenses
Prior experience providing IP input on life sciences strategic transactions
Prior IP litigation experience
Company
4D Molecular Therapeutics
4D Molecular Therapeutics designs, develops, and commercializes transformative gene therapeutic products for unmet medical conditions.
51-200 employees
H1B Sponsorship
4D Molecular Therapeutics has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not
guarantee sponsorship for this specific role. Below presents additional info for your
reference. (Data Powered by US Department of Labor)
Distribution of Different Job Fields Receiving Sponsorship
Represents job field similar to this job
Trends of Total Sponsorships
2025 (1)
2024 (3)
2023 (1)
2022 (1)
2021 (4)
Funding
Current Stage
Public CompanyTotal Funding
$702.5MKey Investors
Cystic Fibrosis FoundationViking Global Investors
2025-11-06Post Ipo Equity· $100M
2025-10-13Post Ipo Equity· $7.5M
2024-02-06Post Ipo Equity· $300M
Leadership Team
David Kirn
Co-Founder & CEO
L
Liansheng Zhu
Sr VP Biometrics and Data Quality
Recent News
2026-01-07
Longevity.Technology - Latest News, Opinions, Analysis and Research
2025-12-19
Benzinga.com
2025-12-19
Company data provided by crunchbase