IP Transactions Officer

The IP Transactions Officer works to develop, draft, negotiate, and review intellectual property license agreements and other related intellectual property agreements in support of commercialization of MIT’s intellectual assets. The IP Transactions Officer will report to the Executive Director, TLO, and receive guidance from the Office of the General Counsel.

This is a two-year term, benefits eligible position.

This is a hybrid position. Tuesday and Wednesday are the TLO in-office core days; additional in-office days are expected to meet business needs.

Responsibilities

1. With guidance from the Office of the General Counsel (OGC), work closely and collaboratively with the Associate Directors, Licensing and Senior Licensing and Business Development Officers to help structure deal terms and draft agreements that are fair, reasonable and attempt to maximize both commercialization potential for the relevant technology and a return to MIT.
2. Draft, negotiate, and comment upon intellectual property license agreements with established corporate entities, startups, and other research institutions.
3. Review, draft and negotiate confidentiality agreements, joint invention agreements and other related intellectual property agreements.
4. With guidance from OGC, advise and assist TLO staff by interpreting and explaining contract terms and conditions for a wide variety of IP related agreements. Work collaboratively with other TLO teams, including IP, Operations, Finance on license related matters.
5. Support OGC, and Associate Directors, Licensing in resolution of disputes involving licensees, including interpretation of terms and conditions, compliance with reporting and revenue terms, and agreement terminations.
6. With guidance from OGC, develop approaches and solutions for novel or atypical licensing terms necessitated by new technology areas and unique business models of licensees.
7. With guidance from OGC work closely with the OSATT Core to coordinate and harmonize the intellectual property and related provisions in sponsored research, research collaboration and research-related agreements with those in license, option and material evaluation agreements.
8. Review, revise and make suggestions for improvements to standard or template agreements to reflect changes in MIT policies, Federal regulations, and law.
9. At the direction of the Executive Director, participate in developing strategies, workflows, processes and/or procedures to ensure effective, efficient and timely completion of license negotiations.
10. Maintain knowledge of current trends and developments in the field of intellectual property licensing and stay abreast of current case law and regulatory changes.
11. Advise and educate faculty, students, researchers on MIT IP Policy and TLO commercialization processes and best practices, including directing individuals to other MIT ecosystem programs to advance their knowledge of entrepreneurship and commercialization.
12. As requested, participate in meetings with other research institutions, corporate partners, governments and other organizations to share knowledge and experience related to deal structures and negotiation of IP Agreements.
13. Other activities/projects as assigned.

Qualifications

MINIMUM REQUIRED EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:

• Bachelor's Degree and J.D. with 7 years of strong transactional experience drafting and negotiating IP license agreements, with demonstrated experience leading negotiations and counseling executive-level stakeholders.
• 3 years in the technology transactions or corporate practice of a major law firm or equivalent experience preferred.
• Knowledge of intellectual property law (patent, copyright).
• Must possess superior communication, drafting, and negotiation skills.
• Proven ability to grasp complex legal and business issues and synthesize technical issues at a high level.
• Excellent collaboration skills with a strong customer focused approach.
• Proven ability to work effectively in support of business development and technology transfer professionals.

PREFERRED EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE:

• High level of maturity, confidence in decision-making, thoughtful judgment and problem solving, and ability to stay focused on achieving a successful outcome.
• Demonstrated sensitivity to the needs of multiple constituencies in a complex academic environment.
• Knowledge of academic research principles and research integrity policy (Conflict of Interest, IRB, IACUC, etc.) a plus.