Director, Senior Patent Counsel

Job Description

Are You Ready to Make It Happen at Mondelēz International?

Join our Mission to Lead the Future of Snacking. Make It Matter.

As the lead for legal activities for the company across the region, business units and sub-function areas in the country and/or across multiple countries, you identify business needs and design, develop and drive the implementation of Mondelēz International ’s legal strategy through the service delivery model and governance to support commercial and corporate initiatives. You lead and advise the business on risk, anticipating and addressing internal and external factors, direct other legal colleagues in the execution of our legal approach, and decide the direction to take to address legal issues or concerns. In addition, you are also a leader and expert in a legal specialty area of responsibility or are a region or business unit lead; lead, review and revamp legal teams in a continuously changing environment; and ensure the availability of new technologies, systems and services in the strategy framework.

How you will contribute

You will lead in setting and implementing legal strategies that enable Mondelēz International to compete and to protect our people, assets and reputation while complying with legal requirements and standards of ethical conduct. In addition to these contributions, you will also lead the legal team in providing legal services to the company at an optimal cost considering internal and external resources, technologies and systems; provide legal guidance to ensure managers make informed decisions regarding legal operational risks; manage the legal strategy with outside counsel, including spending without compromising financial and reputational risk; address the complex legal environment by partnering with business units, regions and global stakeholders to identify and advise on laws and regulatory changes for a given country and/or across multiple countries identifying risks and opportunities for the company.

What you will bring

A desire to drive your future and accelerate your career with experience and knowledge in:

• Significant legal experience, ideally in a large matrixed multinational company
• Strong analytical, strategic vision, decision-making, and problem-solving skills
• Demonstrated leadership skills and experience navigating and presenting at all levels of organization
• Significant experience assessing, advising on risk, advising/coaching and dispute resolution in a multinational company
• Highest level of integrity and trust; highly credible and willing to express
• Excellent written and verbal communication and interpersonal skills
• Resourcefulness, including relevant new technologies and systems

ABOUT THE ROLE

Mondelēz International is one of the world's largest snacking companies, home to beloved global and local brands including Oreo, Ritz, belVita, Chips Ahoy!, Cadbury, Milka, Toblerone, Triscuit, and Sour Patch Kids. We are seeking an experienced Sr. Patent Counsel to join our in-house Intellectual Property team based in East Hanover, NJ or Chicago, IL (Hybrid). This role is critical to protecting and growing our innovation pipeline across a global portfolio of iconic snacking brands. The ideal candidate combines deep law firm prosecution experience with in-house business acumen, and thrives in a fast-paced, collaborative environment where innovation in snacking fuels competitive advantage.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

Patent Preparation & Prosecution

•       Draft, file, and prosecute U.S. patent applications across Mondelēz's core snacking technology areas including biscuit and cracker formulations, chocolate and confectionery science, snack bar innovations, packaging formats, manufacturing processes, consumer-facing digital and e-commerce technologies, and sustainability-driven materials

•       Manage and oversee global patent prosecution through coordination with foreign counsel in key jurisdictions (EP, CN, IN, BR, MX, JP, and others)

•       Develop and execute patent filing strategies aligned with Mondelēz's snacking innovation priorities, brand-building initiatives, and global product roadmaps

Portfolio Management

•       Manage and optimize a global patent portfolio, including maintenance decisions, continuations strategy, and portfolio analytics

•       Conduct freedom-to-operate analyses, patentability assessments, and invalidity/validity opinions

•       Support IP due diligence for M&A, licensing, and partnership transactions

Invention Harvesting & Client Partnering

•       Partner directly with Mondelēz R&D scientists, food technologists, packaging engineers, supply chain, and marketing teams supporting brands such as Oreo, Ritz, belVita, Cadbury, and Milka to proactively identify patentable innovations

•       Lead and facilitate invention harvesting sessions, ideation workshops, and IP awareness training across Mondelēz's global snacking business units and R&D centers

•       Serve as a trusted IP advisor embedded within cross-functional innovation teams, translating technical and commercial ideas into IP strategy

Design Protection

•       Prepare and file U.S. and international design patent applications to protect Mondelēz snack product packaging, distinctive cookie, cracker, and confection shapes and brand-distinctive trade dress

•       Develop design protection strategies that complement and reinforce Mondelēz's global brand and trademark portfolio across its biscuit, chocolate, gum, and candy categories

Strategic & General Responsibilities

•       Support drafting and negotiation of innovation agreements including NDA, MTA, JDA and PSAs

•       Support IP enforcement pre-litigation activities, including working with outside litigation counsel

•       Monitor competitor patent activity and provide landscape analyses to inform business strategy

•       Support enforcement, litigation, and opposition proceedings as needed

•       Contribute to IP policy development, best practices, and process improvements

QUALIFICATIONS

Required

•       J.D. from an accredited law school

•       Registered to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO)

•       Active member in good standing of at least one U.S. state bar

•       Minimum of 4 years of experience in a law firm specializing in patent preparation and prosecution

•       Minimum of 2 years of in-house experience as patent counsel

•       Demonstrated experience managing U.S. patent prosecution from invention disclosure through grant

•       Proven experience managing global patent portfolios across multiple jurisdictions

•       Hands-on experience conducting invention harvesting sessions and partnering with R&D and marketing stakeholders to identify patentable subject matter

•       Experience preparing and filing design patent applications (U.S. and/or international)

•       Technical background in one or more of the following: food science, chemistry, chemical engineering, materials science, mechanical engineering, chemical engineering, electrical engineering or a related discipline

Preferred

▪       Experience in the snack food, confectionery, biscuit, food & beverage, pet food, or broader consumer packaged goods industry (personal care, home care etc.)

▪       Familiarity with international design registration systems (Hague Agreement, EU Registered Community Designs)

▪       Experience with IP litigation and/or pre-litigation

▪       Experience with IP portfolio management tools and analytics platforms preferably including AI

▪       Background supporting brand-centric organizations where IP intersects with marketing

▪       Experience with trade secret identification and protection programs

COMPETENCIES & ATTRIBUTES

▪       Business Minded: Aligns IP strategy with commercial objectives and brand value creation

▪       Communication: Exceptional ability to explain complex patent concepts clearly to non-legal audiences

▪       Collaborative: Builds relationships across R&D, Marketing, Legal and Business Units; ability to influence without authority

▪       Global Perspective: Comfortable navigating multi-jurisdictional prosecution and working with international counsel

▪       Growth Mindset: Sees challenges and setbacks as opportunities

▪       Proactive: Self-starter who actively identifies IP opportunities before formal invention disclosures are filed; Brings a solution-oriented mindset to problems

▪       Innovative & AI Forward: Strives for continuous improvement, is willing to explore new ways of operating, and has experience leveraging AI tools to improve workflows and processes



Salary and Benefits:

The base salary range for this position is $142,700 to $235,455; the exact salary depends on several factors such as experience, skills, education and location. In addition to base salary, this position is eligible for participation in a highly competitive bonus program with possibility for overachievement based on performance and company results and eligibility to participate in our long-term incentive program.

In addition, Mondelez International offers the following benefits: health insurance, wellness and family support programs, life and disability insurance, retirement savings plans, paid leave programs, education related programs, paid holidays and vacation time. Some of these benefits have eligibility requirements. Many of these benefits are subsidized or fully paid for by the company.

No Relocation support available

Business Unit Summary

At Mondelēz International, our purpose is to empower people to snack right by offering the right snack, for the right moment, made the right way. That means delivering a broad range of delicious, high-quality snacks that nourish life's moments, made with sustainable ingredients and packaging that consumers can feel good about.

We have a rich portfolio of strong brands globally and locally including many household names such as Oreo, belVita and LU biscuits; Cadbury Dairy Milk, Milka and Toblerone chocolate; Sour Patch Kids candy and Trident gum. We are proud to hold the top position globally in biscuits, chocolate and candy and the second top position in gum.

Our 80,000 makers and bakers are located in more than 80 countries and we sell our products in over 150 countries around the world. Our people are energized for growth and critical to us living our purpose and values. We are a diverse community that can make things happen—and happen fast.

Mondelēz International is an equal opportunity employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation or preference, gender identity, national origin, disability status, protected veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law.

Job Type

RegularLegal Business Growth Partners and ServicesLegal