Own Every Moment at NetApp
At NetApp, your ideas power innovation. We lead in intelligent data infrastructure—delivering unified storage, integrated data services, and solutions that help organizations unlock the full potential of their data, from AI to multicloud.
Ready to innovate and contribute to our path to $10B? Here, you'll collaborate with passionate teams, tackle real-world challenges, and see your impact in how customers transform and grow. If you're ready to bring curiosity, creativity, and drive to every moment, NetApp is where your journey begins.
Director of IP & IP Litigation
United States; Morrisville, North Carolina, United States; San Jose, California, United States; Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania, United StatesJob Summary
NetApp is looking for an experienced and strategic IP attorney to join its award-winning legal department. The successful candidate will manage, implement, and support NetApp’s patent portfolio and litigation functions. You will be responsible for building a strategic patent portfolio, advising on related IP matters, and managing patent litigation as the company develops its next generation technology in enterprise and cloud-based data storage, management, and services. You will oversee and manage all aspects of our patent portfolio. You will play a critical role in protecting and maximizing the value of NetApp's patent assets and providing strategic guidance on IP-related matters. This is a leadership position that requires strong legal expertise, business acumen, and the ability to collaborate effectively with cross-functional teams.
Key Responsibilities
- Partner closely with engineering and product teams to identify and harvest strategic inventions.
- Oversee the patent portfolio, including conducting patentability assessments, drafting and prosecuting patent applications, and managing relationships with outside counsel, with strong software patentability experience.
- Manage outside counsel in the filing of new patent applications before the USPTO and other patent agencies internationally in prosecuting active cases.
- Manage patent litigation in US District Courts, ITC, and IPRs.
- Work closely with the "Innovation Capture Committee," including senior NetApp executives, to manage and strategize the patent portfolio.
- Collaborate with engineering and product marketing teams to align patent policy with company direction (e.g., cloud or hybrid technologies).
- Identify existing and future projected competitors and assist the IP group to develop mitigation strategies (e.g., patent acquisition, cross licenses, etc.).
- Identifying and managing defensive publication opportunities.
- Manage outside counsel for filing and prosecuting patent applications in the US and internationally.
- Manage the entire patent lifecycle, including identifying, protecting, and enforcing NetApp's patent assets.
- Ensure compliance with patent laws, regulations, and best practices in multiple jurisdictions. Patent due diligence for mergers, acquisitions, and partnerships, providing strategic guidance and risk assessment.
- Advise internal stakeholders on patent-related matters, including licensing, validity, infringement, and litigation.
- Stay updated on emerging IP trends, changes in laws especially in patent eligibility, and competitive landscape to provide proactive guidance and recommendations
Key Qualifications
- At least 10 years’ experience in intellectual property law, including IP litigation, IPR, drafting and prosecuting patent applications in hardware and software technologies in the US and other countries, and management experience.
- Strong background in SaaS and in software patenting in the US and internationally.
- Strong personal communication skills, both written and oral.
- Strong work ethics and self-starter, with a growth mindset, in a fast-paced environment.
- Strategic thinker but can also be detail oriented.
- Flexibility in working hours in a global enterprise.
- Ability to travel domestically and internationally to visit R&D sites required.
- Ability to thrive in a high performance and fast-paced environment.
- Ability to prioritize effectively and execute quickly with excellent judgment.
- Solution-oriented and excellent problem-solving skills.
Compensation:
The target salary range for this position is 236,300 - 352,000 USD. The salary offered will be determined by the candidate's location, qualifications, experience, and education and may be outside of this range. Final compensation packages are competitive and in line with industry standards, reflecting a variety of factors, and include a comprehensive benefits package. This may cover Health Insurance, Life Insurance, Retirement or Pension Plans, Paid Time Off, various Leave options, Performance-Based Incentives, employee stock purchase plan, and/or restricted stocks (RSU’s), with all offerings subject to regional variations and governed by local laws, regulations, and company policies. Benefits may vary by country and region, and further details will be provided as part of the recruitment process.
At NetApp, we embrace a hybrid working environment designed to strengthen connection, collaboration, and culture for all employees. This means that most roles will have some level of in-office and/or in-person expectations, which will be shared during the recruitment process.
Equal Opportunity Employer:
NetApp is firmly committed to Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and to compliance with all federal, state and local laws that prohibit employment discrimination based on age, race, color, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, religion, disability or genetic information, pregnancy, protected veteran status, and any other protected classification.
Why You'll Thrive at NetApp
At NetApp, you won't wait for the perfect moment—you'll make it. The early planning, the extra thought, the bold idea that turns good into great: That's how our people operate and how we continue to push the boundaries of data infrastructure.
NetApp is the trusted partner for organizations transforming data into opportunity. As the only enterprise-grade storage service natively embedded in Google Cloud, AWS, and Microsoft Azure, we empower customers to run everything from traditional workloads to enterprise AI with unmatched performance, resilience, and security.
Our culture
We celebrate mold breakers, bold thinkers, and problem solvers. We reward initiative, impact, and ownership. We provide flexibility so you can balance professional ambition with your personal life. Here, differences are not just welcomed—they drive everything we do.
If you're ready to innovate, rise to the challenge, and own every moment - make your next move your best one. Apply now.
Submitting an application
To ensure a streamlined and fair hiring process for all candidates, our team only reviews applications submitted through our company website. This practice allows us to track, assess, and respond to applicants efficiently. Emailing our employees, recruiters, or Human Resources personnel directly will not influence your application.
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Equal Opportunity Employer*
NetApp is firmly committed to Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and to compliance with all federal, state and local laws that prohibit employment discrimination based on age, race, color, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, religion, disability or genetic information, pregnancy, protected veteran status and any other protected classification. We pledge to take every reasonable step to ensure that our applicants and employees are respected, treated fairly and with dignity. See the EEO poster, Know your rights poster, and NetApp EEO policy. NetApp makes reasonable accommodations, consistent with applicable laws, for religious purposes and for the known physical or mental limitations of an otherwise qualified applicant or employee with a disability, who can perform the essential job functions unless undue hardship would result.
State-specific postings/notices to applicants regarding contract compliance can be found here in English and here in Spanish, and fair employment practice information can be found here.
Reasonable Accommodations
At NetApp, we are committed to fostering an inclusive and accessible workplace where individuals with disabilities can thrive. In alignment with our values, NetApp provides reasonable accommodations and adjustments where possible to qualified applicants and employees with disabilities, in accordance with employment rights and regulations relevant to their country of employment, to ensure equal access to employment opportunities and job performance.
Applicants who would like to request an accommodation or adjustment are encouraged to Contact Us. Each request will be assessed on a case-by-case basis, in accordance with applicable laws and our commitment to equity and belonging within our culture, values and business practices. Requests will be handled confidentially and respectfully, and we will work collaboratively to identify effective solutions.
- For reasonable accommodations in Germany, click here.
- For reasonable accommodations in France, click here.
- For reasonable accommodations in The Netherlands, click here.
Please note that we do not accept unsolicited resumes to the above email address.
Data privacy
We care about your privacy and, therefore, ask that you read our Candidate Privacy Notice before you submit any personal information to us.
NetApp does not carry out any solely automated decision making (i.e. the process of making a decision by automated means without any human involvement) in determining your suitability or eligibility for specific roles.
However, the processing of your personal information is carried out with the aid of manual and automated tools. In particular, NetApp may use an automated employment evaluation tool or similar tool as one of several tools, actions, and/or steps to assist with NetApp’s review of candidate applications for various hiring needs. Currently, when addressing certain hiring needs, NetApp uses the Eightfold tool which can provide an initial ranking of a candidate’s skills and experience, based on information provided by the applicant in the application and/or supporting documentation, in comparison to the NetApp designated key requirements of a specific role. Additionally, the tool may be used to help review and/or rank internal employees seeking promotion or other internal mobility. However, our talent acquisition team or our recruiters will ultimately select the candidates for further consideration, following human review of any automated evaluation results and associated underlying documentation (or lack thereof) submitted with the candidates’ application.
An independent audit of the Eightfold Matching Model tool can be found at https://eightfold.ai/nyc-eightfoldmatching-model.
Candidates may request an alternative selection process which will not be subject to the Eightfold matching tool or to any electronic automated employment evaluation by contacting NetApp at careers@netapp.com. To bypass the Eightfold matching tool or any electronic automated employment evaluation, you must include a resume and job ID with your email to careers@netapp.com and you must include in the subject line of your email: Data Privacy Request. Candidates who have questions or want to request additional information on the source of data, type of data, and/or collection of data related to the candidate review process should contact NetApp at careers@netapp.com
Submitting an application
To ensure a streamlined and fair hiring process for all candidates, our team reviews applications submitted through our company website only. This practice allows us to track, assess, and respond to applicants efficiently. Emailing our employees, recruiters, or Human Resources personnel directly will not influence your application.