Intellectual Assets Legal Counsel

The International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center, known by its Spanish acronym, CIMMYT®, is a not-for-profit agricultural research for development organization with partners in over 100 countries. Please refer to our website for more information: www.cimmyt.org

CIMMYT is seeking a dynamic, self-motivated, and service-oriented professional for the position of Intellectual Assets Legal Counsel to work in the Legal Unit of CIMMYT. The Intellectual Assets Legal Counsel supports the Contract Life Cycle Management (development, drafting, review, negotiation, amendment and release, quality control, and archiving) of a wide array of agreements entered by CIMMYT with its national and international (private and public) partners and service providers, globally. Provides support to the development and implementation of Intellectual Asset management strategies and cross-institutional projects. Prepares and maintains Intellectual Property registrations.

The position is based at CIMMYT’s campus in Texcoco, State of Mexico, located 45 km northeast of Mexico City, Mexico.

Specific duties:

• Support the Contract Life Cycle Management (drafting, review, negotiation, amendment, release, quality control, management, and archiving) of contracts and agreements entered into by CIMMYT with national and international (private and public) entities.
• Support the development and implementation of Intellectual Asset management strategies and cross-institutional projects and policies.
• Preparation and maintenance of Intellectual Property registration, including filing applications for copyright and related rights and trademark renewals.
• Research and analyze laws, regulations, and procedures to provide legal support concerning institutional in the context of all legislation arising from different legal frameworks
• Support the curation of agreements and other databases. Establish a database of nonstandard Intellectual Asset commitments and restrictions; manage database search function.
• Maintain a high level of support for stakeholders requiring input, search, and update data and information.
• Represent the Legal Department and CIMMYT before different authorities and forums.
• Manage and track a high volume of tasks and projects.
• Maintain Intellectual Assets calendar with meetings, filings, and reports required by stakeholders; follow-up with contributors to meet established deadlines; maintain related documentation.
• Support preparation of Intellectual Property reports.
• Draft legal correspondence, memos, and other documents as necessary.
• Prepare, manage, organize, and maintain Intellectual Asset related records.
• Participate in the optimization of processes for legal services processes and guidelines
• Ensure proper follow up of entrusted matters, tracking these matters daily in the provided dashboards and KPI monitoring tools that will be used to prepare the progress update to the relevant areas.
• Update the annual work plan document with input from task owners.
• Perform other related tasks within the job level as may be requested by the immediate supervisor. 

Required academic qualifications, skills, and attitudes:

• The selected candidate must have a Bachelor’s Degree in Law. Specialization in technology transfer or a Masters Degree or LLM in Intellectual Property law is highly desirable.
• Minimum of 5 years of Intellectual Property law experience within a company or law firm in patent law, copyright law, licensing, and technology transfer. Additional experience or knowledge in private and public sector industries related to agricultural R&D, biotechnology, or big data is a plus.
• Experience in the management and tracking of Intellectual Asset contractual commitments.
• Excellent organizational, writing, research, and communication skills, including the writing and communication skills, including the ability to communicate legal concepts to lay (non-legal) stakeholders.
• Advanced level of English. English will be tested, and the candidate should score a minimum of C1 on CEFR.
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office and Adobe software. Experience with ticketing systems software is desirable.
• The candidate must exhibit a sense of urgency and commitment to his responsibilities and deadlines.
• The selected candidate must exhibit the following competencies: Teamwork, Customer Orientation, Time Management, Flexibility/Adaptability, Achievement Orientation.

CIMMYT offers an attractive remuneration package and support for continuous professional development. In addition to the provisions of the Mexican Labor Law our package of benefits includes year-end bonus (40 days), vacation premium (56%), life and medical insurance, supermarket coupons, savings fund, social Mexican benefits (IMSS, SAR / Infonavit).

Candidates must apply online to M21128 Intellectual Assets Legal Counsel. Screening and follow up will begin on Monday, March 1, 2021. For more information on the recruitment process, please contact Ricardo Perez (r.perez@cgiar.org).

 Please note only short-listed candidates will be contacted.

Foreign national candidates must have legal documents to work in Mexico.

This position will remain open until filled. 

CIMMYT is an equal opportunity employer. It fosters a multicultural work environment that values gender equality, teamwork, and respect for diversity. Women are encouraged to apply.