Senior Director, Intellectual Property Counsel

Our Company

At Teradata, we believe that people thrive when empowered with better information. Teradata Autonomous Knowledge Platform activates enterprise intelligence by unifying data, knowledge and business context to achieve tangible outcomes. With Teradata, organizations can provide agents with full context for impact when it matters. Our solution lets businesses connect and scale on premises, in the cloud, or through a hybrid approach. Teradata delivers real business value with AI.

What You'll Do

The Senior Director, Intellectual Property & Product Counsel, is a key player within the Teradata Law Organization, leading Teradata’s intellectual property strategy and overseeing a small team of IP professionals as well as Teradata’s Product Counsel function. This role serves as a strategic legal partner to Product Engineering, Go-to-Market, Ethics & Compliance, and other Law Organization stakeholders, helping Teradata protect and leverage its innovation while enabling responsible product development, launch, and lifecycle management. The Senior Director will operate as a trusted business partner across the enterprise.

Key Areas of Responsibility

Intellectual Property Strategy & Portfolio Management

• Lead Teradata’s global IP strategy across patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, open-source, and related IP assets, aligned with product roadmap, competitive positioning, and business priorities.

• Oversee invention harvesting, patent filing, prosecution, maintenance, and portfolio management globally, directing outside counsel to ensure strategic, cost-effective protection of high-value innovation.

• Advise Product Engineering, research, marketing, and GTM teams on IP protection, competitive risk, licensing, open-source governance, and product differentiation.

• Support IP aspects of strategic transactions, partnerships, M&A, licensing, customer negotiations, and disputes, coordinating with Commercial Law, Litigation, and other Law Department teams as needed.

• Manage IP risk, including NPE monitoring, competitive intelligence, freedom-to-operate considerations, and coordination with Litigation on IP disputes and enforcement matters.

• Develop IP strategies that support Teradata’s AI, data, and software business, including protection of AI-related innovation, product differentiation, and responsible use of IP in AI-enabled products and workflows.

• Oversee IP governance, education, and operations, including invention intake, portfolio analytics, IP policies, docketing/technology systems, and practical training for Product Engineering, GTM, and other business teams.

Product Counsel Leadership

• Oversee and mature Teradata’s Product Counsel function, ensuring legal input is embedded early in product planning, development, launch, and post-launch lifecycle processes.

• Coordinate with Product Counsel to ensure product-level insights help inform Teradata’s IP strategy.

• Oversee the Product Counsel team as the first point of legal coordination for product-related issues, ensuring risks are identified early and routed to the appropriate Law Organization subject matter experts, including AI, privacy, ESG, trade/export, IP, open-source, product claims, customer commitments, and commercialization models.

• Continue to develop scalable processes, playbooks, intake workflows, and governance mechanisms that help product teams move efficiently while managing legal and compliance risk.

• Partner with Product Engineering and GTM teams to provide practical, business-oriented advice on feature design, market entry, launch readiness, product documentation, terms of use, and product-related disclosures.

AI, Data & Responsible Innovation

• Advise on legal issues arising from Teradata’s AI and data-driven products, including model governance, training data, AI-generated outputs, product claims, regulatory developments, and responsible AI controls.

• Work with Ethics & Compliance, Privacy, Product Engineering, and GTM teams to design practical compliance-by-design approaches that support faster, more predictable product launches.

Leadership & Cross-Functional Collaboration _ _ _ _

• Lead, coach, and prioritize the work of IP and Product Counsel team members, ensuring high-quality legal support that is responsive to business needs.

• Communicate complex legal, technical, and regulatory concepts clearly to senior leaders, product teams, engineers, and non-legal stakeholders.

• Manage outside counsel relationships and budgets across IP and product-related matters, with a focus on quality, efficiency, and practical outcomes.

• Drive cross-functional alignment with Ethics & Compliance, GTM, Product Engineering, Privacy, Security, Commercial Law, and other stakeholders on product and innovation risk.

Who You'll Work With

The Senior Director will report to the VP of Law and will work closely with Ethics & Compliance, GTM, Product Engineering, Privacy, Security, Commercial Law, and other stakeholders to provide practical legal guidance that supports innovation, responsible product development, and business growth. This role will oversee a small IP team and Product Counsel function; partner with stakeholders throughout the organization, including Product, the Technology Office, and Marketing.

What Makes You a Qualified Candidate

• Juris Doctor (J.D.) from an accredited law school; active bar membership in at least one U.S. jurisdiction required.

• USPTO registration strongly preferred.

• Minimum of 12+ years of relevant legal experience, including significant intellectual property and product counseling experience in a technology company environment; prior in-house leadership experience preferred.

• Demonstrated experience leading global IP strategy, managing patent and trademark portfolios, advising on open-source and technology licensing, and partnering with product and engineering teams.

• Technical fluency in software, data analytics, AI, cloud, or related technology areas is strongly preferred.

What You'll Bring

• Deep knowledge of IP law and practice, including patent prosecution and portfolio strategy, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets, open-source compliance, IP licensing, NPE risk management, and IP aspects of commercial and strategic transactions.

• Strong product counseling judgment, including the ability to advise on product lifecycle issues from ideation through launch and post-launch support.

• Practical understanding of the evolving IP landscape for AI and data-driven technologies, including protection strategies for AI-related innovation, trade secret considerations, copyright issues, and IP risk in AI technology transactions.

• Familiarity with AI, privacy, trade/export, ESG, product claims, and other regulatory frameworks relevant to enterprise technology products sufficient to help the Product Counsel team issue spot risks for subject matter experts.

• Ability to translate complex legal and technical issues into practical, business-oriented advice for senior leaders, product managers, engineers, and GTM teams.

• Experience building scalable legal processes, intake models, playbooks, and governance frameworks that improve speed, consistency, and risk management.

• Experience using IP program tools or comparable docketing, portfolio analytics, and invention intake systems to improve visibility, efficiency, and decision-making.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, strong commercial instincts, and the ability to prioritize a heavy workflow in alignment with business strategy.

• High ethical standards, sound judgment, discretion, and a collaborative, service-oriented approach.

**Why We Think You'll Love Teradata **

We prioritize a people-first culture because we know our people are at the very heart of our success. We embrace a flexible work model because we trust our people to make decisions about how, when, and where they work. We focus on well-being because we care about our people and their ability to thrive both personally and professionally. We are committed to actively working to foster an inclusive environment that celebrates people for all of who they are. 

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Teradata is proud to be an equal opportunity employer. We do not discriminate based upon race, color, ancestry, religion, creed, sex (including pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, or related conditions), national origin, sexual orientation, age, citizenship, marital status, disability, medical condition, genetic information, gender identity or expression, military and veteran status, or any other legally protected status. We welcome and encourage individuals from all backgrounds to apply and join our team, bringing their unique perspectives and experiences to help us innovate and grow. If you require accommodations during the interview process, please let your recruiter know and we will work with you to meet your needs.

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