Associate General Counsel, Marketing & Trademarks

We are looking for an experienced marketing law and trademark attorney to lead legal strategy and operations for global marketing, e-commerce, and trademark activities.

Reporting to our General Counsel, this senior in-house role will support all levels of our marketing teams, and oversee global trademark matters while collaborating with our parent company's trademark team in Japan. Additionally, you will supervise a small legal team of IP paralegals and/or attorneys, and building scalable processes and trainings to manage high-volume and fast moving marketing legal work.

At Kao, we offer amazing benefits that are available to you on your first day of employment (healthcare, 401(k) plus company match), 36 total days off (vacation + holidays + sick) and a reasonable salary range of $160,000 - $200,000. We also offer a hybrid work environment.

What you will do:

• Draft, review, and negotiate influencer, agency, licensing, and co‑marketing agreements.
• Provide daily hands-on legal counsel (by email and in-person or virtual meetings) to personnel at all levels of the company, while also supporting large and complex legal projects.
• Support global trademark operations, including advising on clearance, filings, renewals, enforcement, oppositions, monitoring, and anti-counterfeiting.
• Manage 1–2 attorneys and 2 IP paralegals.
• Oversee contest and sweepstakes rules and promotional compliance.
• Ensure compliance with company policies and deliver legal training to marketing teams.
• Build processes, workflows, and legal technology solutions in relation to marketing legal operations.

What you will need:

• Juris Doctor from an accredited law school and active law license in good standing
• 7+ years of marketing/advertising and trademark/copyright experience
• Demonstrated leadership managing attorneys, paralegals, and outside counsel
• Experience in trademark clearance, prosecution, enforcement, and portfolio management
• Ability to work with global teams, including Japan
• Ability to design scalable legal processes and leverage legal technology

How we work: Having been selected among the World's Most Ethical Companies for 19 consecutive years, we are a company with a purpose and strong corporate values. We never compromise on quality and create our products with care for the consumer and the environment. At Kao, each employee can shape their job and their career. We work collaboratively to achieve our common goals, always aiming to deliver the best for our customers.

What we offer: A friendly and flexible work environment with great compensation packages, benefits package, ongoing development and the opportunity to enhance your skills and deliver tangible results. At Kao your voice will be heard. Your opinion really counts. We believe that change comes from taking opportunities into your own hands, so we value and reward entrepreneurial thinking and new ideas.

Hiring Process: Kao embraces the diversity and the individual personalities of its people because we believe it is diversity that makes us strong. This is why we welcome applications from all areas of the global community.

Want to learn more: If you feel you are as unique as our products and want to find out why 33,000 people across the globe opted for a career with us please visit our Americas website (https://www.kao.com/americas/en/).

Kao is an Equal Opportunity Employer, including disabled and veterans

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