Elastic, the Search AI Company, enables everyone to find the answers they need in real time, using all their data, at scale — unleashing the potential of businesses and people. The Elastic Search AI Platform, used by more than 50% of the Fortune 500, brings together the precision of search and the intelligence of AI to enable everyone to accelerate the results that matter. By taking advantage of all structured and unstructured data — securing and protecting private information more effectively — Elastic’s complete, cloud-based solutions for search, security, and observability help organizations deliver on the promise of AI.
What is The Role
We are looking for an innovative and curious Corporate Counsel to help shape how Elastic’s technologies are built, protected, and brought to market. Elastic is distributed-by-design and this role can be located in the United States or Canada, reporting to the Vice President of Legal Innovation (Product, IP, Marketing) with dotted line supervision by the Director of Legal Innovation. You will work alongside product and engineering teams from initial ideation through product launch, supporting legal design advice on features at the cutting edge of enterprise technology, helping the company to scale at velocity. The role assists with day-to-day in-house innovation and patent prosecution management. It carries a broad set of additional product counsel responsibilities collaborating with other legal team members to address AI governance, open-source licensing, dependency management, trademark and brand protection, baseline trade compliance backup, and commercial enablement. We're looking for a resourceful early career attorney with a roll-up-your-sleeves demeanor and the ability to navigate the intersection of law and emerging technology.
What You Will Be Doing
This is a dynamic role for a proactive advocate who enjoys finding solutions and bringing velocity to quality outcomes. In this capacity, you will:
Patent Prosecution & Invention Harvesting: Support Elastic's day-to-day patent prosecution and innovation motions. Develop a deep working knowledge of Elastic's product technology and roadmap. Assist in operating the invention harvesting and patent intake program by working with other Elasticians to identify innovative ideas, evaluate inventions for patentability, and prepare or review patent disclosures. You will support and assist more senior legal team members and stakeholders in working with outside patent counsel, help identify and prioritize IP filings in line with portfolio strategy, and support value creation and efficiencies in IP portfolio management.
IP Portfolio Management: Working closely with the Director of Legal for Product and IP, help manage Elastic's global patent, copyright, and trademark portfolios, including trademark monitoring and clearance, copyright registrations, and tracking all filing, prosecution, and renewal deadlines across jurisdictions.
Brand Protection & Enforcement: Support IP enforcement strategies by assisting with domain name disputes, social media takedowns, and coordination with vendors and outside counsel on pre-litigation disputes and assertions.
Product Regulatory Governance & Product Launch Readiness: Coordinate with cross-functional team members, including Legal Privacy and Commercial, Information Security, and IT to support our Product build and release functions. Support ongoing improvements to related internal guidelines as necessary to ensure all Elasticians are operating efficiently and effectively within the productization and go-to-market functions.
Open-Source & Product Counseling: Assist in managing day-to-day open-source software licensing and compliance programs, ensuring inbound third-party dependencies align with our outbound strategy. Support in the creation of advice and assistance for engineering and product management teams on intellectual property rights, open-source licensing, AI modelopen weight licensing, dependencies generally, and data collection/usage risks.
Commercial Contracts & Playbooks: Review, research, and prepare first drafts of commercial contract clauses related to AI, IP, Product, dependencies, and open-source software—including data rights and warranties. Support in the updating of legal playbooks to reflect shifting industry standards with the Commercial Legal Team.
Legal Research & Diligence: Support in and conduct factual and legal research, organize complex documentation for technology partnerships, M&A diligence, and legal disputes in a distributed environment.
Trade Compliance Support: Develop a foundational understanding of Elastic's product and its technical intricacies to provide backup support to our core trade compliance team. Learn to analyze and help apply export laws, such as the Export Administration Regulations (EAR), specifically as they relate to our product capabilities and software portfolio.
What You Bring
- Experience: 2–5+ years of experience in patent prosecution and/or litigation and intellectual property or product law, preferably with exposure to the software industry. SaaS, enterprise data platforms, or open-source products.
- Technical Background: A bachelor's or advanced degree in a science or engineering field. Experience in or academic background in software engineering is a strong plus.
- Credentials: Admission to the US or Canadian Patent Bar (registration number required). A JD from a US law school or LLB from a Canadian law school preferred, but patent agents are eligible.
- Patent Proficiency: Demonstrated experience drafting, reviewing, or managing patent applications, with the ability to translate complex technical concepts into clear patent claims and legal analysis.
- Technical Curiosity: A demonstrated interest in Generative Artificial Intelligence and the legal frameworks governing code and data.
- Problem-Solving: A self-starting, proactive approach with the poise to prioritize multiple projects and recalibrate advice as priorities shift.
- Communication: Excellent written and oral communication skills, with the ability to take complex legal and technical concepts and simplify the issues and desired outcomes.
Aptitude for Trade Compliance: A strong curiosity and willingness to learn trade compliance frameworks and analyze export law in relation to technical product details; prior trade compliance experience is not required.
Bonus Points
- Process Perspective: A desire to build and strengthen workflows and "productization" processes that help a legal team scale.
- Global Perspective: Comfortable working across time zones and cultures in a distributed culture with a flexible approach to problem-solving.
Compensation for this role is in the form of base salary. This role does not have a variable compensation component.
The typical starting salary range for new hires in this role is listed below. In select locations (including Seattle WA, Los Angeles CA, the San Francisco Bay Area CA, and the New York City Metro Area), an alternate range may apply as specified below.
These ranges represent the lowest to highest salary we reasonably and in good faith believe we would pay for this role at the time of this posting. We may ultimately pay more or less than the posted range, and the ranges may be modified in the future.
An employee's position within the salary range will be based on several factors including, but not limited to, relevant education, qualifications, certifications, experience, skills, geographic location, performance, and business or organizational needs.
Additionally, this role is still eligible to participate in Elastic’s equity plan, 401k plan, and a range of other benefits offered with a holistic emphasis on employee well-being. If you need additional details on our benefits, please review the US Benefits page on Wiki.
The typical salary range for this role is:
$106,800—$168,900 USD
The typical salary range for this role in the select locations listed above is:
$128,200—$202,700 USD
Additional Information - We Take Care of Our People
As a distributed company, diversity drives our identity. Whether you’re looking to launch a new career or grow an existing one, Elastic is the type of company where you can balance great work with great life. Your age is only a number. It doesn’t matter if you’re just out of college or your children are; we need you for what you can do.
We strive to have parity of benefits across regions and while regulations differ from place to place, we believe taking care of our people is the right thing to do.
- Competitive pay based on the work you do here and not your previous salary
- Health coverage for you and your family in many locations
- Ability to craft your calendar with flexible locations and schedules for many roles
- Generous number of vacation days each year
- Increase your impact - We match up to $2000 (or local currency equivalent) for financial donations and service
- Up to 40 hours each year to use toward volunteer projects you love
- Embracing parenthood with minimum of 16 weeks of parental leave
Different people approach problems differently. We need that. Elastic is an equal opportunity employer and is committed to creating an inclusive culture that celebrates different perspectives, experiences, and backgrounds. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, ethnicity, color, religion, sex, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender perception or identity, national origin, age, marital status, protected veteran status, disability status, or any other basis protected by federal, state or local law, ordinance or regulation.
We welcome individuals with disabilities and strive to create an accessible and inclusive experience for all individuals. To request an accommodation during the application or the recruiting process, please email candidate_accessibility@elastic.co. We will reply to your request within 24 business hours of submission.
Applicants have rights under Federal Employment Laws, view posters linked below: Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) Poster; Pay Transparency Nondiscrimination Provision Poster; Employee Polygraph Protection Act (EPPA) Poster and Know Your Rights (Poster)
Elasticsearch develops and distributes technology and information that is subject to U.S. and other countries’ export controls and licensing requirements for individuals who are located in or are nationals of the following sanctioned countries and regions: Belarus, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, or Russia, including the Ukrainian territories annexed by Russia (The Crimea region of Ukraine, The Donetsk People's Republic (DNR), The Luhansk People's Republic (LNR), Kherson or Zaporizhzhia). If you are located in or are a national of one of the listed countries or regions, an export license may be required as a condition of your employment in this role. Please note that national origin and/or nationality do not affect eligibility for employment with Elastic.
Please see here for our Privacy Statement.