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 build 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 $140,000 - $165,000. We also offer a hybrid work environment.

• 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.

• Juris Doctor from an accredited law school and active law license in good standing
• 10+ 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

Kao is an Equal Opportunity Employer, including disabled and veterans.