Senior Patent Attorney

About the role

We are seeking an Senior Patent Attorney to join Zebra’s Intellectual Property team. The ideal candidate will demonstrate strong business judgment and product awareness, alongside solid patent preparation and prosecution skills.

Responsibilities

• Manage outside patent counsel to develop a strategically and commercially relevant worldwide patent portfolio, with some in-house preparation and prosecution likely.
• Counsel internal partners on a wide variety of intellectual property issues in a way that is practical and commercially calibrated.
• Work directly with engineers and product teams to identify inventive concepts, understand technical and product context, and shape inventions into filings that reflect commercial relevance and strategic value.
• Partner with internal stakeholders to provide practical, business-oriented IP guidance, including identifying risks, tradeoffs, and strategic options associated with product features, roadmaps, and deployments.
• Assess invention disclosures and portfolio assets to inform decisions about filing, scope, timing, and alternative protection strategies.
• Leverage AI-assisted tools for invention intake, prior art analysis, portfolio classification, and workflow efficiency, and apply sound judgment in interpreting and acting on tool outputs.

Requirements

Must be able to work hybrid (3 days in office/2 remote) from Lincolnshire, IL.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Juris Doctor (J.D.) from an accredited law school
• Bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering, Computer Engineering, Computer Science, Physics, or a related technical field
• Admission to at least one U.S. state bar and registration to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office
• 12+ years of work experience but will consider candidates with 6+ years of combined experience in engineering and law roles with relevant degrees

Preferred Skills And Competencies

• Curiosity about how technology, products, and business strategy intersect, and a genuine interest in understanding product context beyond the legal analysis.
• Comfort forming and articulating provisional legal viewpoints when information is incomplete, and adjusting those viewpoints as additional context becomes available.
• An ability to explain intellectual property considerations and risks in clear, practical language that enables business partners to make informed decisions.
• A strategic mindset that prioritizes high-value work, questions low-value activity, and looks beyond the mechanics of drafting and prosecution.
• An interest in emerging technologies, including AI and data-driven systems.

Benefits

Zebra offers a comprehensive benefits package including healthcare, wellness, inclusion networks, and continued learning and development offerings. We also provide community service days, traditional insurances, compensation, parental leave, employee assistance program, and paid time off depending on the country where you work.