Senior Paralegal

at  Akebia Therapeutics

Nearly 37 million Americans are currently affected by Chronic Kidney Disease. 37 million.
At Akebia we take that number very seriously and every day we come to work, with the purpose of bettering the lives of each person impacted by kidney disease and the renal community that serves them.
Our tenacious, passionate employees’ challenge the status quo and work to develop unique therapeutics that have the potential to set new standards of care for people living with kidney disease.
This is life-changing work, and we are all in, are you?

Akebia is looking for a Senior Corporate and IP paralegal to join its fast-paced and collaborative legal and compliance team. The Senior Corporate and IP Paralegal will support the legal and compliance team in all aspects of corporate governance, corporate and intellectual property (IP) records and filings and other legal and compliance activities. The Corporate and IP Paralegal will report to the SVP, Legal & General Counsel. This is an exciting opportunity to work with other members of the legal and compliance team and across the organization and gain exposure to a wide variety of business and legal issues at a commercial stage biotech company.

• Assist in the preparation and review of Board and committee materials, including agendas, minutes, resolutions and written consents, and maintain corporate minute books.
• Assist with other corporate governance matters, including compliance with Committee charters and governance policies, collection and coordination of Board and Committee evaluations and director and officer questionnaires.
• Manage state qualifications for the company and its subsidiaries, including filing of annual reports and licenses.
• Prepare, file and maintain all state Board of Pharmacy licenses.
• Assist with stockholder meetings, including preparing written materials and coordinating with Transfer Agent
• Responsible for IP docketing and deadlines, including monitoring and updating information on all domestic and international IP cases in the IP docket database and generating reports on IP docket database as needed.
• Assist with the collection of supporting documents for IP prosecution, including powers of attorney and IP assignments.
• Complete ad-hoc and special corporate and compliance projects as requested/required.
• Support financing and business development transactions, including assisting with corporate diligence and maintaining data room.

• Assist with organizing and maintaining contracts in contracts database.

  Basic Qualifications:

• 5 plus years of corporate paralegal experience, with a large law firm and/or publicly traded company

• Bachelor’s degree

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Paralegal certification
• Knowledge of corporate governance best practices and annual compliance; prior experience working on Board materials
• Strong project management skills, keen attention to detail and ability to prioritize multiple projects and priorities.
• Ability to interact and communicate effectively internally with individuals from multiple departments at all levels of the organization and externally with multiple stakeholders
• Knowledge of patent and trademark prosecution procedures
• Knowledge of and experience with a patent docketing software (e.g. IPFolio) and USPTO filing and assignment system databases (EFS, EPAS)
• Strong computer skills and document preparation (e.g., Word, PowerPoint, Excel)
• Excellent document drafting and proofreading skills, with high attention to detail
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills
• Unquestioned discretion handling sensitive and confidential information
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced environment
• Experience with a contract management system (e.g. Conga)
• Notary license

Please refer the Job description for details