Managing Director (In-house Patent Services)

The company

Swatch Group is the world's number one manufacturer of finished watches. With its 16 watch brands, the Group is present in all price segments and is also active in the manufacture and sale of jewelry, watch movements and components.

Swatch Group unites, among other companies, the following watch brands under its roof: Breguet, Harry Winston, Blancpain, Glashütte Original, Jaquet Droz, Omega, Longines, Rado, Union Glashütte, Tissot, Balmain, Certina, Mido, Hamilton, Swatch and Flik Flak. The Group has a strong distribution and multi-brand retail net with two sophisticated boutiques under the name of Tourbillon and Hour Passion. Swatch Group is also an important player in advanced nanomechanical, nanoelectronic and Bluetooth technologies essential to watchmaking and other industries with extensive R&D activities in various technical fields.

I·C·B Ingénieurs Conseils en Brevets SA is a 100% affiliated company of The Swatch Group Ltd that handles all patent related matters and manages a large patent portfolio including several thousand patent families.

For its Neuchâtel office, I·C·B Ingénieurs Conseils en Brevets SA is recruiting a Managing Director (100%)

Job description

• Leading and managing the patent department as an autonomous service organization
• Defining and implementing the department’s strategic vision aligned with Group innovation objectives
• Managing the department’s budget, ensuring financial sustainability and cost-efficiency in a self-financed model
• Developing internal costing structures, billing practices and performance indicators
• Optimizing resource allocation and workload planning across patent attorneys and support staff
• Driving continuous improvement of processes, tools and service quality
• Building strong partnerships with internal stakeholders, promoting the value of intellectual property services within the Group
• Instructing, monitoring and benchmarking external providers and competitors to ensure competitive positioning
• Mentoring, developing and recruiting team members to ensure long-term expertise and performance
• Ensuring compliance with legal, ethical and professional standards
• Providing intellectual property services for patents to all companies of the Group
• Protecting the innovations made in the various companies of the Group
• Drafting, filing and prosecuting patent applications in various countries throughout the world
• Oppositions, infringing risk and validity assessments
• Licence agreements and patent enforcement
• Reporting to the Extend Management Board member

Profile

• Strong expertise in patent strategy, portfolio management, innovation protection, and intellectual property risk assessment within an international environment
• Demonstrated experience in leading and developing multidisciplinary teams, driving organizational performance, and managing change initiatives
• Excellent strategic thinking, business acumen, and stakeholder management skills, with the ability to influence decision-making at executive level
• Strong communication, negotiation, and relationship-building capabilities across diverse cultural and business environments

Professional requirements

• Qualified European Patent Attorney before the European Patent Office (EPO)
• University degree in Mechanical Engineering, Physics, Microtechnology, or a related technical discipline
• Minimum of 15 years of proven experience in intellectual property, patent management, or a closely related field, including leadership responsibilities

Languages

• Fluent in French, German, and English

Contact

Aline Huguenin