Director, European Patent Office, EPO

Job summary
The European Patent Office in Brussels is seeking a Director.

Location: Brussels

Further details

The Brussels office was set up in order to co-ordinate the EPO's relations with European institutions, i.e. the European Commission (EC), the Council of the European Union (EU) and the European Parliament (EP). It also liaises with several European industry associations and NGOs (based mainly in Brussels) which represent IP stakeholders.

Main duties of the director include:

The role of the Director 502, who reports direct to the Vice-President in charge of the Legal and International affairs (VP5), is to ensure that the directorate runs smoothly and achieves high standards in terms of quality and productivity.

This involves, in particular:

• shaping an efficient structure in order to strengthen the effectiveness of DG5 in developing policies and strategies for the Office in dealing with European affairs;
• providing reports and advice to the EPO senior management on questions of policy and strategy with regards to the EPO's relations with the European institutions, industry associations and NGOs.
• maintaining regular contact with representatives of the EU, including Members of the European Parliament, European Commission officials, permanent representations of the Member States, as well as relevant professional organisations;
• exchanging information and views on IP with the European institutions and the relevant professional organisations (through both official and unofficial channels);
• organising meetings between the President (and EPO senior management) and EU decision makers and high-ranking officials from the relevant professional organisations;
• supporting public awareness events (including press conferences) and campaigns, in co-operation with the EPO's communication department;
• developing efficient and effective processes inside the EPO and with the relevant interface or customer services;
• developing an overall business plan (long-term strategy, objectives, workload/capacity, action plans, budgets, etc.) in line with requirements and EPO policy;
• ensuring effective use of resources to achieve the objectives defined;
• representing D 502 internally and externally as required;
• actively participating in the management structures of DG5.