Position Title: IP Strategy Manager

Department: Legal

Location: Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Reports to: Vice President, Legal

Role Description

We are seeking a highly analytical and commercially minded senior IP professional to execute and manage our global intellectual property strategy.

This role is not a traditional legal or patent prosecution role. The ideal candidate combines strong knowledge of energy and geothermal markets, with technical fluency in drilling or geothermal energy systems, and a practical understanding of intellectual property law and strategy. The emphasis is on strategic thinking, market awareness, and technical insight using IP as a business and competitive advantage.

Reporting directly to the VP, Legal and indirectly to the Chief Technology and Operating Officer, this position will play a central role in evaluating and expanding the company's IP moat, identifying strategic opportunities and vulnerabilities, coordinating portfolio activities internally and externally, and helping align IP strategy with technology development and market evolution.

This role requires close collaboration with engineering, commercialization, finance, and external patent counsel. The ideal candidate is detail-oriented, organized, and experienced in technology innovation and IP commercialization. Candidates are encouraged to apply even if they do not meet all of the listed criteria.

Key Responsibilities

Portfolio Development

• Evaluate, strengthen, and expand the company's global IP portfolio in alignment with business and technology strategy
• Identify opportunities for new patent filings, continuations, defensive publications, trade secrets, and other forms of protection
• Analyze gaps, risks, and white-space opportunities within the existing portfolio
• Develop strategic recommendations to fortify the company's long-term IP moat
• Support invention harvesting and translate technical innovation into protectable IP opportunities
• Help define filing priorities based on technical differentiation, market opportunity, and competitive dynamics.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Work closely with engineering and technical teams to understand evolving technologies and innovation roadmaps
• Participate in technical discussions related to closed-loop geothermal systems, drilling technologies, reservoir engineering, thermodynamics, and related innovations
• Coordinate with commercialization, finance, and leadership teams to align IP activities with broader business priorities
• Act as a bridge between technical teams and external IP counsel.

Market Intelligence

• Monitor geothermal, energy transition, drilling, subsurface, and adjacent technology markets for emerging trends and threats
• Conduct competitor landscape analyses, focused on patent landscapes and technology positioning
• Evaluate competitor IP portfolios and identify potential risks or strategic vulnerabilities
• Assess market attractiveness and commercial relevance of IP opportunities
• Support leadership with strategic insights on industry developments and competitive positioning.

Portfolio Coordination & Operations

• Coordinate global patent prosecution activities with external counsel
• Manage IP-related action items, deadlines, filing schedules, and strategic documentation
• Maintain oversight of portfolio organization, reporting, and status tracking
• Support IP budgeting, cash flow forecasting, and spend management
• Ensure timely execution of prosecution, maintenance, and strategic review activities
• Develop, implement, and continuously improve company-wide governance processes for identifying new inventions, evaluating IP opportunities, prioritizing filings, and managing the company's IP portfolio.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree or higher in engineering, geoscience, physics, energy systems, or a related technical discipline
• Experience working with patents, intellectual property strategy, technology commercialization, innovation management or related fields
• Understanding of energy technologies, industrial technologies, subsurface technologies, or other complex technical sectors
• Experience in the geothermal industry is considered an asset but is not required Strong analytical, problem-solving, and critical-thinking skills, with the ability to evaluate complex technical and business information
• Demonstrated ability to integrate technical, commercial, and intellectual property considerations into practical strategic recommendations
• Excellent organizational skills and the ability to manage multiple projects, priorities, and timelines effectively
• Experience collaborating with diverse stakeholders, including technical experts, business leaders, external partners, and legal professionals
• Strong written, verbal, and interpersonal communication skills, with the ability to convey complex concepts to a variety of audiences.
• Ability to work effectively in a collaborative, cross-functional environment and contribute to strategic decision-making
• Experience building or maturing intellectual property programs, including developing systems and processes for identifying, evaluating, and protecting inventions.

What Success Looks Like

• The company's IP portfolio grows strategically and defensibly
• Competitive and market risks are identified early and addressed proactively
• Engineering innovations are effectively translated into high-value IP assets
• Internal IP coordination becomes efficient, predictable, and well-governed
• Leadership gains clear visibility into portfolio strategy, opportunities, costs, and risks
• The company strengthens its long-term competitive moat in closed-loop geothermal technology

Ideal Candidate Profile

You are intellectually curious, technically fluent, commercially aware, and highly organized. You enjoy thinking strategically about technology and competitive positioning, not just managing legal processes. You can move comfortably between engineers, executives, and patent counsel, and you are energized by helping build a category-defining technology company with a durable IP advantage.