Intellectual Property Associate Jobs in Kansas (NOW HIRING)

At Corbion, we exist to champion preservation in all its forms, preserving food and food production, health, and our planet.

We are seeking to fill a Legal Counsel - North America (NAM) role that will support our North American businesses by providing highquality, pragmatic legal advice and will report to the Senior Legal Counsel NAM. In this role, you will be a trusted legal business partner for regional stakeholders. The role is designed to build broad inhouse legal experience across commercial contracting, dispute resolution, operations, and compliance.

You will have significant exposure to senior business leaders, crossfunctional teams, and complex international matters, within a supportive environment focused on professional growth and development. This is a hybrid role that will be based in Lenexa, KS.

Key Responsibilities:

Legal Support & Business Partnership

• Act as a legal point of contact for business colleagues (including sales, procurement, finance, operations, HR), providing daytoday legal support and advice.
• Attend leadership and project meetings to understand business priorities, risks, and decisionmaking processes.

Commercial Contracting

• Draft, review, and negotiate commercial agreements, including but not limited to: NDAs and MTAs (globally), supply and purchase agreements, distribution and agency agreements, and consulting and service agreements.
• Assist in contract risk assessment and ensure alignment with Corbion's policies, playbooks, and approval processes.

• Partner with IP colleagues to help protect Corbion's intellectual property in commercial agreements, including drafting IP-related contractual provisions.

Disputes, Litigation & Risk

• Support litigation and dispute matters in partnership with the Senior Legal Counsel NAM  including information and document collection, stakeholder coordination, and review of draft pleadings and correspondence from external counsel.

• Partner with business teams to address commercial disputes involving suppliers, vendors, and contractors.
• Assist manufacturing sites with responses to regulatory or agency inquiries and inspections (e.g., OSHA).

Projects, CapEx & Transactions

• Support legal aspects of capital expenditure (CapEx) projects across North America, including contract review and negotiation support.
• Contribute to mergers, acquisitions, and other strategic or transactional projects  across the region, in partnership with the Senior Legal Counsel NAM and Global M&A Counsel.

 Compliance, Employment & Governance

• Partner with HR colleagues on earlystage employmentrelated matters, such as internal investigations, evidence preservation (in coordination with IT), and issuespotting.
• Support the delivery of legal and compliance training to business colleagues across North America.
• Maintain and improve legal templates, policies, and standard documents.
• Assist with business registrations and liaison with registered agent vendors.
• Partner with Finance on insurancerelated matters, annual reporting inputs, and related activities.

Qualifications & Experience:

• Juris Doctor (J.D.) degree from an accredited U.S. law school.
• Active license to practice law in Kansas, or ability to obtain Kansas licensure within one year through reciprocity or under a single-employer restricted license.
• 3+ years of relevant legal experience, gained in a law firm and/or an inhouse legal department
• Foundational experience in commercial contracting, litigation, and/or transactional matters.
• Basic understanding of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC) and competition/antitrust concepts.
• Exceptional legal drafting and analytical skills, with attention to detail.
• Collaborative, approachable, and serviceoriented working style.
• Ability to communicate clearly and pragmatically with nonlegal stakeholders.
• Organized and reliable, with the ability to manage multiple matters and deadlines.
• Comfortable with legal technology and digital tools, including Office 365 and contract management systems.
• Willingness and ability to travel occasionally, both domestically and internationally.

About Corbion

Corbion is a sustainable ingredients company dedicated to preserving what matters, including food and food production, health, and the planet. We specialize in lactic acid, lactic acid derivatives, food preservation solutions, functional blends, and algae ingredients, using our deep application and product knowledge to propel nature's ingenuity through science. With more than a century of experience, we continue working side-by-side with our customers to make our cutting-edge technologies work for them. Leveraging our advanced capabilities in fermentation and preservation technology, we help customers differentiate their products in diverse markets ranging from food and animal nutrition to home & personal care, pharmaceuticals, electronics, medical devices, and bioplastics. In 2025, Corbion generated annual sales of 1,267.4 million with a workforce of 2,408 FTEs. Corbion is listed on Euronext Amsterdam. For more information:  www.corbion.com

Corbion is an equal opportunity employer and committed to a diverse workplace.  All applicants will be considered equally without regard to race, color, ethnicity, veteran status, religion, national origin, marital status, political affiliation, age, sex, sexual orientation, handicapping condition, membership in an organization or any other non-merit factors.

Corbion provides reasonable accommodation to applicants.

EOE/M/F/Vet/Disabled

Corbion does not accept unsolicited resumes from individual recruiters or third party recruiting agencies in response to job postings. No fee will be paid to third parties who submit unsolicited candidates directly to our hiring managers. All candidates must be submitted by approved Corbion vendors who have been expressly requested to make a submission by our Talent Acquisition team for a specific job opening. No placement fees will be paid to any firm unless such a request has been made by the Corbion Talent Acquisition team and such candidate was submitted to the Corbion Talent Acquisition Team.