Director of Legal – Commercial Contracts & Strategic Transactions

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Tokyo Electron U.S. seeks a Director of Legal to lead our Commercial Contracts Legal Team, driving excellence in complex transactions across sales, procurement, R&D, investments and sponsored research agreements and various other commercial transactions. This leadership role combines strategic oversight, team development, and hands-on legal expertise to enable business growth while managing risk.

Scope and Impact

The Director of Legal – Commercial Contracts & Strategic Transactions holds enterprise-wide responsibility for leading the legal function supporting all commercial, procurement, R&D, investment, and sponsored research transactions. This role directly influences the company’s ability to achieve business objectives by ensuring that complex agreements are negotiated, executed, and managed in alignment with organizational risk tolerance and strategic priorities.

• Lead and manage a team of attorneys and contract professionals supporting commercial, real estate, investment, procurement, and R&D transactions.
• Oversee drafting, negotiation, and risk assessment for, equipment sales, service agreements; leasing and facility management, purchase agreements, investment agreements, supplier agreements and component/tooling purchases; sponsored research agreements, joint development agreements, and IP-related contracts.
• Handle contract and intellectual property disputes and resolution strategies, including pre-litigation risk assessments.
• Develop and maintain contract templates, playbooks, and negotiation guidelines.
• Provide strategic legal advice on escalated and high-value transactions.
• Partner with executives, management and staff to enable business objectives while mitigating risk.
• Drive process improvements in contract lifecycle management (CLM), KPIs, and legal operations.
• Collaborate with Ethics & Compliance and Litigation teams on regulatory and dispute matters.
• Mentor and develop team members; foster a culture of collaboration and continuous improvement.

• J.D. degree and active license to practice law in at least one U.S. jurisdiction.
• 10+ years of relevant in-house experience at a global technology company; or technology transactional and IP experience at an AMLaw 100 firm.
• Proven leadership experience managing attorneys and legal staff.
• Strong knowledge of contract law, IP ownership, indemnities, limitation of liability, and risk allocation.
• Experience with research consortium agreements and complex multi-party collaborations.
• Experience handling contract and intellectual property disputes and resolution strategies.
• Excellent negotiation, communication, and stakeholder management skills.
• Semiconductor industry or technology sector experience strongly preferred.
• Familiarity with CLM systems and contract process optimization desirable. Team player who can operate across different cultures, time zones, and environments. 
• Anticipated travel for this role is 15-20%.

Individual pay is determined based on multiple factors, including but not limited to location, experience, skills, job-related knowledge, relevant education, certifications, and/or training.  In addition to base salary, we offer (full time regular employees ) a comprehensive benefits package and for certain roles eligibility in our bonus plan and long-term incentives as applicable.  The talent advisor can share more details about total compensation for the role in your location during the hiring process.

Diversity creates an innovative culture. TEL US is an Equal Employment Opportunity / Affirmative Action employer and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, age, national origin, protected veteran status, disability status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, genetic information, or any other characteristic protected by law.