VP, Litigation

Reporting to the EVP, Chief Legal & Regulatory Officer, we’re seeking a strategic, pragmatic, and resilient Vice President of Litigation to lead Align’s global litigation function. This leader will lead enterprise litigation strategy, manage high-stakes disputes, and proactively mitigate risk across antitrust, intellectual property, product liability, shareholder, class action, privacy/AI, and regulatory matters.  

The ideal candidate brings deep global litigation experience—especially in competition and patent law—paired with sound judgment, emotional intelligence, and a collaborative mindset. 

This leader will serve as a key advisor to the EVP, Chief Legal & Regulatory Officer and a major contributor on the global legal, quality, and regulatory leadership team. The role will collaborate closely with executive and cross-functional leaders to manage litigation risk and support strategic business decisions. The VP will lead a high-performing global litigation team and oversee litigation operations, including AI-first initiatives and process innovation. The role will partner closely with our VP Deputy General Counsel, Intellectual Property and other legal leaders to align litigation strategy with business goals. 

Role expectations

• Lead global litigation strategy and execution across a broad portfolio of matters, with particular emphasis on competition, antitrust, and complex commercial disputes.  

• Provide strategic legal counsel and practical guidance to business leaders to proactively address disputes and support business objectives through legally sound, pragmatic solutions. 

• Oversee all phases of global litigation and investigations, including outside counsel selection and management, budgeting, discovery strategy, trial preparation, mediation, and settlements. 

• Build, mentor, and lead a high-performing litigation team, including talent development and succession planning. 

• Oversee litigation operations, including early case assessment, legal holds, AI tools, eDiscovery, and process simplification. 

• Drive litigation prevention and risk management strategies through training, policy development, and early dispute resolution.  

• Establish scalable systems and processes to manage litigation matters, discovery, and enterprise litigation risk across the company. 

• Partner closely with the Deputy General Counsel and Intellectual Property Counsel to align litigation strategy across the legal organization. 

• Lead offensive and defensive antitrust and competition matters globally, including regulatory and government investigations. 

• Support the company’s antitrust and competition compliance roadmap, including policies, training, and escalation protocols in partnership with the Compliance team. 

• Support the development of antitrust and competition strategies to enable compliant business decision making in a competitive landscape. 

• Develop clear reporting and governance processes for material litigation matters, including executive and board-level updates. 

• Support the identification, assessment, and disclosure of legal, regulatory, and compliance risks, including SEC filings and other public disclosures. 

• Travel: Approximately 30% domestic and international. 

What were looking for

• JD from an accredited US law school and admission in good standing to practice law in Arizona, California or North Carolina. 

• Minimum 20 years of litigation experience, including trial experience, within a law firm, an in-house legal department, and/or a government or regulatory agency. 

• Deep expertise in global antitrust/competition, and intellectual property litigation. 

• Demonstrated success managing complex litigation portfolios, outside counsel, and legal budgets at scale.  

• Exceptional judgment, executive presence, and the ability to translate legal risk into business decisions. 

• A confident, approachable, collaborative leader who works effectively across legal teams and business partners to navigate complex disputes.  

Preferred:  

• Experience in medical device/healthcare or similarly regulated environments. 

• Experience leading legal innovation and litigation operations, including the use of AI and legal technology. 

• Strong understanding of international regulatory frameworks, business acumen, and competition laws. 

• Proven track record in modernizing litigation operations, including eDiscovery, process redesign, and metrics-driven management.  

• Strong emotional intelligence and leadership capability.