Technical Advisor, Intellectual Property at Carvana in Tempe, AZ

About Carvana

At Carvana, we’re changing the way people buy and sell cars. With an ambitious vision and a fundamentally different approach designed to be fun, fast, and fair, Carvana became the fastest-growing automotive retailer in history. We expanded nationally, went public on the New York Stock Exchange, sold our 1 millionth car, and reached the Fortune 500, all in just eight years. 

Today, with 4 million retail customers and counting, Carvana is both the fastest-growing and the most profitable public automotive retailer, and we’re just getting started. We continue to raise the bar for our customers as we tackle the enormous opportunity still ahead in the largest consumer vertical.  

Working here means being part of a team that embraces change, celebrates creative problem solving, and always strives to be better. At Carvana, you’ll have the opportunity to take on meaningful challenges, learn quickly, and help shape the future of automotive retail. If you’re driven to grow and make an impact as part of a collaborative team, you’ll fit right in. Learn more about what it’s like to work here from the people that already do. 

This is a fully on-site position, Monday through Friday, at our corporate HQ in Tempe, Arizona.

About the team and position

As a Technical Advisor on the Intellectual Property team, you will be deeply involved in a diverse range of activities, supporting Carvana's IP attorneys. Key responsibilities include:

• Patent Work: Participating in patent-related protection and prosecution, including harvesting efforts working directly with engineering teams.
• Patent Litigation Support: Assisting with pre-litigation and litigation needs, including patent claims and discovery matters.
• Policy & Governance: Contributing to AI governance and policy development.

This role involves significant collaboration with a variety of stakeholders, including engineers, product developers, technology leaders, and members of the broader legal team. You will report directly to a lawyer within the Intellectual Property and Marketing team.

What you’ll be doing

• Work with Legal, Engineering, and Product teams to identify and gather technical information relevant to litigation and dispute matters.Build and maintain a deep understanding of Carvana’s engineering systems—including backend services, architecture, APIs, databases, machine learning pipelines, and operational processes.Support responses to litigation discovery requests by locating and interpreting technical documentation, source code, logs, architecture diagrams, and data flows.
• Participate in Carvana’s patent harvesting process by helping engineers articulate innovations and mapping them to potential filings.
• Assist IP attorneys and outside counsel in preparing technical disclosures and shepherding patent prosecution matters.

What you should have/know

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.
• 3-5 years of experience with software development in one or more programming languages.
• Experience with enterprise software architecture including:
•  Microservices architecture and API design patterns
•  Event-driven systems (Kafka, message queues)
•  Cloud data platforms (Snowflake or similar data warehouses)
• Proficiency with source control and DevOps practices:
• Git version control
• Azure DevOps for CI/CD pipelines and project management
• Infrastructure as code and automated deployments
• Experience with the patent litigation/prosecution or with providing technical analysis in intellectual property matters (at a law firm or in-house)
• Ability to communicate complex technical landscapes

It would be great if you also have

• Master’s in Computer Science or related field
• Experience with software development, including source code authoring and review, across multiple programming languages
• 3-5 years of experience with full-stack development, with an emphasis on:
  • Back-end: C#/.NET Core, ASP.NET Core Web APIs, Java, Python, or Go;
  • Front-end: JavaScript/TypeScript, React, HTML/CSS;
  • Microsoft Azure cloud platform and containerization (Docker, Kubernetes)
• Ability to develop software/AI tools or scripts to automate tasks and improve team efficiency.
• Ability to learn and apply new programming languages and technologies
• Experience working at in-house or law firm with patent litigation or patent prosecution teams

What we’ll offer in return

• Full-Time position with a competitive salary
• Medical, Dental, and Vision benefits
• 401K with company match
• A multitude of perks including student loan payments, discounts on vehicles, benefits for your pets, and much more
• A great wellness program to keep you healthy and happy both physically and mentally
• Access to opportunities to expand your skill set and share your knowledge with others across the organization
• A company culture focused on high performance and bar-raising, with vast opportunity to learn and grow

Other requirements

To be able to do your job at Carvana, there are some basic requirements we want to share with you.

• Must be able to read, write, speak and understand English.

Of course, we’ll make any reasonable accommodations for those with disabilities to perform the essential functions of their jobs. 

Legal stuff

Hiring is contingent on passing a complete background check. This role is not eligible for visa sponsorship.

Carvana is an equal employment opportunity employer.  All applicants receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, marital status, national origin, age, mental or physical disability, protected veteran status, or genetic information, or any other basis protected by applicable law.  Carvana also prohibits harassment of applicants or employees based on any of these protected categories.

Please note this job description is not designed to contain a comprehensive listing of activities, duties, or responsibilities that are required of the employee for this job. Duties, responsibilities, and activities may change at any time with or without notice.