Associate Director, Field Investigations (APAC) - CONTRACTOR ROLE

About the Company

At IP House, we empower brands, legal professionals, and rights holders to manage and protect intellectual property—both online and offline—on a truly global scale. Through cutting-edge technology and deep cross-border expertise, we deliver scalable, end-to-end solutions for IP portfolio management, enforcement, and brand protection. With over 700 experts across five continents, we are trusted by some of the world’s most recognized brands to combat counterfeiting, piracy, and IP infringement at scale.

About the Role

The Associate Director of Field Investigations (APAC) will spearhead the continued build-out of IP House’s on-the-ground field investigations network in the region, including in-house teams, networks, and strategic partnerships, ensuring robust execution across licensing, compliance, quality management, and business development. This is a highly visible, senior role that will drive both business opportunity and operational excellence for our field investigations services.

Responsibilities

• Lead the expansion and day-to-day management of field investigations across Asia Pacific, overseeing all field activities, subcontractor engagement, and process development in the region.
• Expand and scale a compliant, licensed, and quality-focused field investigations network—with redundancy in key markets and a focus on coverage expansion, especially across high-priority jurisdictions in Greater China, Southeast Asia, and other key APAC markets.
• Develop, standardize, and enforce field investigative protocols, including evidence handling, reporting, and client communications, to ensure consistency and compliance.
• Manage ongoing investigative licensing, permitting, and compliance obligations in APAC jurisdictions, ensuring full coverage for current and future business needs.
• In coordination with our Investigative Due Diligence Unit, oversee rigorous vetting and onboarding of our field investigator network: license verification, insurance, references, background checks, and professional standards.
• Maintain compliance with all applicable laws; champion continuous improvement and conformity to emerging regulations and best practices.
• Implement and monitor ongoing quality assurance, performance metrics, and process reviews throughout our network in region.
• Ensure that all field work is ethical, necessary and proportionate to what it seeks to achieve and is aligned with the IP House Code of Conduct for investigators and similar client codes; promote legality, confidentiality, honesty and integrity as the cornerstone of all field operations.
• Partner with Product, Client Success, Client Solutions, and Global Field Investigations teams to drive partnership expansion and act as the primary escalation point for field investigations in Asia Pacific.
• Drive the development of value messaging and client-facing materials that clearly differentiate IP House’s field investigations offering in region.
• Work with Online Operations teams to standardize processes, technologies, and data/reporting practices across all field investigative activities in region and develop scalable workflows for network expansion, sourcing, vetting, onboarding, assignment, and ongoing review.
• Recruit, mentor, and manage a high-performance regional field investigations team; establish clear expectations, KPIs, and ongoing development for both in-house and external field resources and work with the global team to design and deliver training to promote uniformity and best practice.

Qualifications

• Background in law enforcement or private sector field investigations in Asia Pacific, with direct experience in surveillance, undercover engagement, and/or test purchasing.
• Strong preference for applicants with a background in IP enforcement.
• Experience in shaping and leading teams across multiple APAC jurisdictions.
• An understanding of risk management in the context of field operations conducted within the private sector.
• Thorough knowledge of investigative licensing, compliance, and reporting standards in Asia Pacific markets; familiarity with China and Southeast Asia regulatory landscapes highly desirable.
• Proven track record building, managing, and scaling field investigation teams and/or networks in a high-compliance, quality-sen