IP (patent/TM) paralegals - key skills/qualities?

Long time senior IP paralegal here: It is hard to answer this question without a clear job description(s) and some understanding of how heavy the workload(s) would be. Also, what salary do you have in mind for this “top-notch” person?

Honestly and respectully, I immediately balked at the idea of expecting one person to fill these three separate and distinct roles.

You need someone with experience who has handled all of these roles. I would suggest being very clear about your expectations and what day to day tasks are expected. I work for a small team now and really handle everything from basic accounting and administrative to docketing and paralegal work but it was made clear to me from the first interview and this is a position I really wanted. Don't oversell it, be honest.

If you want one person to do the job of three people, tell me you are offering a salary of $100,000 or more. Because while I'm not in IP, I only have 6 years experience in estate planning and I'm making 90k. The only thing I do outside of estate planning is invoicing and that's probably why I'm making 90k.