Principal Corporate Counsel (Remote)

This role can be performed from any location within the United States.

The application window is expected to close on: for U.S. ONLY, 12/05/2025

Job posting may be removed earlier if the position is filled or if a sufficient number of applications are received.

Meet the Team
Join our dynamic and strategic Incubation, Data & AI (IDA) Legal team as a Principal Corporate Counsel. This pivotal role offers a unique opportunity to shape the legal framework underpinning Cisco's cutting-edge AI and data initiatives, ensuring that innovation thrives while maintaining the highest levels of trust and compliance.

Your Impact
You will leverage your legal expertise to provide sophisticated, practical, and forward-thinking guidance on the complex and rapidly evolving landscape of AI and data law.

A critical aspect of this position involves thoughtfully navigating the integration of AI-powered tools into legal work and business operations. You will be instrumental in exploring and evaluating how AI can augment legal and business practices, always ensuring that human judgment, ethical oversight, and deep experiential wisdom remain the ultimate arbiters of advice.

Success in this role demands a profound commitment to understanding Cisco's core businesses, its innovative AI strategy, and its long-term objectives. This insight is essential for providing tailored, proactive legal solutions, fostering continuity of knowledge, and ensuring strategic alignment with Cisco's business trajectory. Key responsibilities of this role are:

* Lead and support complex, cross-functional initiatives related to corporate data and AI strategy, ensuring legal frameworks enable innovation while mitigating risk.
* Serve as a primary legal advisor, providing practical, nuanced guidance on global laws and emerging AI and data regulations to diverse stakeholders, including AI governance, product development, sales, enterprise IT, marketing, and human resources.
* Develop, implement, and refine legal strategies, policies, guidelines, and resource materials that foster responsible AI innovation and effective corporate data management.
* Actively engage in evaluating, piloting, and responsibly integrating AI-powered legal research and advisory tools, ensuring that human legal expertise, judgment, and ethical considerations remain paramount in all advice provided to internal clients.
* Review, draft, and negotiate complex contracts and agreements, particularly those involving AI procurement, data licensing, and strategic partnerships, acting as a lead negotiator where appropriate.
* Design and facilitate comprehensive training programs for various teams on legal risks, compliance obligations, and the ethical considerations inherent in AI and data use.
* Continuously deepen your understanding of Cisco's business units, product roadmaps, and strategic priorities to provide proactive, integrated, and business-centric legal solutions that align with the company's long-term vision.

Minimum Qualifications
* Juris Doctor (JD) from an accredited law school and a minimum of 7 years of experience practicing law in a law firm or in-house legal department, with significant focus on technology, data privacy, and/or AI-related legal issues.
* Demonstrated expertise in AI-specific legal matters, including AI governance, data handling, software licensing, emerging AI regulations, and experience providing legal advice on generative AI.
* Proven ability to develop and manage effective regulatory compliance programs while providing relevant and actionable legal advice in complex, fast-paced business and technology environments.
* Exceptional business judgment and communication skills, with the ability to clearly and concisely draft and explain complex legal issues, advocate for acceptable legal risks, and collaborate effectively with cross-functional colleagues and stakeholders.
* Proactive, adaptive mindset with strong organizational skills, attention to detail, and a commitment to teamwork and partnership, eager to navigate and shape the evolving legal landscape of AI and data.

Preferred Qualifications
* Experience serving as a legal lead in complex commercial transactions involving AI and data.
* Familiarity with industry best practices in AI risk management and data governance frameworks.
* Experience evaluating, implementing, or working with legal technology solutions, including AI-powered tools, in a professional setting.
* External AI governance, privacy and/or security certifications (e.g., AIGP, CIPP, CISSP).
* Experience working successfully in cross-functional teams.

At Cisco, we're revolutionizing how data and infrastructure connect and protect organizations in the AI era - and beyond. We've been innovating fearlessly for 40 years to create solutions that power how humans and technology work together across the physical and digital worlds. These solutions provide customers with unparalleled security, visibility, and insights across the entire digital footprint.

Fueled by the depth and breadth of our technology, we experiment and create meaningful solutions. Add to that our worldwide network of doers and experts, and you'll see that the opportunities to grow and build are limitless. We work as a team, collaborating with empathy to make really big things happen on a global scale. Because our solutions are everywhere, our impact is everywhere.

We are Cisco, and our power starts with you.

Individual pay is determined by the candidate's hiring location, market conditions, job-related skillset, experience, qualifications, education, certifications, and/or training. The full salary range for certain locations is listed below. For locations not listed below, the recruiter can share more details about compensation for the role in your location during the hiring process.

U.S. employees are offered benefits, subject to Cisco's plan eligibility rules, which include medical, dental and vision insurance, a 401(k) plan with a Cisco matching contribution, paid parental leave, short and long-term disability coverage, and basic life insurance. Please see the Cisco careers site to discover more benefits and perks. Employees may be eligible to receive grants of Cisco restricted stock units, which vest following continued employment with Cisco for defined periods of time.

U.S. employees are eligible for paid time away as described below, subject to Cisco's policies:

• 10 paid holidays per full calendar year, plus 1 floating holiday for non-exempt employees

• 1 paid day off for employee's birthday, paid year-end holiday shutdown, and 4 paid days off for personal wellness determined by Cisco

• Non-exempt employees** receive 16 days of paid vacation time per full calendar year, accrued at rate of 4.92 hours per pay period for full-time employees

• Exempt employees participate in Cisco's flexible vacation time off program, which has no defined limit on how much vacation time eligible employees may use (subject to availability and some business limitations)

• 80 hours of sick time off provided on hire date and each January 1st thereafter, and up to 80 hours ofunused sick timecarried forwardfrom one calendar yearto the next

• Additional paid time away may be requested to deal with critical or emergency issues for family members

• Optional 10 paid days per full calendar year to volunteer

For non-sales roles, employees are also eligible to earn annual bonuses subject to Cisco's policies.

Employees on sales plans earn performance-based incentive pay on top of their base salary, which is split between quota and non-quota components, subject to the applicable Cisco plan. For quota-based incentive pay, Cisco typically pays as follows:

• .75% of incentive target for each 1% of revenue attainment up to 50% of quota;

• 1.5% of incentive target for each 1% of attainment between 50% and 75%;

• 1% of incentive target for each 1% of attainment between 75% and 100%; and

• Once performance exceeds 100% attainment, incentive rates are at or above 1% for each 1% of attainment with no cap on incentive compensation.

For non-quota-based sales performance elements such as strategic sales objectives, Cisco may pay 0% up to 125% of target. Cisco sales plans do not have a minimum threshold of performance for sales incentive compensation to be paid.

The applicable full salary ranges for this position, by specific state, are listed below:

New York City Metro Area:

Non-Metro New York state & Washington state:

* For quota-based sales roles on Cisco's sales plan, the ranges provided in this posting include base pay and sales target incentive compensation combined.

** Employees in Illinois, whether exempt or non-exempt, will participate in a unique time off program to meet local requirements.