Principal Corporate Counsel : AI (Hybrid)

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 an outstanding opportunity to develop the legal framework underpinning Cisco's ground breaking AI and data initiatives, ensuring that innovation thrives while maintaining the highest levels of trust and compliance.

Your Impact

You will demonstrate your legal expertise to provide sophisticated, practical, and forward-thinking mentorship on the sophisticated and constantly 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 dedication to understanding Cisco's core businesses, its innovative AI strategy, and its long-term objectives. This insight is crucial for providing tailored, proactive legal solutions, encouraging continuity of knowledge, and ensuring alignment with Cisco's business trajectory. Key responsibilities of this role are :

• Lead and support sophisticated, cross-functional initiatives related to corporate data and AI strategy, ensuring 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 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.
• Compose 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

Preferred Qualifications

Why Cisco?

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.

Message to applicants applying to work in the U.S. and / or Canada :

The starting salary range posted for this position is $189,200.00 to $240,600.00 and reflects the projected salary range for new hires in this position in U.S. and / or Canada locations, not including incentive compensation

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

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 :

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 :

$221,300.00 - $331,000.00

Non-Metro New York state & Washington state :

$202,200.00 - $294,400.00