Principal Corporate Counsel: Data Governance & Regulatory

Cisco Systems, Inc; Atlanta (GA); Hybrid; USD 192,000 - 244,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

401(k) with Cisco matching

Paid parental leave

Medical, dental, and vision insurance

Annual bonuses

Job summary

Cisco Systems, Inc. is seeking a strategic Legal Counsel to advise on privacy, data governance, and AI governance across domestic and international laws.

You will partner with product, engineering, security, and compliance teams to operationalize governance, data sourcing, and lifecycle controls while navigating evolving regulatory requirements. The role emphasizes risk-based guidance, leadership in data policy development, and readiness for regulatory inquiries and audits in a fast-paced tech

Qualifications

• Juris Doctor degree and active bar membership required.
• 8+ years of legal experience.
• Deep expertise in privacy, cybersecurity, data governance, or technology transactions.
• Experience with global privacy and data laws including GDPR, CCPA/CPRA, and AI regulations.
• Experience in large tech/cloud/telecom/SaaS/cybersecurity businesses.
• Experience leading enterprise-wide governance programs in multinational tech companies.
• Privacy/AI certifications such as IAPP CIPP/US, AIG, CIPE are a plus.

Responsibilities

• Counsel on privacy, data governance, and AI governance under domestic and international laws.
• Advise on data governance frameworks, standards, and controls; lead on data classification and lifecycle governance.
• Provide specialized advice on data classification, inventories, stewardship, minimization, retention, and governance.
• Establish legal standards for data sourcing, use, sharing, deidentification, anonymization, and synthetic data initiatives.
• Define governance requirements and accountability structures across the company.
• Review and draft Data Processing/Sharing Agreements and AI-related contracts and terms.
• Collaborate with product, security, compliance to operationalize governance.
• Develop guidelines for legal risk in new data uses for analytics and ML.
• Advise leadership on data risk, opportunity, and strategic data use initiatives.
• Develop data policies, training, and governance guidance.
• Lead responses to regulatory inquiries, audits, investigations, and litigation readiness.
• Coordinate with Government Affairs on data legislation and standards.

Skills

Privacy & data governance

Cross-functional collaboration

AI governance

Regulatory compliance

Education

Juris Doctor and bar membership

Privacy/AI certifications (IAPP CIPP/US, AI)

Job description

• Counsel stakeholders on: Data classification, Data inventories, Data stewardship, Data minimization, Records retention, Defensible deletion, Data access governance

The application window is expected to close on: 11/19/2026

RTP Highly Preferred

Members of the Legal organization at select locations will generally be expected to follow a hybrid work model, which includes two days of in-office attendance each week, with limited exceptions

Meet the Team

Join Cisco’s Privacy and Data Regulatory Legal team, where we help shape and enable the company’s global privacy and data governance compliance strategy in an increasingly complex digital landscape. Partnering closely with product, engineering, security, public policy, and business leaders, we provide practical, risk-based legal guidance that empowers innovation while ensuring compliance with evolving global privacy, data, AI, and digital regulations. Our work spans the full lifecycle of Cisco’s technologies, services, and data-driven initiatives, helping to build and maintain the trust that customers, partners, and regulators place in Cisco worldwide.

As a highly collaborative and globally connected team, we operate at the forefront of rapidly evolving regulatory frameworks, including privacy, data, AI, cross-border data transfers, cybersecurity, digital platform regulation, and emerging technology laws. We are seeking a strategic, solutions-oriented Legal Counsel who thrives in a fast-paced environment and enjoys translating complex legal requirements into actionable business guidance. In this role, you will advise the business in the execution of the data governance, data risk management, and data regulatory readiness. If you are passionate about technology, data, privacy, and shaping the future of trusted digital transformation, we invite you to join us.

Your Impact

• Have a high EQ, exceptional cross-functional collaboration skills, and an openness to the ideas and opinions of others.
• Ability to translate and express complex legal and technical concepts (e.g., AI models, data flows) to stakeholders who are not familiar with the topic, including engineering and business teams.
• Possess excellent business judgment, outstanding critical thinking, and analytical capabilities.
• Take a risk-based, pragmatic approach to developing and driving the best decisions and solutions in a rapidly shifting regulatory landscape.
• Driven and passionate to continuously learn and develop your skills, particularly regarding emerging technologies.

Responsibilities

• Own the interpretation and provide specialized, actionable data advice on domestic and international laws and regulations concerning privacy, data protection, and AI governance.
• Advise on enterprise data governance frameworks, standards, and controls. Provide leadership and guidance on t data classification, data lineage and information lifecycle governance.
• Counsel stakeholders on: Data classification, Data inventories, Data stewardship, Data minimization, Records retention, Defensible deletion, Data access governance
• Establish legal standards for data sourcing, data use, data sharing, data aggregation, deidentification, anonymization, and synthetic data initiatives.
• Define governance requirements for critical data stewardship, and accountability structures across the company.
• Review and draft: Data Processing Agreements, Data Sharing Agreements, AI-related contractual provisions, Privacy and security terms
• Partner with product, engineering, security, and compliance teams to operationalize governance requirements.
• Develop guidelines and criteria or assessing legal risks associated with new uses of data in connection with analytics, AI, agents, and machine learning.
• Advise leadership on data-related risk, opportunity, and strategic data utilization initiatives.
• Develop data policies, training, and governance guidance.
• Lead responses to regulatory inquiries, audits, investigations, and litigation readiness.
• Work with Government Affairs to influence data legislation, standards, and frameworks.

Minimum Qualifications

• Juris Doctor and active bar membership.
• 8+ years of legal experience.
• Deep expertise in privacy, cybersecurity, data governance, or technology transactions.
• Experience with global privacy and data laws, including GDPR, CCPA/CPRA, and emerging AI regulations.
• Large technology company, cloud company, telecom, SaaS, or cybersecurity business.
• Experience leading cross-functional, enterprise-wide governance programs in a multinational technology company.
• Familiarity with data and AI governance and responsible data use programs.
• Professional Certification in Privacy, AI such as IAPP CIPP/US, AIG, CIPE.

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 $192,300.00 to $243,900.00 and reflects the projected salary range for new hires in this position in U.S. and/or Canada locations, not including incentive compensation*, equity, or benefits.

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.

• 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 of unused sick time carried forward from one calendar year to 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.

New York City Metro Area

$225,000.00 - $336,300.00

Non-Metro New York State & Washington State

$205,600.00 - $298,900.00

• 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.