Principal Corporate Counsel: AI & IP Strategy

Cisco•Mclean, VA

5d•$202,200 - $331,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Intellectual Property team at Cisco operates at the intersection of technology, business, and law, with a broad view of innovation across networking, cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, cloud infrastructure, collaboration, and observability. This role is dedicated to managing the unique challenges and exposures presented by AI in areas such as copyright, trade secrets, and vendor contracting, ensuring robust IP protection and risk mitigation.

Requirements

JD and active bar membership: J.D. from an accredited law school with active bar membership in at least one U.S. jurisdiction.
10+ years IP legal experience: Minimum of 10 years of intellectual property legal experience, with at least 5 years focused specifically on technology-based IP matters, including copyright ownership and/ trade secret protection.
AI & IP proficiency: Deep working knowledge of copyright and/or trade secrets as applied to AI-generated works.

Nice To Haves

Prior experience advising on copyright licensing for software and/or AI-generated content at scale, including SaaS platform output, API-delivered content, or enterprise software products where the line between human-authored and AI-generated deliverables is blurred and legally material.
International IP exposure relevant to AI (e.g., working knowledge of EU AI Act transparency obligations and their tension with trade secret protection).
Experience structuring or leading a trade secret litigation matter or pre-litigation investigation, including familiarity with trade secret identification for discovery purposes, reasonable-measures evidence, and the causal nexus standards courts are applying to AI-related misappropriation claims.
Track record of credible, concise executive communication on IP risk; ability to translate genuinely unsettled legal doctrine into business-relevant mentorship for executives and engineers without over-hedging or misrepresenting the state of the law, and with proven ability to defend a position under skeptical questioning.

Responsibilities

Lead the IP aspects of Cisco's AI legal & governance strategies, including policies, documentation standards, and invention workflows to ensure enforceable patents and mitigate evidentiary gaps.
Update mentorship on human conception documentation and partner cross-functionally to establish approved-tool standards for IP protection and risk mitigation related to AI use in invention development.
Evolve and run Cisco's copyright program in the AI era, addressing ownership of AI-generated output, structuring human authorship records, and leading downstream copyright liability from foundation model training data.
Evolve and run Cisco's trade secret program as an enterprise function, identifying assets for protection, detailing reasonable protective measures, and crafting defensible legal and technical governance.
Advise the patent team on AI-specific patent strategies, including AI-assisted inventorship documentation and inter-jurisdictional differences.
Audit and manage AI vendor IP exposure, serving as the IP critical issue point for AI-related agreements and establishing IP contractual standards for AI tool deployment.
Serve as the IP team's legal intelligence function on AI, translating USPTO, Copyright Office, Federal Circuit, and legislative developments into executive-ready mentorship.

Benefits

medical insurance
dental insurance
vision insurance
401(k) plan with a Cisco matching contribution
paid parental leave
short and long-term disability coverage
basic life insurance
grants of Cisco restricted stock units
10 paid holidays per full calendar year
1 floating holiday for non-exempt employees
1 paid day off for employee’s birthday
paid year-end holiday shutdown
4 paid days off for personal wellness
16 days of paid vacation time per full calendar year (non-exempt employees)
flexible vacation time off program (exempt employees)
80 hours of sick time off provided on hire date and each January 1st thereafter
up to 80 hours of unused sick time carried forward
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
annual bonuses (for non-sales roles)
performance-based incentive pay (for sales roles)