Principal Corporate Counsel (Employment)
Cisco
Application deadline: October 28, 2025
Principal Corporate Counsel, Employment (EMEA)
Meet the Team
Join Cisco’s People Legal Team (Employment Legal) and be a trusted and creative legal partner to Cisco’s People & Communities (HR) organization and the entire enterprise in the EMEA Region. You’ll pave pathways that will enhance Cisco’s employee experience and solve problems that have no easy answers. The People Legal Team consists of pragmatic lawyers and legal professionals responsible for the full portfolio of the company’s employment law matters who sit at the intersection of law and culture. We take pride in collectively thinking through the practical implications of risk and how to help run a company that is consistently ranked, throughout the world, as one of the best places to work. In this role, you’ll report to the Director, Associate General Counsel, EMEA People Legal.
People Legal is part of a Cisco Legal organization with 450+ Legal and Compliance professionals in 25+ countries committed to fostering an inclusive and collaborative environment as we work together to drive Cisco’s success. We serve as trusted advisors to the business – problem solving, navigating complexities, and enabling transformation along the way. We use technology to make life easier – leveraging Cisco’s innovative networking and collaboration tools to enable flexible, hybrid work. And we embrace the responsibility to be a force for good – donating our time and expertise through pro bono and community impact initiatives.
Your Impact
- Provide counsel to leaders and People & Communities on all areas of employment law, including recruitment, onboarding, compensation, benefits, flexible working, performance management, employee relations, and workplace changes.
- Shape Cisco’s people practices, offer learning opportunities, investigate concerns, and develop a comprehensive legal environment.
- Handle employment disputes, litigation, and advise on employee investigations across EMEA, managing outside counsel to maximize value.
- Monitor legislative changes, assess their impact on Cisco’s people practices, and advise accordingly.
- Build training programs to enable and empower People & Communities (HR) partners.
Minimum Qualifications
- Qualified lawyer (LLB, JD, or equivalent) in any EU jurisdiction (England & Wales preferred), with 7+ years’ post-qualification experience in employment law.
- Strong background advising on employment matters across EMEA, ideally in a multinational or leading law firm
- In-house legal experience within a fast-paced, high-growth multinational technology company or similar is preferred.
- Strong interpersonal and communication skills in English; additional European languages are an advantage.
Preferred Qualifications
- You have a real passion for employment law. You love partnering with leaders, HR professionals and Cisco team members to find the best solutions. You have a deep understanding of employment-related issues.
- You ask the right questions, think strategically, and are willing to question the status quo. You listen to and understand the needs of your clients.
- You are agile, think on your feet, and are not afraid to make decisions through intentional assessment of risks.
- You have strong relationship building skills and are able to lead cross-functional projects.
- You also are a self-starter, able to work independently, and have excellent written and oral advocacy and interpersonal skills.
- You embrace continuous learning and adaptability, with a sense of humour.
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. Simply put – we power the future.
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.
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When available, the salary range posted for this position reflects the projected hiring range for new hire, full-time salaries in U.S. and/or Canada locations, not including equity or benefits. For non-sales roles the hiring ranges reflect base salary only; employees are also eligible to receive annual bonuses. Hiring ranges for sales positions include base and incentive compensation target. Individual pay is determined by the candidate's hiring location and additional factors, including but not limited to skillset, experience, and relevant education, certifications, or training. Applicants may not be eligible for the full salary range based on their U.S. or Canada hiring location. The recruiter can share more details about compensation for the role in your location during the hiring process.
U.S. employees have access to quality medical, dental and vision insurance, a 401(k) plan with a Cisco matching contribution, short and long-term disability coverage, basic life insurance and numerous wellbeing offerings.
Employees receive up to twelve paid holidays per calendar year, which includes one floating holiday (for non-exempt employees), plus a day off for their birthday. Non-Exempt new hires accrue up to 16 days of vacation time off each year, at a rate of 4.92 hours per pay period. Exempt new hires participate in Cisco’s flexible Vacation Time Off policy, which does not place a defined limit on how much vacation time eligible employees may use, but is subject to availability and some business limitations. All new hires are eligible for Sick Time Off subject to Cisco’s Sick Time Off Policy and will have eighty (80) hours of sick time off provided on their hire date and on January 1st of each year thereafter. Up to 80 hours of unused sick time will be carried forward from one calendar year to the next such that the maximum number of sick time hours an employee may have available is 160 hours. Employees in Illinois have a unique time off program designed specifically with local requirements in mind. All employees also have access to paid time away to deal with critical or emergency issues. We offer additional paid time to volunteer and give back to the community.
Employees on sales plans earn performance-based incentive pay on top of their base salary, which is split between quota and non-quota components. 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 up to 125% of target. Cisco sales plans do not have a minimum threshold of performance for sales incentive compensation to be paid.