Strategy & Planning Manager: Legal Innovation Strategy and Technology

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

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.

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

Meet the Team

You will join Cisco Legal Department's Legal Innovation Strategy and Technology ("LIST") organization as the Strategy and Planning Manager, serving as Chief of Staff to the Senior Vice President. The LIST organization focuses on Intellectual Property, Open Source, AI Governance, Licensing & Enablement, Data & AI Strategy, Privacy, and Mergers & Acquisitions, and Incubation. The priorities of the LIST organization include AI acceleration, enablement and responsible adoption, IP Strategy and protection, Data Usage and Governance, Open Source Compliance, and Growth Opportunities.

You are a strategic visionary and trusted advisor, capable of guiding senior leadership from sophisticated ideation to flawless execution through strong cross-functional relationships. By employing data-driven insights and meticulous project management, you navigate fast-paced, matrix environments with agility and precision. You drive innovation and deliver business results through collaborative, high-impact leadership.

Your Impact

• Lead the development and execution of long-range strategic plans that align departmental priorities with broader Legal and Cisco business goals.

• Design, implement, and maintain the team's operational cadence. This includes handling workflow processes, complex budgets, and cross-functional initiatives to ensure effective execution of priority Legal projects.

• Collaborate with leadership to build annual people strategies, including workforce planning, training, and employee engagement.

• Facilitate performance management, talent planning, and organizational alignment by bringing to bear data from tools such as Workday People Insights and partnering cross-functional with People and Communities partners.

• Support talent planning discussions, including criticality assessments, succession planning, and resource allocation.

• Act as a change agent to drive transformation within the organization. You will cultivate a results-oriented culture, identify outdated methodologies and implement innovative, more efficient ways of working.

• Coordinate communication and collaboration among executives and stakeholders. You will coordinate and lead staff meetings, quarterly leadership offsites, and business reviews, ensuring all leaders are aligned in their actions and communications.

• Collaborate with senior leadership team to identify priorities, risks, and opportunities for growth and innovation within the engineering function.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's Degree and 8+ years of experience in strategy and planning, Chief of Staff roles, or a related field within a technology company.

• Proven track record to lead sophisticated, cross-functional initiatives and handle organizational change.

• Experience in designing, testing, launching, implementing, and supporting workflow processes and tools.

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to distill sophisticated information into simple, compelling executive briefings.

• Strong interest and experience in AI tools, including sophisticated thinking with respect to using AI to evolve ways of working in Legal and integrating an AI first culture across the team.

Preferred Qualifications

• Prior experience in a legal environment is a significant plus, particularly regarding Intellectual Property, Patent, or Privacy matters.

• Proficiency in efficiency tools (e.g., Microsoft Office Suite, Excel, PowerPoint).

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.