FLEX Emerging Leaders Intern

Meet the Team

FLEX is a 3-year leadership development program at Cisco under the People, Policy, and Purpose Organization (3P). The name comes from the program's goals: to help participants find their passion and community, lead their career and work, and explore the world of potential at Cisco.

FLEX-EL participants take part in a three-year leadership journey through a series of rotations within the 3P organization. Each rotation runs 3 to 12 months, though most last about 12 months. Early on, participants go through onboarding covering Cisco and 3P, and hear directly from leaders to help decide where to begin.

Participants can rotate through a range of teams, including:

• People & Communities (HR): HR Business Partners, Compensation, Workforce Planning and Analytics, Talent Acquisition, Learning & Development, Mergers & Acquisitions, Employee Relations, and more.
• Policy: Government Affairs, which manages how Cisco works with local, national, and international governments.
• Purpose: Teams driving Cisco's work toward a more inclusive future, such as Strategy and Planning, Country Digital Acceleration, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG), Social Impact & Inclusion, and Real Estate, and more.

After the three years, FLEX graduates move into full-time roles across the 3P organization based on their career goals and interests.

Your Impact

FLEX-EL participants join Cisco as People and Communities Representatives. In this role, they will:

• Work on projects that add value to the business.
• Lead team-based projects and complete individual stretch assignments.
• Collaborate with senior leadership, managers, cross-functional teams, and the wider FLEX community.
• Contribute to the FLEX community through program-specific teams.
• Take part in professional development workshops, function-specific training, and business seminars often led by industry leaders.

Preferred Qualifications

• Demonstrated leadership skills and an ability to drive change.
• Ability to think strategically, collaborate across business functions, and explain how people, policy, and purpose initiatives drive business outcomes. No prior HR or functional experience is required.
• Passion for creating meaningful organizational impact and solving complex enterprise challenges. Cisco welcomes adaptable, curious leaders from all fields.

Why Cisco?

Cisco is revolutionizing how data and infrastructure connect and protect organizations in the AI era and beyond. With 40 years of innovation, the company builds solutions that power how people and technology work together across physical and digital worlds, giving customers security, visibility, and insights across their entire digital footprint.

Cisco works as one team, collaborating with empathy to make big things happen on a global scale. Because its solutions are everywhere, its impact is everywhere.

Benefits

Individual pay depends on hiring location, market conditions, skillset, experience, qualifications, education, certifications, and training. U.S. employees are offered 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. Eligible employees may also receive Cisco restricted stock units, which vest after continued employment.

U.S. employees receive paid holidays, paid sick time, paid vacation or flexible vacation depending on role classification, and up to 10 paid days per year to volunteer. Employees in Illinois, whether exempt or non-exempt, participate in a time off program designed to meet local requirements.