SAN FRANCISCO—Julianne Whitelaw is joining Weber Shandwick as senior vice president and corporate practice lead in Northern California. Whitelaw, who previously held a number of senior communications roles at Cisco, brings corporate and technology expertise to Weber Shandwick’s Silicon Valley office.

Prior to joining Weber Shandwick, Whitelaw was director of corporate communications at Cisco. She was at the company for more than a decade, working on strategic positioning, executive communications, and public relations across the company’s corporate, sales, and engineering functions. Most recently, she was one of the chief architects of Cisco’s executive communications organization, referred to as the Bureau.

Her background includes years of experience in networking, semiconductors and emerging markets, spanning corporate communications, internal communications, crisis communications, analyst and public relations, and event management. She also ran her own consulting firm, Three Boys Communications.

In her new role, Whitelaw will help lead the corporate practice, support major client assignments and drive growth in the region. She will also be tasked with counseling clients through issues, financial transactions, executive changes and corporate positioning.