Revolutionierender Schutz.

Our Mission

At Palo Alto Networks®, we’re united by a shared mission—to protect our digital way of life. We thrive at the intersection of innovation and impact, solving real-world problems with cutting-edge technology and bold thinking. Here, everyone has a voice, and every idea counts. If you’re ready to do the most meaningful work of your career alongside people who are just as passionate as you are, you’re in the right place.

Who We Are

In order to be the cybersecurity partner of choice, we must trailblaze the path and shape the future of our industry. This is something our employees work at each day and is defined by our values: Disruption, Collaboration, Execution, Integrity, and Inclusion. We weave AI into the fabric of everything we do and use it to augment the impact every individual can have. If you are passionate about solving real-world problems and ideating beside the best and the brightest, we invite you to join us!

We believe collaboration thrives in person. That’s why most of our teams work from the office full time, with flexibility when it’s needed. This model supports real-time problem-solving, stronger relationships, and the kind of precision that drives great outcomes.

Job Summary

The Team: AI & Infrastructure Engineering

Our engineering team is at the core of our products and connected directly to the mission of preventing cyberattacks through intelligent automation. We are constantly innovating—challenging the way we, and the industry, think about cybersecurity. We don't just build products; we build autonomous systems to solve problems no one has pursued before. We need individuals who feel comfortable in ambiguity, excited by the prospect of a challenge, and empowered by the unknown risks of the digital age.

Job Summary

We are looking for a Principal Software Engineer to lead the convergence of Network Security and Artificial Intelligence. In this role, you will architect the data processing engines and AI frameworks that power our next-generation security solutions. You will take ownership of large-scale distributed systems, working with Product Management to translate complex customer needs into robust, LLM-driven applications. You aren't just a developer; you are a technical visionary who will mentor the team and drive the evolution of our secure, AI-native infrastructure.

Key Responsibilities

• Architect Scalable AI Systems: Design and develop high-performance, distributed data pipelines using Python and Apache Spark to process massive security datasets.

• Lead LLM Integration: Build and optimize production-grade AI solutions, including RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation), vector search, and multimodal models.

• Secure Infrastructure Management: Orchestrate enterprise-grade workloads on GCP using Docker and Kubernetes, ensuring a security-first approach to VPCs, IAM, and encryption.

• Bridge Networking & AI: Apply deep knowledge of network protocols (TCP/IP, DNS) to build AI tools that can intelligently parse and analyze network traffic at scale.

• Drive MLOps Excellence: Lead the full ML lifecycle—from model fine-tuning and prompt engineering to robust CI/CD deployment and evaluation.

• Cross-Functional Leadership: Collaborate with QA, Support, and Product teams to define technical roadmaps and provide root-cause analysis for complex architectural challenges.

• Vision & Mentorship: Act as a product visionary, making high-stakes technical decisions and mentoring junior engineers in a fast-paced environment.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• Education: MS/PhD in Computer Science, Mathematics, or a related field (or equivalent high-level professional experience).

• Experience: 6+ years of industry experience in software development with a proven track record of leading technical initiatives.

• Data Mastery: Expert-level proficiency in Python and PySpark for building scalable, high-performance data pipelines.

• Networking Knowledge: Strong understanding of L2-L4 network protocols and infrastructure security.

• AI/ML Expertise: Hands-on experience with PyTorch or TensorFlow and a solid grasp of NLP models (Transformers, BERT, GPT) is a bonus.

• Cloud Operations: Proven experience managing production environments in GCP/AWS/Azure using K8s and Docker.

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced ML Algorithms: Deep understanding of XGBoost, CNNs, LSTMs, and tokenization methods.

• Technical Leadership: Previous experience acting as a Technical Lead or Principal Architect for a major product launch.

• Security Domain Expertise: Background in common software vulnerabilities and the application of AI to threat mitigation.

• Full-Stack Awareness: Familiarity with C++, Java, or JSON/XML processing is a plus.

Compensation Disclosure

The compensation offered for this position will depend on qualifications, experience, and work location. For candidates who receive an offer at the posted level, the starting base salary (for non-sales roles) or base salary + commission target (for sales/com-missioned roles) is expected to be the annual range listed below. The offered compensation may also include restricted stock units and a bonus. A description of our employee benefits may be found here.

$147,000.00 - $237,500.00/yr

Our Commitment

We’re trailblazers that dream big, take risks, and challenge cybersecurity’s status quo. It’s simple: we can’t accomplish our mission without diverse teams innovating, together.

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations for all qualified individuals with a disability. If you require assistance or accommodation due to a disability or special need, please contact us at  accommodations@paloaltonetworks.com.

Palo Alto Networks is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity in our workplace, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran status, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or other legally protected characteristics.

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

Is role eligible for Immigration Sponsorship?: Yes