Principal Software Engineer

Palo Alto Networks

1d • Onsite

About The Position

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. 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.

Requirements

• MS/PhD in Computer Science, Mathematics, or a related field (or equivalent high-level professional experience).
• 6+ years of industry experience in software development with a proven track record of leading technical initiatives.
• Expert-level proficiency in Python and PySpark for building scalable, high-performance data pipelines.
• Strong understanding of L2-L4 network protocols and infrastructure security.
• Hands-on experience with PyTorch or TensorFlow and a solid grasp of NLP models (Transformers, BERT, GPT) is a bonus.
• Proven experience managing production environments in GCP/AWS/Azure using K8s and Docker.

Nice To Haves

• 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.

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.

Benefits

• 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.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Principal