Principal Technical Program Manager (NetSec)

Palo Alto Networks•Office - USA - CA - Headquarters, CA

24d•$175,400 - $283,800•Onsite

About The Position

Palo Alto Networks is seeking a Principal Technical Program Manager to lead critical, strategic engineering initiatives within our Network Security (NetSec) organization. Operating as an Expert Individual Contributor and a true 'Systems Thinker', you will drive multi-program execution across complex architectural boundaries, resolve ambiguity involving multiple collaborating organizations, and elevate product delivery completeness and business efficiency across the entire engineering lifecycle. Strategic Initiatives Under Portfolio: Next-Generation Runtime Security Agent Infrastructure: Drive cross-product program execution for agent software deployment across client and heterogeneous infrastructure, establishing seamless architectural alignment across platform, core firewall, and cloud security engineering divisions. Enterprise AI Data Governance & Cataloguing Platform: Lead the strategic engineering roadmap for AI-driven data governance and cataloguing, navigating fluid compliance standards, unstructured data security, and complex intangible requirements with data-driven decision-making. Public Cloud Web Firewall Integration Infrastructure: Drive joint multi-organization program execution integrating core NetSec security services into major public cloud platform infrastructure, managing external partner/ecosystem dependencies and cross-cloud integration. NetSec TPM Organization-Wide AI Adoption Initiative: Serve as the AI Innovator and Catalyst for the NetSec TPM organization—introducing next-generation AI workflow tools (such as ADK, Anton, and Agent development platforms), coaching TPM teams, and establishing org-wide AI productivity KPIs.

Requirements

12+ years of technical program management experience leading large-scale software, cloud security, or enterprise networking programs.
Demonstrated track record of owning multiple high-complexity programs simultaneously across collaborating product divisions.
Deep technical understanding of Network Security, Cloud Firewalls, Distributed Runtime Security Agents, or Enterprise AI Data Governance platforms.
Proven ability as a 'Systems Thinker'—defining product development processes, managing Jira/Confluence dashboards, and running regular retrospectives for continuous team scaling.
Demonstrated leadership in AI adoption (AI Practitioner / Innovator Level), with hands-on experience applying tools like Gemini, NotebookLM, ADK, Anton, or custom AI Agent workflows to enhance engineering delivery.
Universally looked up to across functions as an SME; expert at negotiating architectural trade-offs and presenting to executive leadership.
Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or equivalent technical discipline.

Responsibilities

Own the execution of multiple highly complex engineering programs from inception through release. Identify dependencies, resolve inter-organizational ambiguities, and solve cross-product challenges creatively.
Act as a 'Systems Thinker' to drive process change across the NetSec organization. Define product development planning processes, select program management tools, and implement metrics dashboards/KPIs to measure program progress, product quality, and operational efficiency.
Influence technical design and decision-making for multiple programs by understanding underlying business use cases, system details, and cross-functional trade-offs.
Ensure end-to-end completeness in product development and delivery across all collaborating functional areas (Engineering, QA, PLM, Operations, and Cloud Infrastructure).
Lead the organization-wide shift toward advanced AI integration. Introduce novel AI tools/frameworks, mentor lower-level TPMs on AI workflows, and quantify organizational productivity gains and time savings.
Serve as the Subject Matter Expert (SME) for your product areas. Influence peers across teams and organizations to solve cross-functional and cross-product challenges, and present strategic process decisions to executive leadership.