AI-First Core IT Software Engineering: Software, ML & Data (Staff - Principal)

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

Team Statement

This is a Unified Application for our AI-First IT Transformation portfolio. We recognize that top-tier AI talent often has skills that span multiple domains. By applying here, your profile is evaluated by our core IT strategy team for multiple high-impact leadership and technical roles powering the entire enterprise, ensuring we find the right home for your specific expertise.

Qualifications

Key Responsibilities

• AI Platform Development: Lead the hands-on development of core Enterprise IT Business software leveraging AI components and LLM infrastructure with both traditional and Generative AI model deployment.
• Agentic Workflows: Build and industrialize agentic AI systems and multi-agent frameworks, ensuring secure and effective use of GenAI technologies at the platform level.
• Data Strategy & Modeling: Design and implement robust foundational data pipelines, perform advanced statistical analysis, and develop new ML models to drive autonomous system behavior.
• System Optimization: Design large-scale, distributed AI/ML systems optimized for low latency, high throughput, and developer-friendliness (Inference optimization).
• Observability & Governance: Establish evaluation frameworks to measure AI quality (accuracy, hallucination rates) and overall system reliability across the Enterprise AI Factory.

Required Qualifications

• Experience: Staff level: 3-5+ years; Senior Staff: 6-8+; and Principal level:8-12+ years of experience in Software Engineering, Data Science, or Machine Learning.
• Technical Mastery: Expert-level server-side development (Python, Java, Go) OR deep expertise in statistical modeling, ML algorithms, and LLM fine-tuning.
• Architecture: Direct experience with RAG architectures, LLM APIs, and Vector Databases (e.g., Pinecone, Milvus).
• Scale: Hands-on experience with Kubernetes, CI/CD, and distributed systems for large-scale AI deployment.

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced AI: Experience with multi-turn dialogue management, Text-to-SQL systems, and causal inference.
• Security: Understanding of adversarial defense and security principles as they apply to AI model integrity.
• Education: PhD or Master's in Computer Science, Applied Mathematics, or Machine Learning.

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.

$145,000.00 - $235,500.00/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

Client-provided location(s): Santa Clara, CA

Job ID: Palo_Alto_Networks-JR-015294

Employment Type: OTHER

Posted: 2026-03-07T19:51:14