Principal Researcher - QA

Our Mission

At Palo Alto Networks® everything starts and ends with our mission:

Being the cybersecurity partner of choice, protecting our digital way of life.
Our vision is a world where each day is safer and more secure than the one before. We are a company built on the foundation of challenging and disrupting the way things are done, and we're looking for innovators who are as committed to shaping the future of cybersecurity as we are.

Who We Are

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.

Your Career

We are seeking a Principal Researcher in Security Content Validation to lead the testing and validation of efficacy of detection rules. This role requires an expert-level Python coder with a deep background in advanced QA methodologies, dedicated to researching, designing, and implementing automation frameworks that ensure the highest fidelity and scalability of Security Content validation.

Your Impact

• This Principal-level role is central to securing our customers' cloud environments by driving innovative research into quality assurance and developing high-fidelity validation content.
• Designing, developing, and maintaining expert-level automated testing and validation frameworks (leveraging expert Python skills) to ensure the accuracy, and scalability of security detection rules and overall product stability.
• Researching and applying emerging QA technologies (e.g., AI/ML-driven testing) for security detection rules validation, including investigating complex failure modes and architectural weaknesses to develop innovative detection/prevention strategies (the "Secure QA Mindset")
• Establishing and enforcing best practices for high-fidelity security content validation, including rigorous test case creation and management for compliance standards and threat detection.
• Actively contributing to ongoing process enhancements in test automation, Continuous Integration/Continuous Deployment (CI/CD) pipelines, and deployment practices, serving as the authority on quality process design.
• Mentorship: Serving as a technical leader, coaching and guiding QA engineers and researchers on advanced testing techniques and research methodologies.
• Communication: Clearly articulating complex quality metrics, research findings, and validation strategies to engineering teams, product management, and executive leadership.
• Bonus - Establishing industry thought leadership by publishing insightful blogs on security domain.

• Overall Experience: 8-10 years of experience in Quality Assurance, SDET (Software Development Engineer in Test), QA Research.
• Ideal - 5+ years of experience specifically designing and architecting test automation frameworks for complex systems, preferably in the security or cloud domain.
• Must Have - Expert-level proficiency in Python programming for building complex, scalable test automation frameworks, and security validation tools
• Must Have - Deep application of QA principles, including rigorous quality gates and functional policy testing, strong debugging skills in cloud native deployments, and exceptional written and verbal communication.
• Must Have - At least 3 years of hands-on experience in public cloud technologies (AWS, GCP, or Azure) with an understanding of cloud resource configurations and security requirements.
• Highly Desirable - Very good understanding of Computer Networks, Cloud Networks, and Web-based protocols (like HTTP/S, REST) with a deep security understanding of vulnerabilities, exploits, and defensive techniques related to them.
• Highly Desirable - Experience with advanced QA concepts like combinatorial testing, model-based testing, or leveraging GenAI/LLM based automations for test generation or defect analysis.
• Highly Desirable - Familiarity with development tools (Git, CI/CD, bug tracking) and experience with technologies (SQL, BigQuery, JSON) for validation and data analysis..