Senior Staff Researcher QA(Cortex Cloud)

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

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

We are seeking a Senior Staff Researcher in Security Content Validation to lead the testing and validation of security detection rule efficacy. In this role, you will leverage your deep expertise in advanced QA methodologies and Python to research, design, and implement automation frameworks, ensuring the highest fidelity and scalability of our security content validation processes.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and maintain expert-level automated testing and validation frameworks to ensure the accuracy and scalability of security detection rules.
• Research and apply emerging QA technologies, such as AI/ML-driven testing, to innovate security detection rule validation.
• Investigate complex failure modes and architectural weaknesses to develop innovative detection and prevention strategies.
• Establish and enforce best practices for high-fidelity security content validation, including rigorous test case creation and management.
• Contribute to process enhancements in test automation, CI/CD pipelines, and deployment practices, acting as a subject matter expert on quality process design.
• Serve as a technical leader, coaching and guiding QA engineers on advanced testing techniques and research methodologies.
• Clearly articulate complex quality metrics, research findings, and validation strategies to engineering, product, and leadership teams.

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or a related field, or equivalent experience.
• 5+ years of experience in Quality Assurance, SDET, or QA Research, or a Master's degree with 3+ years of experience, or a PhD.
• Advanced-level proficiency in Python for building complex, scalable test automation frameworks and security validation tools.
• Deep understanding and application of QA principles, including quality gates, functional policy testing, and debugging in cloud-native deployments.
• Minimum of 2 years of hands-on experience with public cloud technologies such as AWS, GCP, or Azure.

• Strong understanding of computer networks, cloud networks, and web-based protocols (e.g., HTTP/S, REST) with a security focus.
• Experience with advanced QA concepts like combinatorial testing, model-based testing, or leveraging GenAI/LLMs for test automation.
• Familiarity with development tools (e.g., Git, CI/CD pipelines) and data technologies (e.g., SQL, BigQuery, JSON) for validation and analysis.