Sr Principal Engineer Software

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 Are We

This role is remote, but distance is no barrier to impact. Our hybrid teams collaborate across geographies to solve big problems, stay close to our customers, and grow together. You will be part of a culture that values trust, accountability, and shared success where your work truly matters.

Job Description

Your CareerWith Prisma AIRS, Palo Alto Networks is building the world's most comprehensive AI security platform. Organizations are increasingly building complex ecosystems of AI models, applications, and agents, creating dynamic new attack surfaces with risks that traditional security approaches cannot address. In response, Prisma AIRS delivers model security, posture management, AI red teaming, and runtime protection. Our customers can confidently deploy AI-driven innovation while ensuring a formidable security posture from development through runtime.We are looking for a highly skilled and experienced Senior Principal Engineer to join the Prisma AIRS to play a crucial part in designing, developing, and optimizing robust, scalable, and high-performance backend systems that power our cutting-edge AI security platform.This role is located at our dynamic Seattle WA office - in office 3 days a week. This is not a remote role. Your ImpactDefine and drive the technical vision and long-term strategy for multiple complex, highly distributed backend systems.Lead the end-to-end architecture and design of innovative, cross-functional product initiatives, ensuring solutions are scalable, reliable, and secure for a global enterprise.Influence technical and product roadmaps by collaborating with senior leaders, product managers, and engineers across multiple organizations.Serve as a hands-on technical leader, providing mentorship and raising the technical bar for other senior and staff-level engineers, fostering a culture of engineering excellence.Pioneer and evangelize best practices for software development, operational excellence, and architectural patterns that impact entire product lines.

Qualifications (Additional Job Description)

Your Experience Deep and proven experience (12+ years) of architecting, building, and launching complex, large-scale distributed systems with significant business impact.Expert-level proficiency in modern Python or at least one strongly typed programming language such as Go, Java, or C++.Deep expertise in modern cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP) with a track record of building highly scalable and resilient cloud-native applications.Demonstrable experience operating mission-critical systems in production with stringent SLAs, including on-call leadership and incident response.Extensive experience with Kubernetes and the cloud-native ecosystem, including a deep understanding of its internals and operational best practices.Experience with machine learning (ML/MLOps), security, or data engineering would be a significant advantage.Exceptional communication and presentation skills, with the ability to articulate complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences.Comfortable with ambiguity and possess the ability to drive clarity and alignment on technical direction in a fast-paced, highly collaborative environment.

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.

$170,000.00 - $277,000.00/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.