Director, SW Engineering (Prisma AIRS)

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

The Prisma AIRS team is building the future of AI security. With organizations building complex ecosystems of AI models, applications, and agents, a dynamic new attack surface is emerging. Prisma AIRS delivers a comprehensive platform for AI security, encompassing model security, posture management, AI red teaming, and runtime protection.

As the Director of Engineering, you will be a key leader, setting the technical vision and strategy for a significant area of development within Prisma AIRS. You will be responsible for driving the development of this industry-defining platform, scaling our engineering teams, and collaborating with senior leadership to ensure our technology strategy aligns with the broader business objectives.

Your Impact

• Strategic Leadership: Define and execute the technical strategy and roadmap for your area of ownership within the Prisma AIRS engineering organization, managing multiple teams and engineering managers.

• Organizational Scaling: Build and lead a high-performing engineering organization. Excel at recruiting, mentoring, and retaining top-tier engineering talent and managers.

• Technical Vision: Drive the architectural direction for a complex, highly scalable, cloud-native AI security platform within your domain. Make critical high-judgment decisions on technology, architecture, and long-term design.

• Cross-Functional Execution: Partner seamlessly with senior leaders across Product Management, AI Research, UX, and other engineering leaders to deliver on a cohesive product roadmap.

• Executive Communication: Clearly articulate technical vision, strategy, project status, and risks to senior stakeholders and executive leadership.

• Culture of Innovation: Foster a results-oriented culture of innovation, execution, collaboration, and engineering excellence, empowering teams to solve challenging problems.

Your Experience

• Education: BS/MS in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related technical field.

• Experience: 12+ years of professional software development experience, with a proven track record of building and shipping high-quality, large-scale, enterprise-grade cloud services.

• Leadership: 6+ years of formal engineering management experience, with experience leading multiple teams (managing managers is a plus).

• Technical Acumen: Exceptional technical judgment with deep, hands-on experience in designing, building, and operating highly scalable, distributed systems and cloud-native services (GCP, AWS, or Azure).

• Strategic Mindset: Demonstrated ability to translate complex business needs into a clear, actionable technical strategy and roadmap.

• Communication: Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with a strong executive presence and the ability to champion ideas and initiatives across the organization.

Nice to Have

• Deep experience in the cybersecurity domain (e.g., threat detection, network security, cloud security, application security).

• Direct experience with AI/ML platforms, MLOps, or building security solutions for AI systems.

• Proven track record of managing geographically distributed teams.

• Experience presenting at industry conferences or engaging with executive-level customers.

The Team

The Prisma AIRS team is building the future of AI security. With organizations building complex ecosystems of AI models, applications, and agents, a dynamic new attack surface is emerging. Prisma AIRS delivers a comprehensive platform for AI security, encompassing model security, posture management, AI red teaming, and runtime protection.

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/commissioned roles) is expected to be between $274,000 - $295,400/YR. The offered compensation may also include restricted stock units and a bonus. A description of our employee benefits may be found here.

Our Commitment

We’re problem solvers that 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  [email protected].

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