Principal Software Engineer (L7 Security Cloud)

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 take our mission of protecting the digital way of life seriously. We are relentless in protecting our customers and we believe that the unique ideas of every member of our team contributes to our collective success. Our values were crowdsourced by employees and are brought to life through each of us everyday - from disruptive innovation and collaboration, to execution. From showing up for each other with integrity to creating an environment where we all feel included.

As a member of our team, you will be shaping the future of cybersecurity. We work fast, value ongoing learning, and we respect each employee as a unique individual. Knowing we all have different needs, our development and personal wellbeing programs are designed to give you choice in how you are supported. This includes our FLEXBenefits wellbeing spending account with over 1,000 eligible items selected by employees, our mental and financial health resources, and our personalized learning opportunities - just to name a few!

At Palo Alto Networks, we believe in the power of collaboration and value in-person interactions. This is why our employees generally work full time from our office with flexibility offered where needed. This setup fosters casual conversations, problem-solving, and trusted relationships. Our goal is to create an environment where we all win with precision.

Your Career

In the Layer-7 Security Software team, we are responsible for at least one, often two to three headline features in every PANOS release.  Our code reaches many product lines in the company, and is the critical part of delivering the highest revenue licenses the company offers. Our core Application Identification and Content Inspection Engine runs on Hardware, Virtualized, Container and Cloud-delivered firewalls. Any features that require the inspection or extraction of layer-7 network payload depends on our engine. We are also developing the latest Cloud-delivered Layer-7 security infrastructure. We design and develop key innovative security features such as the industry first Machine Learning powered NGFW, Credential Phishing prevention, URL-filtering, Cloud-delivered Data leak protection (DLP), and many more exciting features.

Are you looking to tackle a variety of challenging problems across the network, firewall, and Cloud platforms with a team of collaborative and experienced software engineers?  Are you eager to expand to and innovate in the latest security platforms and delivery technologies in the industry? Would you like to be part of a fast moving and engaging team that executes and delivers cutting edge features like a start-up but with the support of an established leading security company?

We're seeking innovators - engineers who seek to design new products, designing state-of-the-art products that do not exist today. These engineers love to code with a drive to build global products and bring new ideas to develop security disciplines to solve real-world problems. We are looking for leaders who take ownership of their areas of focus and who are driven to pursue problems at every level. Collaboration is at the heart of our culture and we need engineers who can communicate at a high level and work well with multi-functional teams towards achieving a common goal.

Your Impact

• Drive the full lifecycle of technical projects, collaborating cross-functionally with Product, Development, and Quality Assurance teams in an agile environment.
• Architect, develop, and implement cutting-edge cloud security solutions.
• Spearhead the integration and implementation of novel cloud security architectures.
• Participate in the entire product development pipeline, from ideation and design to implementation and validation.
• Partner with Product Management, Site Reliability Engineering (SRE), Software Engineering, and Quality Engineering to ensure the timely and high-quality delivery of new security services.
• Contribute to cultivating an inclusive, inquisitive, solution-oriented, and transparent team culture.
• Interface directly with customer support teams to address and resolve customer-reported issues.
• Propose and champion innovative technical solutions and improvements within the team.

Your Experience 

• Proven ability as a collaborative team member with strong proficiency in algorithms, data structures, and complex problem-solving.
• Hands-on experience designing, developing, and deploying high-performance software within large-scale, distributed cloud systems.
• 5 or more years of professional programming experience in Go/Java (primary languages) and Python. 
• Demonstrated expertise with cloud-native data processing and storage technologies such as Kafka, Elastic Search, SQL databases, Google BigQuery, or equivalent.
• Experience in backend development for cloud applications, including RESTful API design, database interactions, and serverless computing paradigms.
• Proficient in containerization technologies, specifically Docker and Kubernetes.
• Comprehensive understanding of public cloud infrastructure (e.g., microservices architectures, cloud security principles, global networking, distributed system design, load balancing) and advanced troubleshooting capabilities for cloud services.
• Prior experience with Google Cloud Platform (GCP) or Amazon Web Services (AWS) is a significant advantage.
• Familiarity with C is beneficial.
• High drive and adaptability to thrive in a dynamic, fast-paced environment with a proactive and results-oriented mindset.

The Team

To stay ahead of the curve, it’s critical to know where the curve is, and how to anticipate the changes we’re facing. For the fastest growing cybersecurity company, the curve is the evolution of cyberattacks, and the products and services that proactively address them. Our engineering team is at the core of our products – connected directly to the mission of preventing cyberattacks. They are constantly innovating – challenging the way we, and the industry, think about cybersecurity. These engineers aren’t shy about building products to solve problems no one has pursued before. They define the industry, instead of waiting for directions. We need individuals who feel comfortable in ambiguity, excited by the prospect of challenge, and empowered by the unknown risks facing our everyday lives that are only enabled by a secure digital environment.

Our engineering team is provided with an unrivaled chance to create the products and practices that will support our company growth over the next decade, defining the cybersecurity industry as we know it. If you see the potential of how incredible people products can transform a business, this is the team for you. If you don’t wait for directions, instead, identifying new features and opportunities we have to just get better, this is your new career.

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 $147000/YR - $237500/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