Distinguished Engineer Software (Cortex Platform) Santa Clara, California, United States

Palo Alto Networks, Inc.; Santa Clara (CA); On-site; USD 249,000 - 341,000; Full time

Job summary

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. is seeking a Distinguished Engineer for the Cortex Platform to lead the innovation, development, and scaling of AI-powered security products, including Cortex Cloud, XSOAR, XDR, and XSIAM.

You will architect shared infrastructures and tackle complex backend challenges to deliver value to thousands of enterprise customers. Leveraging AI-native architectures and cloud technologies, you will optimize data processing pipelines and distributed systems, requiring a visionary

Qualifications

• BS or MS in CS/CE or related field.
• 14+ years of software engineering experience.
• Expert in Python and Go with distributed systems know-how.
• Strong fundamentals in concurrency, networking, OS, databases.
• Hands-on lead/architect experience on large projects.

Responsibilities

• Drive long-term technical vision and architecture for Cortex platforms.
• Design scalable, secure, cost-efficient distributed systems.
• Provide technical leadership across engineering teams.
• Lead cross-team architecture decisions for performance and velocity.
• Architect and optimize cloud-native infra and data pipelines.
• Own complex challenges spanning multiple services and products.
• Promote AI-native architectures and intelligent automation.
• Identify AI opportunities to accelerate development and testing.

Skills

Python

Go

Distributed systems

Cloud computing

Communication

Education

Bachelor's or Master's in CS/CE

Tools

REST APIs

Databases

Serverless computing

Microservices

AI/ML pipelines

LLM technologies

Job description

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

In order to be the cybersecurity partner of choice, we must trailblaze the path and shape the future of our industry. This is something our employees work at each day and is defined by our values: Disruption, Collaboration, Execution, Integrity, and Inclusion. We weave AI into the fabric of everything we do and use it to augment the impact every individual can have. If you are passionate about solving real-world problems and ideating beside the best and the brightest, we invite you to join us!

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

The Team

Cortex Platform - Cortex is the industry's only open and integrated, AI-based, continuous security platform. Cortex is a significant evolution of the Application Framework designed to simplify security operations and considerably improve outcomes. Deployed on a global, scalable public cloud platform, Cortex allows security operations teams to speed the analysis of massive data sets.

Job Summary

As a Distinguished Engineer for the Cortex Platform, you will serve as a key technical leader driving the innovation, development, and scaling of our industry-leading cybersecurity products, including Cortex Cloud, XSOAR, XDR, and XSIAM. You will architect shared infrastructures and tackle complex backend challenges to deliver exceptional value to thousands of enterprise customers. Leveraging AI-native architectures and cloud technologies, you will optimize data processing pipelines and distributed systems. This role requires a visionary approach and a passion for solving the world's most critical cybersecurity threats.

Key Responsibilities

• Drive long-term technical vision and architecture for critical Cortex platforms and services.
• Design highly scalable, secure, and cost-efficient distributed systems for processing massive data volumes.
• Serve as a technical leader, providing consultation and collaborating across engineering teams to ensure alignment.
• Lead cross-team architecture decisions, balancing scalability, performance, operational complexity, and engineering velocity.
• Architect and optimize cloud-native infrastructure, data pipelines, distributed storage, and real-time analytics platforms.
• Own and resolve complex technical challenges spanning multiple services, teams, and cybersecurity products.
• Drive adoption of AI-native architectures, agentic AI, and intelligent automation across engineering workflows.
• Identify opportunities to apply AI to accelerate development, testing, troubleshooting, and overall operational efficiency.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related technical field.
• 14+ years of professional software engineering experience, with a focus on distributed, cloud-native application development.
• Expert-level programming skills in Python, Go, with proven experience building large-scale distributed systems.
• Strong understanding of computer science fundamentals, including concurrency, networking, operating systems, databases, and storage systems.
• Extensive experience with cloud development, including REST APIs, databases, serverless computing, and microservices architectures.
• Demonstrated experience as a hands‑on technical lead or architect on complex software projects.
• Experience architecting or implementing AI/ML-powered systems and familiarity with modern LLM-based technologies.
• Exceptional technical judgment, communication, collaboration, and the ability to influence senior technical and business leaders.

Preferred Qualifications

• 8+ years of hands‑on experience with specific cloud technologies such as ElasticSearch, Google Pub/Sub, or similar.
• Deep understanding of public cloud design considerations, including security, global network infrastructure, and load balancing.
• Proven ability to make data-driven trade‑off judgments and excellent troubleshooting skills to isolate and resolve complex issues.
• Experience working in an agile environment with cross-functional teams to deliver full-stack products at scale.
• Familiarity with security operations, threat detection, cloud security posture management, and cyber security fundamentals.

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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.

$248,700.00 - $341,250.00/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 [e-mail].

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