Principal Data Engineer - Data Ingestion Pipeline (Prisma AIRS)

Palo Alto Networks; California (MO); On-site; USD 156,000 - 253,000; Full time

Job summary

Palo Alto Networks is advancing an AI-driven security platform and is building a new AIRS data pipeline initiative. You will architect and scale data ingestion pipelines, ensuring real-time access to telemetry from security engines and supporting ML model training at scale.

The role focuses on Go/Python/Java, OpenTelemetry observability, and distributed backend systems, with collaboration across data engineering and ML teams in a fast-paced security environment.

Qualifications

• BS/MS in Computer Science or related field with 8+ years of software or data engineering experience.
• Experience building distributed, high-throughput streaming data pipelines.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and scale high-throughput log and telemetry ingest pipelines with ultra-low latency.
• Implement and standardize observability using OpenTelemetry across microservices.
• Architect and manage a performant trace lake for deep network forensics and ML training.
• Develop and maintain benchmark infra to validate pipeline performance under peak loads.
• Collaborate with Data Plane and ML teams to ensure smooth data flow into analytical platforms.

Skills

Go

Python

Java

Education

BS/MS in Computer Science or related field

Tools

GCP

ClickHouse

Elasticsearch

Terraform

Kubernetes

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

Joining the AIRS Team

Palo Alto Networks is pioneering the world’s most comprehensive AI security platform through Prisma AIRS—protecting complex ecosystems of AI models, applications, and agents from development through runtime. As part of this mission, we are building a brand-new initiative on the AIRS team focused on advancing state‑of‑the‑art AI/ML infrastructure and high‑performance, distributed backend systems. We are recruiting senior technical leaders to drive this architecture from the ground up across the following levels: Sr. Staff Engineer | Principal Engineer | Sr. Principal Engineer. As a Data Pipeline Engineer, you will be the architect of our high‑volume data ecosystem. You will build and scale the critical pipelines that ingest logs and telemetry from our high‑performance engines, transforming massive streams of data into actionable intelligence. Your work will directly power our advanced threat detection capabilities by ensuring our security platforms have reliable, real‑time access to network traces and operational metrics at massive scale.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, build, and scale high-throughput log and telemetry ingest pipelines capable of processing massive data streams from our distributed inline security engines with ultra‑low latency.
• Implement and standardize observability frameworks using OpenTelemetry (OTEL) to capture distributed tracing, metrics, and logs across complex, microservices‑based architectures.
• Architect and manage a highly performant trace lake to store, index, and query deep network forensics, facilitating rapid threat hunting and machine learning model training.
• Develop and maintain robust benchmark infrastructure to continuously validate pipeline performance, latency, reliability, and data integrity under peak global loads.
• Partner tightly with Data Plane and Machine Learning engineering teams to ensure seamless, efficient data flow from the edge directly into our centralized analytical platforms.

Qualifications

Education & Experience: BS/MS in Computer Science, Data Engineering, or a related technical field (or equivalent practical experience) with 8+ years of software or data engineering experience with a strong focus on building distributed, high-throughput streaming data pipelines (e.g., GCP Cloud Pub/Sub, Bigtable, BigQuery).

• Cloud Infrastructure: Solid, hands‑on experience designing and deploying cloud infrastructure on Google Cloud Platform (GCP).
• Observability: Deep expertise in observability standards, specifically OpenTelemetry (OTEL), and managing large‑scale time‑series, log, or trace databases.
• Programming Skills: Exceptional programming skills in Go, Python, or Java.
• Modern Systems Programming: Familiarity with the Rust programming language is highly desired.
• Performance Monitoring: Experience with measuring data pipeline processing latency metrics (e.g., tracking P90/P99 latency).
• Specific Databases: Familiarity with managing and querying large-scale databases such as ClickHouse and Elasticsearch.
• Infrastructure-as-Code: Proven experience with Infrastructure-as-Code (e.g., Terraform) and container orchestration platforms like Kubernetes.
• Data Architecture: Strong understanding of data modeling, data governance, and optimization for distributed storage systems.

Compensation Disclosure

$156,400.00 - $253,000.00/yr

A description of our employee benefits may be found here.

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