Principal IT Data Engineer- Finance

Palo Alto Networks, Inc.; Santa Clara (CA); On-site; USD 167,000 - 271,000; Full time

Job summary

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. is seeking a Principal IT Data Engineer to architect, build, and maintain scalable data pipelines and analytical solutions supporting Finance and Legal objectives. You will partner with cross‑functional teams to deliver data‑driven insights using cloud data platforms.

The role requires deep expertise in SQL, Spark, Airflow, GCP, and BI tooling, plus the ability to mentor others and adopt GenAI initiatives to boost reliability and speed.

Qualifications

• Minimum 12 years of related experience with a Bachelor's degree.
• Strong 5+ years in data engineering, building data pipelines and analytics.
• Expertise in SQL programming and database management.
• Hands-on with SAP Data Objects and SFDC Data Objects.
• Experience with ETL tools and Spark/Airflow.
• Experience with cloud platforms (preferably GCP) and BigQuery/Dataflow.
• Experience with AI tools and integrating GenAI in development lifecycle.
• Familiarity leveraging GenAI for SQL/query generation and workflow automation.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and maintain data pipelines to extract, transform, and load data into data warehouse/lake.
• Identify and implement GenAI-driven improvements for data pipelines and data quality.
• Collaborate with Finance and Legal to translate requirements into technical solutions.
• Optimize pipelines for performance, reliability, and scalability.
• Implement data quality and governance processes for accuracy and compliance.
• Work with BI team to design dashboards and analytical tools for stakeholders.
• Mentor junior team members and promote best practices.
• Drive process improvements to increase engineer productivity.
• Evaluate emerging technologies and guide teams to adopt innovative solutions.

Skills

Data engineering

SQL

ETL tools

Apache Spark

Apache Airflow

GCP

BigQuery

AI tools

GenAI

SAP Data Objects

SFDC Data Objects

Finance/Legal domain

Education

Bachelor's degree

Tools

Apache Spark

Apache Airflow

BigQuery

Dataflow

DataProc

Cloud Composer

Tableau

SAP Data Objects

SFDC Data Objects

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

Job Description

Our Data & Analytics group is responsible for working with various business owners/stakeholders from Sales, Marketing, People, GCS, Infosec, Operations, and Finance to solve complex business problems which will have a direct impact on the metrics defined to showcase the progress of Palo Alto Networks. We leverage the latest technologies from the Cloud & Big Data ecosystem to improve business outcomes and create through prototyping, Proof-of-Concept projects and application development.

We are looking for a Principal IT Data Engineer with extensive experience in Data engineering, SQL, Cloud engineering and business intelligence (BI) tools. The ideal candidate will be responsible for architecting, designing, implementing, and maintaining scalable data transformations and analytical solutions that support our Finance and Legal team's business objectives. This role requires a strong understanding of data engineering principles, as well as the ability to collaborate with cross-functional teams to deliver high-quality data solutions.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and maintain data pipelines to extract, transform, and load (ETL) data from various sources into our data warehouse or data lake environment.
• Aptitude for proactively identifying and implementing GenAI-driven solutions to achieve measurable improvements in the reliability and performance of data pipelines or to optimize key processes like data quality validation and root cause analysis for data issues, is a nice-to-have.
• Partner and Collaborate with Finance and Legal stakeholders to gather requirements and translate business needs into technical solutions.
• Optimize and tune existing data pipelines and transformations for performance, reliability, and scalability.
• Implement data quality and governance processes to ensure data accuracy, consistency, and compliance with regulatory standards.
• Work closely with the BI team to design and develop dashboards, reports, and analytical tools that provide actionable insights to stakeholders.
• Mentor junior members of the team and provide guidance on best practices for data engineering and BI development.
• Drive new and improved processes to increase engineer productivity.
• Good to have a trusted technical advisor / thought leader, identifying and integrating emerging technologies (e.g., AI/ML, agentic frameworks, AI-first architectures, cloud-native platforms) and guiding teams to adopt innovative best practices that ensure systems remain adaptable and future-ready.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• Minimum of 12 years of related experience with a Bachelor’s degree with Experience with and functional knowledge of Finance, Operations and/or Legal business domains
• Strong 5+ years of experience in data engineering, with a focus on building and maintaining data pipelines and analytical solutions.
• Expertise in SQL programming and database management systems.
• Hands-on with SAP Data Objects (e.g., Sales Order, Revenue Recognition, Product Master) and SFDC Data Objects (e.g., Opportunity, Quote, Accounts)
• Hands-on experience with ETL tools and technologies such as Apache Spark and Apache Airflow.
• Experience with cloud platforms (preferably GCP) and services like Dataflow, DataProc, BigQuery, and Cloud Composer.
• Experience with AI Tools and good understanding of implementing AI in development lifecycle is mandatory
• Demonstrated readiness to leverage GenAI tools to enhance efficiency within the typical stages of the data engineering lifecycle, for example by generating complex SQL queries, creating initial Python/Spark script structures, or auto-generating pipeline documentation, is a nice-to-have.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with Big Data tools like Kafka.
• Proficiency in object-oriented or object-functional scripting languages such as Python or Scala.
• Experience with BI visualization platforms like Tableau.
• Aptitude for leveraging GenAI tools to enhance efficiency in the data engineering lifecycle.

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.

$167,000.00 - $270,500.00/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