Principal Machine Learning Engineer (Prisma AIRS)

Palo Alto Networks, Inc.; Santa Clara (CA); Hybrid; USD 156,000 - 253,000; Full time

Job summary

Palo Alto Networks is building a new AI security platform initiative on the AIRS team in Santa Clara, CA, focusing on state-of-the-art AI/ML infrastructure and high-performance distributed backends. Senior leaders will drive architecture for Sr. Staff, Principal, and Sr.

Principal roles in a hybrid on-site setup. You will work as an AI/ML Engineer at the forefront of safeguarding cloud infrastructure and AI model implementations, deploying autonomous solutions to classify threats and prevent

Qualifications

• MS or PhD in Computer Science or related field with 8+ years software engineering experience, including 3+ years ML/NLP/AI systems.
• Strong Python coding and hands-on ML frameworks (PyTorch or TensorFlow).
• Experience with LLMs/SLMs, prompt engineering, and model fine-tuning.
• Experience building scalable auto-classification and anomaly detection models on large datasets.

Responsibilities

• Develop scalable anomaly detection pipelines for cloud environments and AI agent actions.
• Lead SLM tuning for low-latency, high-accuracy edge-cloud security tasks.
• Drive data classification using ML, NLP, and deep learning on massive datasets to extract threat patterns.
• Collaborate with product, security, and cloud engineering to productionize ML solutions.

Skills

Python

PyTorch

TensorFlow

LLMs/SLMs

NLP

Auto-classification

Anomaly detection

Security concepts

Education

MS/PhD in CS

Tools

GCP

AWS

Terraform

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!

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. Note: All roles are hybrid based on‑site (3x/week) at our corporate Headquarters in Santa Clara, CA.

As an AI/ML Engineer, you will be at the forefront of developing advanced intelligent systems that safeguard cloud infrastructure and secure AI model implementations. You will operate at the intersection of machine learning, cloud security, and AI safety, deploying autonomous solutions that actively classify threats, tune models, and prevent adversarial attacks. You will tackle complex real‑world problems, develop novel algorithms, and deploy them into production at scale to ensure our customers can confidently deploy AI‑driven innovation.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop scalable anomaly detection pipelines to monitor cloud environments and AI agent actions, ensuring high efficacy with low false‑positive and false‑negative rates.
• Lead SLM (Small Language Model) tuning initiatives, optimizing and fine‑tuning models for low‑latency, highly accurate edge‑cloud security tasks.
• Drive advanced data classification strategies, applying machine learning, NLP, and deep learning methods to massive structured and unstructured datasets to extract complex threat patterns.
• Be a technical leader who partners closely with product, security, and cloud engineering teams to integrate these ML solutions seamlessly into production systems.

Qualifications

• Education & Experience: MS or PhD in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Statistics, or a related field (or equivalent practical experience) with 8+ years of software engineering industry experience, including a minimum of 3 years dedicated to machine learning, NLP, or AI systems.
• Programming & Frameworks: Deep programming expertise in Python and strong hands‑on experience with deep learning frameworks such as PyTorch or TensorFlow.
• Large/Small Language Models: Proven experience working directly with LLMs/SLMs, advanced prompt engineering, and model fine‑tuning techniques.
• Core ML Systems: Strong, demonstrated background in building and scaling auto‑classification and anomaly detection models on massive, real‑world datasets.

Additional Experience

• Adversarial & Model Safety: Demonstrated knowledge of cybersecurity concepts and AI safety vulnerabilities (e.g., prompt injection defense, AI red‑teaming, model security).
• Models & Frameworks: Familiarity with DistilBERT and other open‑source classification models.
• Graph Architectures: Familiarity with large, graph‑based datasets and processing techniques.
• Cloud Infrastructure: Experience with distributed cloud systems (GCP or AWS) and deploying scalable ML inference pipelines at scale.

The Team

We believe collaboration thrives in person. That’s why most of our teams work from the office full time (3 days a week at our Santa Clara headquarters), with flexibility when it’s needed. This model supports real‑time problem‑solving, stronger relationships, and the kind of precision that drives great outcomes.

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 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.

$156,400.00 - $253,000.00/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