Senior Principal Software Engineer, Tools & Platforms (Cortex)

Palo Alto Networks, Inc.; Santa Clara (CA); On-site; USD 170,000 - 277,000; Full time

Job summary

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. is seeking a Senior Principal Software Engineer to lead development of tools, platforms, and infrastructure enabling engineering excellence at scale.

This role combines deep software engineering expertise with strategic thinking and cross-team influence. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience building large-scale distributed systems, developer platforms, and cloud-native infrastructure while mentoring engineers and shaping technology direction across

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.
• 9+ years of hands-on experience designing, building, and operating large-scale distributed systems, cloud infrastructure, networking, storage, and compute platforms.
• 9+ years of deep expertise with one or more major cloud providers (AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud) and modern cloud-native architectures.
• 9+ years of extensive experience developing, deploying, and operating microservices on Kubernetes using modern cloud-native technologies.
• 7+ years of extensive hands-on programming skills in Python and/or Go.
• Demonstrated expertise in system architecture, scalability, reliability, performance optimization, security, observability, and operational excellence.
• 7+ years of Strong experience with infrastructure as code, CI/CD automation, platform engineering, and developer productivity tooling.
• Expert knowledge of software quality practices, code health, testing strategies, performance analysis, diagnostics, debugging, and production support.

Responsibilities

• Define and drive the long-term technical vision and architecture for developer platforms, infrastructure, and engineering tooling across multiple organizations.
• Architect, design, and implement resilient, secure, scalable, and highly available infrastructure and platform solutions that support enterprise-scale engineering operations.
• Write high-quality platform and infrastructure software while setting the engineering standard for maintainability, performance, security, and operational excellence.
• Lead the design and implementation of highly complex, business-critical systems and platform capabilities with organization-wide impact.
• Serve as the primary technical leader for large cross-functional initiatives, aligning engineering teams on architecture, technology strategy, and implementation approaches.
• Lead architecture reviews and technical design discussions, driving consensus and ensuring adherence to engineering best practices and long-term architectural principles.
• Establish engineering standards, reusable frameworks, and reference architectures that improve software quality, developer productivity, and platform consistency.
• Provide expert-level code reviews and technical mentorship, raising the engineering bar across teams through guidance on design, testing, performance, security, and maintainability.
• Drive modernization initiatives involving cloud-native technologies, Kubernetes, distributed systems, observability, automation, and platform engineering.
• Lead incident response and complex production troubleshooting efforts, identifying systemic improvements that enhance platform reliability and operational efficiency.
• Champion engineering excellence by continuously improving software delivery practices through CI/CD, infrastructure automation, and developer experience initiatives.
• Mentor and influence Principal, Senior, and Staff Engineers while fostering technical growth, innovation, and a culture of engineering excellence across the organization.

Skills

Python

Go

Kubernetes

Cloud platforms

CI/CD

Education

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or related

Tools

Terraform

Docker

CI/CD tooling

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

We are seeking a Senior Principal Software Engineer who is first and foremost a software craftsman with a passion for building innovative tools, platforms, and infrastructure that enable engineering excellence at scale. This is a highly influential technical leadership role for an engineer who combines deep software engineering expertise with strategic thinking and a proven ability to shape technology direction across multiple teams and organizations.

The ideal candidate possesses extensive experience building large-scale distributed systems, developer platforms, and cloud-native infrastructure while serving as a trusted technical advisor and mentor. You will define architectural vision, establish engineering standards, drive cross-functional technical initiatives, and lead the development of solutions that improve developer productivity, operational excellence, and platform reliability.

If you thrive on solving complex technical challenges, influencing engineering strategy, and building scalable systems that empower engineering, platform engineering, SRE, and R&D teams, we'd love to hear from you.

Responsibilities

• Define and drive the long-term technical vision and architecture for developer platforms, infrastructure, and engineering tooling across multiple organizations.
• Architect, design, and implement resilient, secure, scalable, and highly available infrastructure and platform solutions that support enterprise-scale engineering operations.
• Write high-quality platform and infrastructure software while setting the engineering standard for maintainability, performance, security, and operational excellence.
• Lead the design and implementation of highly complex, business-critical systems and platform capabilities with organization-wide impact.
• Serve as the primary technical leader for large cross-functional initiatives, aligning engineering teams on architecture, technology strategy, and implementation approaches.
• Lead architecture reviews and technical design discussions, driving consensus and ensuring adherence to engineering best practices and long-term architectural principles.
• Establish engineering standards, reusable frameworks, and reference architectures that improve software quality, developer productivity, and platform consistency.
• Provide expert-level code reviews and technical mentorship, raising the engineering bar across teams through guidance on design, testing, performance, security, and maintainability.
• Drive modernization initiatives involving cloud-native technologies, Kubernetes, distributed systems, observability, automation, and platform engineering.
• Lead incident response and complex production troubleshooting efforts, identifying systemic improvements that enhance platform reliability and operational efficiency.
• Champion engineering excellence by continuously improving software delivery practices through CI/CD, infrastructure automation, and developer experience initiatives.
• Mentor and influence Principal, Senior, and Staff Engineers while fostering technical growth, innovation, and a culture of engineering excellence across the organization.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.
• 9+ years of hands-on experience designing, building, and operating large-scale distributed systems, cloud infrastructure, networking, storage, and compute platforms.
• 9+ years of deep expertise with one or more major cloud providers (AWS, Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud) and modern cloud-native architectures.
• 9+ years of extensive experience developing, deploying, and operating microservices on Kubernetes using modern cloud-native technologies.
• 7+ years of extensive hands-on programming skills in Python and/or GO.
• Demonstrated expertise in system architecture, scalability, reliability, performance optimization, security, observability, and operational excellence.
• 7+ years of Strong experience with infrastructure as code, CI/CD automation, platform engineering, and developer productivity tooling.
• Expert knowledge of software quality practices, code health, testing strategies, performance analysis, diagnostics, debugging, and production support.

Preferred Qualifications

• Proven track record of leading enterprise-scale technical initiatives, influencing architecture across multiple engineering organizations, and driving engineering strategy without direct organizational authority.
• Strong communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to effectively influence executive leadership, architects, and engineering teams across the organization.

#LI-NP1

#LI-HYBRID

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.

$170,000.00 - $277,000.00/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? No. Please note that we will not sponsor applicants for work visas for this position.