Senior Staff Continuous AI Pentester

Jobs Paloaltonetworks; California; On-site; USD 152,000 - 246,000; Full time

Job summary

Palo Alto Networks is seeking a Security Engineer to build AI-powered security scanning capabilities across web apps, APIs, cloud services, and internet-facing infrastructure. You will own scalable tooling within the Information Security team and advance in-house tools or select external solutions for production use.

You will perform hands-on security testing, integrate findings into workflows, and collaborate with researchers and engineers to prioritize capabilities against emerging threats for

Qualifications

• 5-7+ years of Security Engineering experience: Pentesting, Offensive Security, Product Security, or Application Security
• Strong experience with Penetration testing
• Experience building tools such as custom scanners, testing frameworks, automation, or meaningful open‑source contributions
• Strong web/API testing skills plus experience building security services or developer tooling
• Software engineering experience building vulnerability scanners, DAST, ASM, or automated pentesting products and understand how vulnerabilities work.

Responsibilities

• Own the tooling to continuously scan Palo Alto Networks’ extensive public-facing attack surface within the Information Security team.
• Design and develop black-box scanning capabilities that discover and validate vulnerabilities across web applications, APIs, cloud services, and internet-facing infrastructure.
• Build AI agents that use security tools, analyze target context, and adapt testing approaches.
• Take capabilities from prototype to production, developing in-house tools or evaluating, acquiring, and operating commercial solutions as needed.

Skills

Security engineering

Penetration testing

Web API testing

Tool development

Tools

Custom scanners

Testing frameworks

Automation

Open-source contributions

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

Build AI-Powered Security Scanning

• Own the tooling to continuously scan Palo Alto Networks’ extensive public-facing attack surface within the Information Security team.
• Design and develop black‑box scanning capabilities that discover and validate vulnerabilities across web applications, APIs, cloud services, and internet‑facing infrastructure.
• Build AI agents that use security tools, analyze target context, and adapt testing approaches.
• Take capabilities from prototype to production, developing in‑house tools or evaluating, acquiring, and operating commercial solutions as needed.

Combine Security Testing with Software Engineering

• Perform hands‑on security testing to understand vulnerabilities and translate effective techniques into reusable tools and automated workflows.
• Combine established security tools with custom detection logic to investigate application weaknesses, misconfigurations, and attack paths.
• Develop validation workflows that reduce false positives and produce reproducible evidence.

Improve Scanning Quality and Scale

• Build and improve services for scan scheduling, tool execution, and results processing at enterprise scale.
• Apply expertise in frontier AI models to select and evaluate models that balance capability, accuracy, performance, and cost.
• Evaluate detection accuracy, coverage, and agent performance to improve scanning effectiveness.
• Implement controls for authorized scope and safe execution, while improving reliability and cost efficiency.

Help Teams Resolve Validated Findings

• Produce actionable findings with clear evidence, affected assets, and remediation guidance.
• Integrate findings into internal security and engineering workflows, including automated retesting to verify fixes.
• Partner with security researchers, analysts, and engineering teams to prioritize capabilities based on emerging threats and enterprise security needs.

Qualifications

• 5-7+ years of Security Engineering experience: Pentesting, Offensive Security, Product Security, or Application Security
• Strong experience with Penetration testing
• Experience building tools such as custom scanners, testing frameworks, automation, or meaningful open‑source contributions
• Strong web/API testing skills plus experience building security services or developer tooling
• Software engineering experience building vulnerability scanners, DAST, ASM, or automated pentesting products and understand how vulnerabilities work.

The Team

We’re not your ordinary Information Security team. We’re a diverse group of security professionals who challenge the status quo in order to protect Palo Alto Networks and our customers. Driving innovation on the Information Security team of the fastest‑growing high‑tech cybersecurity company is a once‑in‑a‑lifetime opportunity. You’ll be joined by the brightest minds in technology, and our global teams are on the front line of defense against cyberattacks. You will be part of a growing, passionate, and dynamic team with an opportunity to work on challenging and exciting projects — centered on what we believe is one of the most significant mission statements in the world. We also strive to be the most people-centric company ever! That means we’re constantly working to make your experience amazing, and you are part of the team breaking boundaries of what the workplace can be! We are committed to bringing our FLEXWORK philosophy. You will be part of a global team and for many roles, we offer employee choice on work location (office or mostly from home) for most of our roles.

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.

$152,300.00 - $246,400.00/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.