Senior Staff Engineer Software (Cortex XSOAR)

Jobs Paloaltonetworks; California (MO); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 218,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work model

Job summary

Palo Alto Networks is seeking a Senior Staff Software Engineer for the Cortex Platform. You will lead backend development for Cortex XSOAR/XDR/XSIAM and AI solutions, building scalable services across on-prem and SaaS, while driving architectural decisions with cross-functional teams.

You will solve complex distributed system challenges, help scale the Cortex platform, and mentor engineers in a fast-paced cybersecurity environment.

Qualifications

• BS or MS in Computer Science or related field with 5–7 years of professional software engineering experience.
• 4+ years of Go and Python programming experience.
• 5+ years designing and building distributed cloud products on major platforms; containerization with Docker/Kubernetes.
• Strong Linux/Unix skills and experience with RDBMS and NoSQL databases.
• Solid understanding of distributed computing and CAP, master election, and split-brain scenarios.
• Experience with production troubleshooting and customer-facing support.

Responsibilities

• Lead end-to-end development of backend features for Cortex products.
• Design and maintain highly scalable, distributed server-side applications.
• Collaborate across teams to architect solutions and share responsibility for product development.
• Provide production mitigation and support for both SaaS and on-prem environments.
• Contribute to architecture decisions and leverage AI tools to improve Cortex.

Skills

Go

Python

Cloud architectures

Linux

Distributed systems

CI/CD

Production troubleshooting

Education

B.S./M.S. in Computer Science or related field

Tools

Docker

Kubernetes

GCP

AWS

Azure

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

The Team Cortex is the industry's only open and integrated, AI-based, continuous security platform. Designed to simplify security operations and drastically improve outcomes, Cortex is deployed on a global, scalable public cloud platform that empowers security operations teams to accelerate the analysis of massive data sets.

The Cortex Platform engineering group is responsible for developing and maintaining the highly scalable backend of our premier Cortex products, including Cortex XSOAR, Cortex XDR, Cortex XSIAM, and our emerging Cortex AI solutions. We operate with high efficiency, swift decision‑making, and a deep commitment to bringing unparalleled value to thousands of global customers.

The Opportunity

We are currently scaling our Cortex Platform engineering group and are seeking passionate Senior Staff Software Engineers (5–7 years of experience) to join our ranks. In this role, you will have the unique opportunity to make a massive impact across critical pillars of our engineering organization.

As a pivotal member of the group, you will drive innovation in key focus areas:

• Core Platform Infrastructure: Innovating and scaling the shared Cortex infrastructures and backend components that power XSOAR, XDR, and XSIAM.
• XSOAR & AI Development: Designing and implementing robust backend services for Cortex XSOAR (on‑prem and SaaS) and pioneering innovative AI‑driven solutions to enhance security orchestration, automation, and response.

Key Responsibilities

• End‑to‑End Development: Lead the full lifecycle development of robust backend features and core components for Cortex products—from requirements gathering, architecture, and design, to implementation, testing, deployment, and maintenance.
• High‑Scale Engineering: Design, build, and maintain highly scalable, distributed server‑side applications, ensuring top‑tier reliability, performance, and maintainability.
• Cross‑Functional Collaboration: Proactively collaborate and architect solutions with peers across different teams and disciplines, championing a "shared responsibility" model for product development.
• Production & Customer Excellence: Maintain a production‑oriented approach by providing real‑time mitigation to production issues. Engage directly with support teams and customers to troubleshoot challenges and deliver robust technical solutions for both SaaS and on‑prem environments.
• Innovation & Architecture: Contribute to team‑wide technical decisions and participate actively in code reviews. Apply learnings from new technical challenges to continuously improve system architecture, utilizing modern AI tools and capabilities to ease workflows and advance the Cortex product line.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• Education & Experience: B.S. or M.S. degree in Computer Science, a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience, coupled with 5 to 7 years of professional software engineering experience building scalable server‑side applications.
• Programming Expertise: 4+ years of extensive, hands‑on programming proficiency in Go and Python.
• Cloud & Infrastructure: 5+ years of proven experience designing and working with distributed cloud products on major platforms (GCP, AWS, or Azure), as well as containerization and orchestration technologies (Docker, Kubernetes).
• Systems & Databases: Advanced proficiency in Linux/Unix operating systems (command line, networking, shell scripting) and solid experience with both RDBMS and NoSQL database technologies.
• Distributed Computing: Strong understanding of distributed computing environments, including the implications of the CAP theorem, master election, and split‑brain problems.
• Operational Excellence: Proven experience with production troubleshooting and customer response.

Preferred Qualifications

• Strong foundational computer science knowledge (e.g., lock‑free data structures, bloom filters, minimal perfect hashing, consistent hashing).
• Familiarity with modern CI/CD pipelines and infrastructure as code (IaC).
• Hands‑on experience working with AI tools and developing internal tools to streamline engineering workflows.
• A passionate, can‑do attitude with a deep interest in tackling complex technical challenges within the fast‑paced cybersecurity sphere.

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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.

$134,600.00 - $217,800.00/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