Senior Staff Escalation Engineer

Palo Alto Networks; Massachusetts; Remote; USD 150,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Palo Alto Networks is seeking a Senior Staff Escalation Engineer to own the most challenging production issues across Identity Security platforms. You will partner with global R&D teams to diagnose defects, drive engineering resolution, and strengthen platform reliability.

This is a hands-on software engineering escalation role, not a traditional support position. The role requires deep experience with large-scale SaaS or cloud-native systems, strong root cause analysis, and the ability to

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Technology, or related field, or equivalent practical experience.
• 5+ years of experience supporting large-scale enterprise SaaS or cloud-native platforms in Escalation Engineering or related roles.
• Experience working with software engineering and R&D teams to investigate defects, reproduce issues, and drive resolution.
• Ability to diagnose and resolve highly complex production issues across distributed systems and cloud services.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the highest level of engineering escalation for complex production issues across ISA, SIA, Privilege Cloud, and TM.
• Own production investigations from escalation to engineering resolution.
• Reproduce issues and analyze logs, metrics, traces, telemetry, APIs, and system behavior to isolate root causes.
• Partner with global R&D teams to diagnose defects and drive timely fixes.
• Translate findings into actionable defects with clear reproduction steps and evidence.
• Mentor engineers and share expertise across Engineering, R&D, and Technical Support.
• Participate in an on-call rotation supporting production services.

Skills

Escalation Engineering

Root cause analysis

Distributed systems

Cloud services

Communication skills

On-call readiness

Problem diagnosis

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/Engineering/IT or related field

Tools

Python

Bash

PowerShell

AWS

Job description

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!

This role is remote, but distance is no barrier to impact. Our hybrid teams collaborate across geographies to solve big problems, stay close to our customers, and grow together. You will be part of a culture that values trust, accountability, and shared success where your work truly matters.

Job Summary

Join the engineering team responsible for ensuring the reliability, availability, and operational excellence of the Idira Identity Security Management platform (formerly CyberArk), supporting Identity Security Administration (ISA), Secure Infrastructure Access (SIA), Privilege Cloud (pCloud), and Tenant Management (TM).

As a Senior Staff Escalation Engineer, you will investigate the platform's most complex production issues, partnering directly with global R&D teams to identify root causes, drive product improvements, and enhance platform reliability. You will own technical investigations from initial escalation through engineering resolution, collaborating closely with software engineers to diagnose software defects, improve product quality, and strengthen platform resiliency.

This is a hands-on software engineering role - not a traditional support position. Success requires the ability to think like a software engineer while approaching production issues with the curiosity of an investigator. As the engineering escalation point between Technical Support and global R&D, you will help resolve the platform's most technically challenging production issues while influencing product quality, improving operational processes, and helping Engineering build more reliable cloud services.

Responsibilities

• Serve as the highest level of engineering escalation for complex production issues across Identity Security Administration (ISA), Secure Infrastructure Access (SIA), Privilege Cloud, and Tenant Management (TM).
• Own production investigations from initial escalation through root cause identification and engineering resolution.
• Reproduce complex production issues and analyze logs, metrics, traces, telemetry, APIs, source code, and system behavior to isolate root causes.
• Partner directly with global R&D teams to diagnose software defects, validate findings, and drive timely product fixes.
• Translate investigation findings into actionable engineering defects with clear reproduction steps, log analysis, and supporting evidence.
• Differentiate among software defects, configuration issues, infrastructure problems, and environmental conditions to ensure accurate ownership.
• Serve as a technical leader during major production incidents, driving cross-functional collaboration to restore platform stability and prevent recurrence.
• Collaborate closely with Engineering, Product Management, Cloud Operations, and Technical Support to restore platform stability and prevent recurrence.
• Develop troubleshooting tools, automation, diagnostics, and technical documentation to improve investigation efficiency and operational excellence.
• Analyze recurring production issues to identify systemic trends and influence long-term product, architectural, and operational improvements.
• Mentor engineers and share technical expertise across Engineering, R&D, and Technical Support organizations.
• Participate in an on-call rotation supporting production services.
• Opportunities to leverage AI-assisted engineering approaches to improve troubleshooting, diagnostics, automation, and operational efficiency.

Qualifications

• This position requires authorization to work in the United States without current or future employer sponsorship due to customer and regulatory requirements associated with supporting regulated U.S. government cloud environments.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Technology, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.
• 5 + years of extensive experience supporting large-scale enterprise SaaS or cloud-native platforms in Escalation Engineering, Software Engineering, Production Engineering, Sustaining Engineering, or a similar role.
• Demonstrated experience working directly with software engineering and R&D teams to investigate product defects, reproduce issues, isolate root causes, and drive engineering resolution.
• Ability to diagnose, troubleshoot, and resolve highly complex production issues beyond the scope of Tier 1 and Tier 2 support organizations.
• Strong debugging and root cause analysis skills across distributed systems, cloud services, enterprise applications, APIs, and infrastructure.
• Ability to understand complex SaaS architectures and troubleshoot issues across multiple technology layers.
• Experience reading, reviewing, or debugging source code and translating production findings into actionable engineering defects.
• Excellent presentation, verbal, and written communication skills, particularly during high-pressure, critical incidents.
• Ability to navigate conflicting priorities while driving successful engineering outcomes and maintaining a strong customer focus.
• Willingness to participate in an on-call rotation supporting production services.
• Ability to work remotely within the United States while maintaining regular availability during morning business hours in the U.S. Eastern Time Zone to support collaboration with global R&D teams.

Preferred Qualifications

Experience using AI-assisted engineering tools or applying AI/ML technologies to software development, troubleshooting, automation, incident investigation, or operational workflows.

Idira Platform Experience (CyberArk)

• Experience supporting the Idira Identity Security platform (formerly CyberArk), including one or more of the following products:
• Identity Security Administration (ISA)
• Secure Infrastructure Access (SIA)
• Experience with Identity Security, Identity Governance, Privileged Access Management (PAM), Identity and Access Management (IAM), or enterprise cybersecurity solutions.
• Experience troubleshooting distributed microservices, cloud-native applications, REST APIs, authentication flows, and modern SaaS architectures.
• Hands-on experience with AWS; experience with AWS GovCloud is an advantage.
• Experience working for a cybersecurity or enterprise security software company.
• Proficiency in scripting and automation using Python, Bash, or PowerShell to create diagnostic tools, automate troubleshooting, and improve operational efficiency.

Secure Infrastructure Access (SIA)

• Strong understanding of Windows and Linux operating systems, including:
• Authentication and authorization
• Process management
• File system management
• Remote access and administration using RDP and SSH
• 3+ years of experience with C#, including the ability to debug new features and legacy code, identify software defects, and support root cause analysis in partnership with R&D.

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.