Staff/Sr. Staff AI Engineer - IT Business Applications

Palo Alto Networks, Inc.; Santa Clara (CA); On-site; USD 210,000 - 270,000; Full time

Job summary

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. in Santa Clara, CA is hiring Staff and Senior Staff AI Engineers to join our IT Business Applications team.

This hands-on technical leadership role focuses on delivering production AI solutions that power Marketing, Sales, and Lead-to-Cash. You'll design architectures using LLMs, agents, RAG, and embeddings, translate business requirements, and own delivery from design to production operations.

Qualifications

• Staff: 5+ years of experience (or 8+ with a Master's).
• Sr. Staff: 8+ years of experience (or 6+ with a Master's, 3+ with a PhD).
• Expert-level proficiency in Python and strong proficiency in Go/Java/Node.js; deep experience with microservices and cloud platforms (AWS/Azure/GCP).
• Hands-on experience building production apps with modern LLMs and orchestration frameworks.

Responsibilities

• Translate business requirements into scalable architectures and own end-to-end delivery from design to production.
• Design GenAI-based multi-agent workflows and agent-to-agent interactions for GTM and customer processes.
• Implement observability, security, and governance around AI components and guardrails.
• Mentor engineers and communicate technical trade-offs to partners.

Skills

Python

Go/Java/Node.js

Microservices

GenAI/LLMs

Cloud platforms

Education

Bachelor's in CS

Tools

LangChain

LangGraph

REST APIs

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 hiring AI Engineers at the Staff and Senior Staff levels to join our IT Business Applications team. This group builds and operates the technology platforms that power Marketing, Sales, and the full Lead‑to‑Cash lifecycle.

This is a solutions engineering role, not a data science or ML research role. You will act as a hands‑on technical leader who uses AI as building blocks—LLMs, agents, RAG, embeddings—to deliver production solutions that solve real business problems. You will partner directly with business and product stakeholders, translate requirements into scalable architecture, and own delivery end‑to‑end from design through production operations.

You will move beyond traditional software engineering to design intelligent, agentic workflows that revolutionize our Go‑To‑Market (GTM) and customer experience processes—ensuring our platforms are the most secure and efficient in the industry, directly improving operational revenue generation.

Your Impact

• AI Architecture & Solution Design: Translate business requirements into scalable, modern technical architectures meeting non‑functional requirements (performance, reliability, scalability, security, observability). Contribute to building Proxy‑First AI Ecosystems and unified API endpoints to abstract LLM complexity and enable vendor independence.

• GenAI & Multi‑Agent Systems: Design and build Multi‑Agent Systems and Agent‑to‑Agent (A2A) workflows capable of planning, multi‑step execution, and self‑correction. Apply GenAI to automate GTM logic across customer support, sales compensation, and entitlement platforms.

• AI Observability & Quality: Implement observability pipelines tracking trace‑level data, prompt inputs/outputs, model latency, and cost. Deploy "LLM as a Judge" evaluation frameworks and integrate real‑time feedback loops to fix bottlenecks and model drift.

• Security & Governance: Build robust input/output guardrails to prevent PII exposure and prompt injection attacks. Implement graceful degradation strategies so systems remain resilient during component failures.

• Leadership & Execution: Drive features and subsystems from prototype to production. Mentor engineers, uphold engineering standards, and clearly communicate technical trade‑offs to business partners.

Qualifications

Required Experience:

• Staff: 5+ years of experience (or 8+ with a Master's degree).

• Sr. Staff: 8+ years of experience (or 6+ with a Master's, 3+ with a PhD).

• Technical Mastery: Expert‑level proficiency in Python and strong proficiency in Go, Java, or Node.js. Deep experience with microservices, distributed systems, and cloud platforms (AWS/Azure/GCP).

• AI / GenAI Stack: Hands‑on experience building production apps with modern LLMs (GPT‑4, Llama 3, Anthropic Claude) and orchestration frameworks (LangChain, LangGraph).

• Engineering Foundations: Deep understanding of RESTful API design, event‑driven architectures, CI/CD, and Agile/Scrum delivery.

• Education: Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or equivalent experience.

Preferred Experience

AI tracing tools (LangSmith, Arize, HoneyHive)

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.

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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.