Staff Technical Support Engineer, Focused Services, NGFW

Palo Alto Networks; Santa Clara (CA); On-site; USD 117,000 - 189,200; Full time

Job summary

Palo Alto Networks in Santa Clara, CA, seeks a Staff Technical Support Engineer to serve as a premier technical authority within our support ecosystem. You will bridge Technical Support, Product Management, and Engineering, influencing product serviceability and the overall customer experience for enterprise customers and executive stakeholders.

You will drive advanced diagnostics, mentor engineers, and help define standard troubleshooting frameworks while advancing AI-driven support efficacy.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of progressive, advanced experience in network operations, infrastructure engineering, or enterprise cybersecurity support.
• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Computer Architecture, or equivalent practical/military experience.
• Mastery-Level Network Analysis: comprehensive knowledge of multi-vendor networking fabrics and OSI-layer fault isolation.
• Enterprise Security Architecture: NGFW, CASB, SASE, ZTNA, and cryptographic tunneling.
• Identity & Modern Authentication Frameworks: IdP, SSO, SAML 2.0, OIDC, OAuth, LDAP.
• Systemic Project & Time Optimization: leading cross-functional initiatives with customer commitments.

Responsibilities

• Acutest Escalation Tier: ultimate internal escalation point for the most complex emergencies, owning technical resolution.
• Product Serviceability & Engineering Interface: work with Development, QA, and Product Management on defects and roadmaps.
• Innovation & Support Automation: develop automated diagnostics and AI-driven utilities to improve troubleshooting accuracy.
• Strategic Knowledge & Thought Leadership: author technical bulletins, whitepapers, and root-cause analyses.
• Global Talent Enablement: design onboarding curriculums and mentor engineers across global teams.
• Executive Advocacy: contribute to QBRs and translate complex issues for executives.
• Provide support that includes weekend, holiday shifts and on-call coverage.

Skills

Network operations

Infrastructure engineering

Enterprise cybersecurity

Cross-functional collaboration

Executive stakeholder communication

Education

Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science / Information Technology / Computer Architecture

Equivalent practical/military experience

Tools

NGFW

CASB

SASE

ZTNA

IPsec/SSL/TLS

AWS / Azure / GCP

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

As a designated customer advocate under Focused Services, you will work firsthand with our valued customers to address their complex post-sales concerns where analysis of situations or data requires an in-depth evaluation of many factors. You’re a critical thinker in understanding the methods, techniques, and evaluation criteria for obtaining results. You’ll enjoy networking with key contacts outside your own area of expertise, with a strong capability of detailing difficult technical issues to both non-technical and technical professionals. You will regularly participate in technical discussions with multi-functional teams, creating an environment of transparency that ultimately leads to better products and better cybersecurity.

Job Summary

Are you a visionary technical leader who thrives on solving the most complex architectural and cybersecurity challenges? We are seeking a Staff Technical Support Engineer to serve as a premier technical authority and strategic anchor within our support ecosystem. In this role, your impact will extend far beyond individual case management. You will act as a primary bridge between Technical Support, Product Management, and Engineering, leveraging your deep systemic insights to influence product serviceability, quality, and the overall customer experience. As a trusted advisor to our highest-value enterprise customers and executive stakeholders, you will navigate high-pressure escalations with seasoned resilience. You will champion organizational evolution by defining standard troubleshooting frameworks, pioneering AI-driven support efficacy, and systematically mentoring and scaling the technical capabilities of the engineering organization.

Key Responsibilities

• Acutest Escalation Tier: Serve as the ultimate internal escalation point for the most complex, multi-layered, and critical technical emergencies globally, taking definitive technical ownership to resolve structural network security crises.
• Product Serviceability & Engineering Interface: Partner directly with Development, QA, and Product Management to identify systemic software defects, steer product feature roadmaps based on support data, and design proactive architectural solutions that minimize support overhead.
• Innovation & Support Automation: Pioneer advanced automated diagnostics, custom log parsing scripts, and predictive troubleshooting playbooks. Drive the strategic implementation and continuous improvement of generative AI diagnostic utilities to elevate overall organizational troubleshooting accuracy.
• Strategic Knowledge & Thought Leadership: Establish industry-leading documentation standards; author comprehensive, high-impact Technical Support Bulletins, advanced architecture whitepapers, and authoritative root-cause analysis documents for broad internal and external consumption.
• Global Talent Enablement: Design, build, and deliver technical onboarding curriculums and advanced training frameworks. Actively mentor Senior and Core Support Engineers, conduct technical candidate screenings, and calibrate technical standards across global support theaters.
• Executive Advocacy: Act as a critical technical voice in Quarterly Business Reviews (QBRs) and high-stakes executive interactions, translating intricate, cross-vendor engineering issues into precise, business-impact terms for C-level stakeholders.
• Provide support that includes mandatory weekend, holiday shift work and on-call support. Support includes a blend of as-needed and rotational coverage, which is subject to change.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• 8+ years of progressive, advanced experience in network operations, infrastructure engineering, or enterprise cybersecurity support.
• Education: Bachelor’s or Master's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Computer Architecture, or equivalent practical/military experience.
• Mastery-Level Network Analysis: Comprehensive, authoritative knowledge of multi-vendor networking fabrics, complex routing architectures (e.g., advanced BGP topologies, OSPF, EIGRP), packet-level micro-flows, and deep OSI-layer fault isolation.
• Enterprise Security Architecture: Expert-level mastery of Next-Generation Firewalls (NGFW), Cloud Security Access Brokers (CASB), SASE architectures, Zero Trust network access (ZTNA), and advanced cryptographic tunneling protocols (IPsec, SSL/TLS).
• Identity & Modern Authentication Frameworks: In-depth technical proficiency with cloud-forward identity provider systems (IdP) and single sign-on (SSO) frameworks using advanced authentication protocols (e.g., SAML 2.0, OIDC, OAuth, along with standard RADIUS, TACACS+, and LDAP setups).
• Systemic Project & Time Optimization: Demonstrated success in leading cross-functional initiatives, balancing strategic architectural engineering projects alongside high-priority customer commitments.

Skills That Are a Plus

• Tier-3/Expert-level industry certifications (e.g., CCIE Security, PCNSE, CISSP, or equivalent).
• Hands-on proficiency with scripting and automation architectures (Python, Shell, REST APIs) applied to massive network environments.
• Practical virtualization and cloud-native architecture engineering experience (AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform, Kubernetes, or VMware ESXi).

While the Company will consider applicants who have current work authorization and require a transfer of an existing H-1B visa, the Company is not currently considering applicants who require new visa sponsorship (including new H-1B petitions) or individuals currently in OPT/CPT status who will require future sponsorship to maintain work authorization

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.

$117,000.00 - $189,200.00/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