Sr Principal Software Engineer (Data Plane)

Company Description

Our Mission

At Palo Alto Networks® everything starts and ends with our mission:

Being the cybersecurity partner of choice, protecting our digital way of life.

Our vision is a world where each day is safer and more secure than the one before. We are a company built on the foundation of challenging and disrupting the way things are done, and we’re looking for innovators who are as committed to shaping the future of cybersecurity as we are.

Our Approach to Work

We lead with flexibility and choice in all of our people programs. We have disrupted the traditional view that all employees have the same needs and wants. We offer personalization and offer our employees the opportunity to choose what works best for them as often as possible - from your wellbeing support to your growth and development, and beyond!

At Palo Alto Networks, we believe in the power of collaboration and value in-person interactions. This is why our employees generally work from the office three days per week, leaving two days for choice and flexibility to work where you feel most effective. This setup fosters casual conversations, problem-solving, and trusted relationships. While details may evolve, our goal is to create an environment where innovation thrives, with office-based teams coming together three days a week to collaborate and thrive, together!

Job Description

Your Career

As part of the Network Security data plane team, you are responsible for developing and innovating solutions for Palo Alto Networks next-generation Firewalls and Prisma Access Cloud. Specifically in the areas of network security, high throughput networking, next generation cluster and data plane architecture. 

You will also be responsible for innovation, developing proof of concept and productizing 'new' ideas by implementing them and collaborating with team members.

Your Impact

• Responsible for development of NextGen Network Security Components and Protocols for State-of-the-art firewalls deployed at Enterprise, Data Center, Public/Private Cloud, and Service Provider environments
• Development of features and architecture for NextGen Security Hardware and Virtual platforms in areas of Network Security/Threats and stateful TCP/UDP inspection
• Develop scalable flow architecture for packet processing pipeline for multi-core platforms
• Develop scalable software solutions for a distributed session architecture spanning across a cluster of firewalls
• Work with multi-functional team members on feature requirements, including but not limited to Product Management, QA, Support, etc
• Product visionary, ideas on competitive edge, Effective decision maker, take ownership and independently drive, lead tasks and assignments

Qualifications

Your Experience

• BS Degree in Computer Science and 10+ years of work experience or and MS Degree in Computer Science with 8+ years experience or equivalent military experience required
• Proficient coding skills in C/C++/Python and large scale software development on Unix/Linux
• Strong technical knowledge in computer architecture and operating systems
• Strong experience in packet processing, networking (L2-L4) protocols - TCP/UDP/IP
• Good understanding in IPSec/IKE
• Experience in performance tuning of datapath 
• Experience in DPDK and performance tuning is desired
• Can-do attitude and ability to take initiative and drive open issues to completion
• Good communication skills to work effectively with multi-functional groups

Additional Information

The Team

To stay ahead of the curve, it’s critical to know where the curve is, and how to anticipate the changes we’re facing. For the fastest growing cybersecurity company, the curve is the evolution of cyberattacks, and the products and services that proactively address them. Our engineering team is at the core of our products – connected directly to the mission of preventing cyberattacks. They are constantly innovating – challenging the way we, and the industry, think about cybersecurity. These engineers aren’t shy about creating products to solve problems no one has tackled before. They define the industry, instead of waiting for directions. We need individuals who feel comfortable in ambiguity, excited by the prospect of challenge, and empowered by the unknown risks facing our everyday lives that are only enabled by a secure digital environment.

Our engineering team is provided with an unrivaled opportunity to build the products and practices that will support our company growth over the next decade, defining the cybersecurity industry as we know it. If you see the potential of how incredible people products can transform a business, this