Principal Engineer Software (AI tools - Developer Platform)

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.

Who We Are

We take our mission of protecting the digital way of life seriously. We are relentless in protecting our customers and we believe that the unique ideas of every member of our team contributes to our collective success. Our values were crowdsourced by employees and are brought to life through each of us everyday - from disruptive innovation and collaboration, to execution. From showing up for each other with integrity to creating an environment where we all feel included.

As a member of our team, you will be shaping the future of cybersecurity. We work fast, value ongoing learning, and we respect each employee as a unique individual. Knowing we all have different needs, our development and personal wellbeing programs are designed to give you choice in how you are supported. This includes our FLEXBenefits wellbeing spending account with over 1,000 eligible items selected by employees, our mental and financial health resources, and our personalized learning opportunities - just to name a few!

At Palo Alto Networks, we believe in the power of collaboration and value in-person interactions. This is why our employees generally work full time from our office with flexibility offered where needed. This setup fosters casual conversations, problem-solving, and trusted relationships. Our goal is to create an environment where we all win with precision.

Job Description

Your Career

At Palo Alto Networks, Secure Cloud and AI infrastructure is the foundation of our mission to protect the digital future. We're seeking a world-class Principal Engineer (Sr Manager -equivalent) to lead the evolution of AI-driven tools within our Cloud Infrastructure and Platform Engineering (CIPE) organization.

You will be the key architect of our strategy to embed intelligence into every stage of the developer lifecycle-from ideation and documentation to coding, testing, deployment, and observability. Your work will directly accelerate developer velocity, elevate our standards for software quality, and unlock new business opportunities by enabling the rapid integration of agentic AI into our products.

This role carries executive-level visibility and the autonomy to solve our most complex engineering challenges. If you are a recognized expert in developer platforms and are passionate about leveraging AI to redefine engineering efficiency at a global scale, we want to hear from you. 

This role is located at our dynamic Santa Clara California headquarters campus, and in office 3 days a week.

Your Impact

• Define the Vision: Architect and own the technical roadmap for AI-enhanced developer tools and infrastructure in CIPE at Palo Alto Networks
• Evaluate and Execute Solutions: Lead the design and implementation of novel systems that leverage Large Language Models (LLMs), static/dynamic analysis, and machine learning to create a world-class, intelligent developer experience
• Drive Organization-Wide Impact: You are a builder, so you won't just stop at ideation. Beyond concepts, ensure your builds show step-change improvements in key engineering metrics like including code velocity, review cycle time, test effectiveness, incident reduction, and overall feature launches. 
• Lead Cross-Functional Initiatives: Spearhead complex, cross-functional projects that require influencing and aligning multiple engineering organizations and their leadership. 
• Enable Secure Innovation: Develop foundational AI platforms that empower teams to prototype, deploy, and scale threat-intelligent cloud features, embedding Palo Alto Networks' security natively.
• Serve as Technical Authority: Act as the go-to expert on AI-augmented cloud platforms, mentoring senior engineers and infusing industry-leading practices into our high-stakes ecosystem.
• Innovate at Enterprise Scale: Address intricate challenges in multi-cloud environments (AWS, Azure, GCP, and OCI) supporting thousands of microservices, secure workloads, and global threat detection pipelines.

Qualifications

Your Experience 

•  BS, MS, or PhD in Computer Science or a related technical field, or equivalent experience. 
•  9+ years of relevant software engineering experience, with a proven track record of technical leadership and innovation. 
•  Demonstrated experience