Sr. Principal Solution Architect

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 seeking a visionary, future-focused Sr. Principal Solution Architect to lead the solution strategy, architectural design, and AI-driven transformation of our quote-to-cash and broader enterprise ecosystem. In this highly visible role, you will serve as the strategic bridge between core CPQ business needs and emerging AI capabilities.

You will not just be designing traditional system configurations; you will be applying a first-principles mindset to embed intelligent automation, predictive analytics, and machine learning into our core CPQ workflows. By understanding the deep domain nuances of CPQ (Configure, Price, Quote) and its downstream impacts, you will connect the dots across disparate systems. You will partner with cross-functional teams to build a unified, scalable, and AI-optimized technical solution architecture.

Key Responsibilities

• AI-Infused Architectural Leadership: Drive the end-to-end technical architecture for our CPQ initiatives, proactively embedding AI and machine learning capabilities (e.g., dynamic pricing optimization, intelligent guided selling, and automated contract anomaly detection).

• Cross-Functional Alignment: Act as a strategic partner to the business. Bring leaders from Finance, Provisioning, Sales Operations, and IT along on the journey, bridging the gap between business strategy and technical execution to create a unified architecture.

• Enterprise Integration: Design holistic integration strategies. You will look beyond CPQ to understand how it interacts with the entire enterprise ecosystem, including CRM, ERP, Billing, and downstream Provisioning systems.

• Champion Best Practices: Establish and enforce best-in-class industry design principles. Ensure all solutions prioritize security, high availability, performance, and scalability.

• Connect the Dots: Proactively identify dependencies, risks, and synergies across different technical domains and ongoing projects. Ensure isolated systems are woven into a cohesive, streamlined architecture.

• Collaborative Mentorship: Act as a self-starter and a core team collaborator. Guide, mentor, and elevate the technical capabilities of junior architects, developers, and engineers.

• Player coach mindset to drive technical and functional architecture to drive AI architecture and excellence

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• Extensive Experience: 15+ years of experience in enterprise architecture, software engineering, or technical consulting, with at least 5+ years functioning at a Principal Architect level.

• CPQ Domain & AI Application: Profound understanding of CPQ business processes, product catalog modeling, and quoting workflows, paired with a proven understanding of how AI can optimize the sales-to-fulfillment cycle.

• Systems Thinking & Integration: Proven track record of designing complex integrations (APIs, event-driven architectures, middleware) across large-scale enterprise ecosystems (CRM to ERP to Provisioning).

• First-Principles Mindset: Ability to strip away assumptions, drill down to the fundamental truths of a business or technic