Principal Software Automation/Test Engineer (Next Generation Firewall)

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

Palo Alto Networks NGFW (Next Generation Firewall) group is looking for a seasoned and accomplished QA/Automation engineer with experience in validating core networking & security features in the QA team.

You will be part of a world-class software test engineering team that works on various ground-breaking technologies (Cloud Identity, Data Loss Prevention, Post quantum cryptography, IoT Security etc) in the Layer 4-7 domain. You will work with a multi- functional team of engineers solving interesting problems in the  area of L4-7 security.

We are looking for highly motivated engineers who have intellectual curiosity, love the challenge of solving complex problems with variable factors and creativity in obtaining solutions. We are looking for leaders who take ownership of their areas of focus and who are driven to pursue problems at every level. Collaboration is at the heart of our culture and we need engineers who can communicate at a high level and work well with multi-functional teams towards achieving a common goal.

Your Impact

• Work in a small and fast paced team to solve important customer problems and deliver most impactful results
• Contribute in all phases of end to end product and solution validation
• Work with different development and quality assurances groups to achieve the best quality
• Suggest and implement improvements to the QA process 
• Work with DevOps and the Technical Support teams to troubleshoot customer issues
• Interview, mentor and coach new team members

Qualifications

Qualifications/Experience 

•  AI-Driven Testing & Development (Key differentiator)
  • Practical experience using AI-based tools to accelerate coding, test generation, debugging, and refactoring
  • A demonstrated passion for researching and applying innovative, AI-based testing methodologies to improve engineering productivity.
• Core Technical Qualifications
  • 10+ years of dedicated QA experience and expert-level proficiency in Python.
  • Deep working knowledge of the TCP/IP stack and key application layer protocols (e.g., HTTP, HTTPS).
  • Extensive hands-on experience testing network and/or cybersecurity products.
  • Familiarity with security domains such as Data Loss Prevention (DLP), post-quantum cryptography or threat detection etc.
  • Proven expertise in designing and implementing test frameworks, utilizing commercial test suites, developing custom tools, and driving comprehensive automation strategies.
• Professional Skills & Preferred Experience
  •  Superior problem-solving skills with the ability to distill complex system issues into clear, concise, and actionable bug reports.
  •  Strong interpersonal and communication skills, with a proven ability to collaborate effectively within and across engineering teams to achieve shared quality goals.
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