Sr. Competitive Testing Analyst

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

As a Competitive Test Engineer for Security Subscriptions at Palo Alto Networks, you will

play a pivotal role in defining how our advanced threat prevention and detection capabilities

stack up against competitors in the real world.

You will be responsible for testing and benchmarking key security services, including Threat

Prevention, DLP, CASB, SAAS security, DNS Security, URL Filtering, and more, using

real-world attack scenarios and advanced testing tools.

This is a hands-on role that blends deep technical expertise, competitive analysis, and

strategic influence. Your insights will help drive product improvements, influence GTM

strategy, and enable sales and field teams with data-backed confidence. MUST COME IN OFFICE. 

Your Impact

• Build and operate a comprehensive test lab focused on evaluating subscription-based

  security services across Palo Alto Networks and competitor platforms

• Design and execute test plans that evaluate malware prevention efficacy, DNS-based threat

  mitigation, anti-phishing, command-and-control (C2) blocking, and more

• Leverage modern test tools (e.g., BreakingPoint, CyberFlood, Picus, Metasploit, CyPerf) to

  simulate real-world attacks and evasions

• Create data-driven benchmarking reports that highlight strengths, expose competitive gaps,

  and reinforce our product differentiation

• Collaborate with Product Management and Engineering to recommend improvements and

  close identified competitive gaps

• Develop competitive collateral for Sales, including battlecards, whitepapers, internal FAQs,

  and enablement decks

• Engage with the field to provide deep-dive technical support on competitive claims and assist

  in high-stakes sales situations

• Stay current on the threat landscape and emerging competitor capabilities to ensure testing

  remains relevant and forward-looking

Qualifications

Your Experience 

• 7–10 years of hands-on experience in cybersecurity testing or threat prevention roles

• Proven expertise in testing and validating network security capabilities such as IDS/IPS, DLP,

  CASB, SAAS security, antivirus, URL filtering, DNS security, malware sandboxing, etc.

• Deep familiarity with common NGFWs and competitive platforms (Fortinet, Checkpoint, Cisco,

  etc.)

• Strong background in network-based threat analysis, attack emulation, and malware behavior

  profiling

• Hands-on experience with test