Principal Engineer Software (AI)

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

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 is the team for you. If you don’t wait for directions, instead, identifying new features and opportunities we have to just get better, this is your new career.

Prisma Access™ (formally GlobalProtect Cloud Service) provides protection straight from the cloud to make access to the cloud secure. It combines the connectivity and security you need - and delivers it everywhere you need it. Using cutting-edge public and private cloud technologies extending the next-generation security protection to all cloud services, customers on-premise remote networks and mobile users.

Job Summary
We are seeking an experienced Principal Software Engineer (AI) to design, develop and deliver next-generation technologies within our Prisma Access team. We want passionate engineers who love to code and build great products. Engineers who bring new ideas in all facets of software development. We are looking for leaders who take ownership of their areas of focus and who are driven to solve problems at every level. Collaboration and teamwork are at the foundation of our culture and we need engineers who can communicate at a high level and work well with others towards achieving a common goal.
You will design and implement LLM orchestration pipelines, including prompt workflows and structured output generation.

Key Responsibilities

• Build scalable backend services in Python/Go running on GCP or AWS.
• Develop schema-driven data models and validation layers for complex configurations.
• Implement intelligent suggestion and recommendation components powered by AI.
• Design guardrails to ensure reliability, safety, and accuracy in AI outputs.
• Build RAG pipelines using vector search, embeddings, and document indexing.
• Optimize AI system performance for latency, cost, and correctness.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• Strong experience with LLM applications, backend architecture, and cloud services required.
• Networking/security or large-configuration-domain experience is a strong plus
• M.S./B.S. degree in Computer Science or related field or equivalent military experience required
• 8+ years' experience
• Excellent programming skills in Python or Golang
• Experience with GCP or AWS

Compensation Disclosure

The compensation offered for this position will depend on qualifications, experience, and work location. For candidates who receive an offer at the posted level, the starting base salary (for non-sales roles) or base salary + commission target (for sales/com-missioned roles) is expected to be the annual range listed below. The offered compensation may also include restricted stock units and a bonus. A description of our employee benefits may be found here.

$147,000.00 - $237,500.00/yr

Our Commitment

We’re trailblazers that dream big, take risks, and challenge cybersecurity’s status quo. It’s simple: we can’t accomplish our mission without diverse teams innovating, together.

We are committed to providing reasonable accommodations for all qualified individuals with a disability. If you require assistance or accommodation due to a disability or special need, please contact us at  accommodations@paloaltonetworks.com.

Palo Alto Networks is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity in our workplace, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran status, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or other legally protected characteristics.

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

Is role eligible for Immigration Sponsorship?: Yes