Senior Staff Software Engineer, Palo Alto Networks
Leading cybersecurity protections and software platform
Be an early applicant
Leading cybersecurity protections and software platform
1001+ employees
Be an early applicant
1001+ employees
Company mission
To be the cybersecurity partner of choice, protecting our digital way of life.
Role
Who you are
- BS/MS degree in Computer Science or equivalent
- 7+ years of professional software engineering experience, with strong focus on backend systems
- Expertise in at least one strongly typed language such as Go (preferred), Java, C#, C++, and/or modern Python (with type hints, Pydantic, etc)
- Proven experience designing and implementing distributed systems and microservices architectures
- Strong understanding of cloud environments (GCP preferred; AWS or Azure also valuable)
- Hands-on experience with CI/CD pipelines (GitLab, GitHub Actions) and containerized deployments (Docker, Kubernetes)
- Experience with relational and NoSQL databases, caching systems, and message queues
- Familiarity with security best practices, authentication, and API design
- Proficient in writing unit, integration, and end-to-end tests to ensure reliability and quality
- Strong communication and collaboration skills; able to work cross-functionally in a fast-paced environment
Desirable
- Experience building AI or data-intensive systems
- Knowledge of event-driven architectures and streaming platforms (Kafka, Pub/Sub)
- Experience with monitoring and observability tools (Prometheus, Grafana, OpenTelemetry)
- Familiarity with gRPC or GraphQL APIs
What the job involves
- As a Senior Staff Software Engineer, Backend on the AIRS Runtime team, you will play a key role in designing and building the backend systems that power our AI security platform. You will help architect and implement scalable, high-performance services that enable real-time insights, secure AI workloads, and deliver value to customers worldwide
- This role requires strong technical expertise, deep understanding of distributed systems, and a mindset focused on reliability and performance. You’ll collaborate with frontend, infrastructure, and product engineers to deliver an industry-defining AI runtime security solution — one that sets the standard for how organizations secure AI systems in production
- Design, build, and maintain scalable backend services for AI runtime security, ensuring high availability and performance
- Own new features and components from design through deployment, including architecture, testing, and monitoring
- Collaborate closely with frontend, infrastructure, and product engineers to design clear APIs and data models that power a seamless user experience
- Drive architectural decisions that improve performance, scalability, and maintainability across services
- Apply best practices in distributed systems design, observability, and secure-by-design principles
- Contribute to CI/CD pipelines and automate workflows for build, testing, and deployment
- Mentor other engineers, fostering growth and technical excellence within the team
- Research, evaluate, and introduce new technologies and frameworks that strengthen our platform
Our take
With cyber threats evolving at lightening speed, businesses need robust solutions to protect their data and infrastructure. And the global cybersecurity market is projected to grow significantly, driven by increasing cyberattacks and the adoption of digital transformation initiatives. Because of this, companies are seeking security platforms that can address these challenges efficiently.
That's where Palo Alto Networks steps in, a frontrunner in the cybersecurity arena. It offers a suite of AI-powered security solutions designed to safeguard enterprises across various sectors. Its platforms, such as Cortex XSIAM and Prisma AIRS, integrate advanced threat detection, zero trust architecture, and real-time response capabilities so organizations are ready to manage and mitigate risks.
Its leadership is evident too, with impressive growth and strategic partnerships. Recently the company surpassed $1.5M in sales through the Google Cloud Marketplace, highlighting the demand for its innovative security solutions. Additionally, a collaboration with AT&T aims to enhance cybersecurity offerings, further solidifying its position in the market.
Freddie
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Company
Funding (2 rounds)
Sep 2022
$34m
SERIES A
May 2022
$11m
SEED
Total funding: $45m
Company benefits
- Healthcare: We value your health and provide options so you can choose what best supports your lifestyle and personal health goals. Various nationwide plans — including Blue Shield of California, Kaiser Permanente, Delta Dental, VSP, and more — are available to you and your family. Our providers offer the flexibility you want and the coverage you need
- Wellness: With a large on-site gym and daily, instructor-led exercise classes at HQ in Santa Clara, Palo Alto Networks actively supports employee fitness. Our juice bar, Gym & Juice, features fresh juice blends, a quick and nutritious option pre- or post-workout. And our ongoing wellness speaker series highlights the latest trends in health and wellness
- Development: Professional development is serious business at Palo Alto Networks, where the Talent Development team offers 25+ courses to help employees boost their careers and develop leadership capability
- Financial: Most roles are eligible for equity grants, and we now offer new hires a quarterly vesting schedule right away. We want you to be fairly compensated and rewarded as soon as you make an impact – on our team, that happens immediately! And because we consider every employee a stakeholder in our long-term success, we offer an Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) with a 24-month lookback. From life insurance to health savings accounts, we provide ways to help you protect and grow your wealth. Palo Alto Networks offers both traditional and Roth 401(k) options, along with a company match of 50% to a max annual amount of $1,000
- Time Off: In addition to paid corporate holidays, Flexible Time Off programs empower our employees to balance their work schedules with personal time off. We offer 12 weeks of full pay for medical leave and 6 weeks of full pay for parental leave. As a company with strong ties to the military and veterans, we also offer 26 weeks of full pay for military leave
- Perks: Our corporate discount program provides employees with significant discounts on merchandise, travel and entertainment. We offer many on-site perks at headquarters, including cafeterias, fuel service, dry cleaning service, EV charging stations, and a company store. We also provide complimentary drinks, fresh fruit, and snacks in break rooms across our campus to help everyone power through the day. Life at Palo Alto Network
Company HQ
Santa Clara, CA
Leadership
Nikesh Arora
(CEO & Chairman)Previously the President and COO at SoftBank, CBO at Google, and CMO at T-Mobile.
Nir Zuk
(Founder & CTO)Previously CTO at NetScreen Technologies, which was acquired by Juniper Neworks in 2004. They also co-founded OneSecure where they served as CTO and was the Principal Engineer at Check Point Software Technologies.
Lee Klarich
(CPO)Initially joined Palo Alto in 2006 as the EVP of Product Management and became CPO in 2018. Prior to this, they were the Director of Product Management at Juniper Networks and a Product Line Manager at NetScreen Technologies.
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