Our MissionAt 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 AreIn 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 SummaryJob SummaryAs a Principal IT Software Engineer to join our CPQ (Configure Price and Quote) team, you will serve as the recognized subject matter expert, bringing industry best practices to our architectural design. You will act as a technical leader, using first-principles thinking to dissect complex challenges and drive the development of company objectives. This role requires working autonomously to lead cross-functional teams in creating an AI-Led, Secure, Scalable CPQ Platform that transforms our business processes.
Key Responsibilities- Architect and design scalable, highly reliable business systems across multiple services and teams, ensuring alignment with long-term technical strategy.
- Lead the technical design and architecture of an AI-Led, Secure, Scalable CPQ Platform, owning the process from prototype through deployment.
- Build and integrate foundational and agentic AI/ML workflows, ensuring the secure and effective use of GenAI technologies in our products.
- Establish and enforce engineering standards and best practices within an agile development environment to improve code quality and team velocity.
- Proactively collaborate with product and business teams to balance technical debt, product stability, and new features against go-to-market timelines.
- Mentor and empower Staff engineers, challenging team members at all levels to grow their technical and problem-solving skills.
- Establish evaluation and observability frameworks to measure AI quality (e.g., accuracy, hallucination rates) and overall system reliability.
- Apply deep understanding of prompt engineering best practices and LLM security considerations, such as input validation and prompt injection prevention.
Qualifications Required Qualifications- Bachelor's degree with a minimum of 12 years of related experience; or a Master's degree with 8 years of experience; or a PhD with 5 years of experience.
- Proven experience designing and developing scalable web applications and integrations using a microservices architecture.
- Expert-level server-side software development experience using Java with Spring/Spring Boot; experience with Go is a plus.
- In-depth knowledge of object-oriented programming, data structures, algorithms, and software design patterns.
- Demonstrated experience building production-grade applications with LLM APIs such as Google Vertex AI/Gemini, OpenAI, or Anthropic.
- Hands-on experience with CI/CD platforms and tools including Kubernetes, Jenkins, Git, Spinnaker, or Docker.
- Must be located in the SF Bay Area and able to work in a hybrid/onsite capacity.
Preferred Qualifications- Experience architecting conversational AI platforms, chatbots, or Text-to-SQL systems.
- Knowledge of multi-turn dialogue management and conversation history patterns in AI applications.
- Professional development experience with TypeScript/Node.js for AI agent development.
- Familiarity with vector embeddings, semantic search, and similarity-based retrieval patterns for RAG systems.
The TeamInformation Technology - The Information Technology (IT) team at Palo Alto Networks is at the forefront of securing our own enterprise. We are a team of builders and innovators, creating and deploying cutting-edge solutions that enable our business to scale and our employees to work securely from anywhere. Our focus is on delivering a seamless and secure technology experience, from infrastructure and applications to end-user services, all while showcasing the power of our own products. You'll be part of a world-class team that is pivotal in protecting our digital way of life.
Compensation DisclosureThe 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.
$167,000.00 - $270,500.00/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
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? No. Please note that we will not sponsor applicants for work visas for this position.
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