SVP/CTO NetSec

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

Your Career
This is a pivotal individual contributor role for a "force-of-nature" technologist who wants to dedicate 100% of their time to high-impact innovation and strategy, not people management. As the CTO for Network Security and AI Security, you are the chief technical visionary for the company's most critical and strategic portfolios. You will not just follow the market; you will define it. Your canvas is the entire convergence of network and AI security-from SASE and ZTNA to AI-driven threat defense and securing AI workloads themselves-and your mission is to architect the future.
You are the company's technical north star for this critical intersection. You will operate with a broad mandate to look beyond the current roadmap, anticipate major technology inflections (especially in AI), and define the multi-year strategy that ensures our platform remains the undisputed industry leader. You will be the ultimate technical authority, influencing engineering leaders, partnering with product executives, and evangelizing our vision to the most senior C-level customers and industry analysts. This is a rare opportunity to own the technical soul of two of the most important domains in technology.
Your Impact
Long-Term Technical Vision: Define and own the multi-year (3-5+ year) technical vision, architecture, and strategic roadmap for the entire Network Security portfolio, ensuring alignment with the overall company direction.
Advanced Research & Innovation: Lead advanced research into emerging threats, disruptive technologies (e.g., AI/ML in threat detection, post-quantum cryptography, secure-by-design architectures), and market transitions to seed future product innovation.
Chief Technical Evangelist: Serve as the company's ultimate technical spokesperson and authority on network security. Communicate our strategy and vision with deep credibility to C-level customers, technology partners, industry analysts, and internal R&D teams.
Senior Technical Advisor: Act as the key strategic advisor and partner to Product Management and Engineering leadership. Use your deep domain expertise and market insight to influence product-level decisions, architecture, and long-term bets.
Architectural Stewardship: Drive the high-level architectural principles and standards for the NetSec platform. Ensure our solutions are built for scalability, resilience, and a unified security posture across cloud, on-prem, and edge environments.
Cross-Functional Influence: Act as the technical "glue" across different business units, ensuring that our network security strategy is seamlessly integrated with our Cloud, Endpoint, and SecOps platforms.

Qualifications
Your Experience
15+ years of distinguished technical experience in the network security domain.
10+ years in a senior technical leadership role (e.g., Chief Architect, Distinguished Engineer, Fellow, or equivalent) with a proven track record of influencing a large R&D organization without direct managerial authority.
World-class, deep domain expertise across the entire Network Security landscape, including (but not limited to): ZTNA, SASE, next-gen firewalls (NGFW), secure SD-WAN, IDS/IPS, and advanced threat protection.
Demonstrated ability to define and drive a multi-year technology strategy that has translated directly into market-leading, commercially successful products.
Proven track record of anticipating major technology inflections and steering a large-scale organization to capitalize on them.
Exceptional executive presence and communication skills, with the ability to compellingly articulate complex technical concepts to C-suite, engineering, and non-technical audiences.

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.

$315,000.00 - $462,000.00/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.