Sr. Principal Software Engineer (Cortex Platform) (San Francisco)

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.

The Team

Cortex - Cortex is a world‑leading cybersecurity platform that provides comprehensive security solutions to protect organizations from advanced threats. Our team is responsible for developing and maintaining the core components of the Cortex platform, including the data pipeline, analytics engine, and user interface. We are a fast‑paced and innovative team that is passionate about building the best security products in the world.

Job Summary

As a Senior Principal Backend Engineer in our Cortex group, you will be a key technical leader responsible for developing, innovating, and scaling the backend of our industry‑leading products, including Cortex XSOAR, XDR, and XSIAM. You will focus on the Cortex Platform and contribute to shared infrastructures, tackling complex problems to deliver significant value to thousands of customers. This role requires a can‑do attitude and a passion for solving the most challenging cybersecurity threats.

Key Responsibilities

• Serve as an acknowledged technical leader, providing consultation and proactively collaborating across engineering teams to ensure alignment.
• Drive the full lifecycle of projects from requirements gathering to final design and implementation, acting as a project lead or mentor.
• Lead the alignment of planned work across the product by partnering with product management, UX design, and engineering stakeholders.
• Utilize a big‑picture perspective to identify, analyze, and provide practical solutions for complex existing and impending technical problems.
• Design, build, and optimize highly scalable data models and queries using technologies such as MySQL and BigQuery, focusing on the details to ensure performance.
• Develop robust business logic and API endpoints using Python and Flask, and build high‑performance backend services using Go.
• Proactively identify, articulate, and mitigate risks in projects to ensure smooth execution and high‑quality output.
• Mentor and empower other engineers across the department, fostering a culture of technical excellence and applied learning.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related technical field.
• 14+ years of professional software engineering experience, with a focus on distributed, cloud‑native application development.
• Expert‑level programming skills in Python, Go, or Java, with proven experience building large‑scale distributed systems.
• Extensive experience with cloud development, including REST APIs, databases, serverless computing, and microservices architectures.
• Demonstrated experience as a hands‑on technical lead or architect on complex software projects.

Preferred Qualifications

• 8+ years of hands‑on experience with specific cloud technologies such as ElasticSearch, Google Pub/Sub, or similar.
• Deep understanding of public cloud design considerations, including security, global network infrastructure, and load balancing.
• Proven ability to make data‑driven trade‑off judgments and excellent troubleshooting skills to isolate and resolve complex issues.
• Experience working in an agile environment with cross‑functional teams to deliver full‑stack products at scale.

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/common‑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.

$170,000.00 - $277,000.00/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 View email address on apply.placed-app.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