Sr. Principal Backend Engineer (Cortex XSIAM)

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: Palo Alto Networks is seeking a visionary Sr. Principal Backend Engineer to shape the future of our Cortex platforms. In this highly impactful role, you will act as a technical pioneer and an architectural challenger for our leading-edge security orchestration, automation, and response platform. Bringing an entrepreneurial mindset and a deep understanding of the competitive business landscape, you will critically evaluate our core systems, champion system quality, and drive rapid prototyping (POCs) for innovative AI-based solutions. This is an exceptional opportunity for a seasoned technologist—perhaps a former founder—who wants to keep their hands in the code while shaping our strategic direction and pushing the boundaries of AI-driven cybersecurity. Your Impact: Challenge the Architecture: Bring a fresh, external perspective to critically evaluate our core systems and drive uncompromising standards for quality and resilience. Prototype & Innovate (POCs): Keep your hands in the code by rapidly prototyping GenAI integrations and evaluating new models before they are scaled by the broader team. Think Like a Founder: Deeply understand our business, competitive landscape, and market trends to ensure technical decisions drive real business value. Industry Presence: Stay ahead of the curve by actively engaging with the broader tech community, tracking trends, and attending industry conferences. Lead & Elevate: Guide cross-functional teams, lead high-level design reviews, and elevate our engineering culture through technical mentorship. Qualifications Your Experience: Must have proven experience in building and deploying scaled AI systems in production environments. 10+ years of software engineering experience with a deep architectural background in scalable server-side applications. Passion for coding at the POC level: You still love to get your hands dirty with code, but your focus is on rapid prototyping, evaluating new technologies, and building Proofs of Concept to guide the engineering teams. Demonstrated experience designing and integrating Generative AI solutions into enterprise backend architectures, backed by a strong grasp of models, frameworks, and prompting techniques. Deep expertise with a variety of database technologies and major distributed cloud platforms (GCP, AWS, Azure) 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.