Principal Network Security Engineer

Principal Network Security Engineer

At Palo Alto Networks everything starts and ends with our mission: Being the cybersecurity partner of choice, protecting our digital way of life. Our vision is a world where each day is safer and more secure than the one before. We are a company built on the foundation of challenging and disrupting the way things are done, and we're looking for innovators who are as committed to shaping the future of cybersecurity as we are.

We take our mission of protecting the digital way of life seriously. We are relentless in protecting our customers and we believe that the unique ideas of every member of our team contributes to our collective success. Our values were crowdsourced by employees and are brought to life through each of us everyday - from disruptive innovation and collaboration, to execution. From showing up for each other with integrity to creating an environment where we all feel included.

As a member of our team, you will be shaping the future of cybersecurity. We work fast, value ongoing learning, and we respect each employee as a unique individual. Knowing we all have different needs, our development and personal wellbeing programs are designed to give you choice in how you are supported. This includes our FLEXBenefits wellbeing spending account with over 1,000 eligible items selected by employees, our mental and financial health resources, and our personalized learning opportunities - just to name a few!

At Palo Alto Networks, we believe in the power of collaboration and value in-person interactions. This is why our employees generally work full time from our office with flexibility offered where needed. This setup fosters casual conversations, problem-solving, and trusted relationships. Our goal is to create an environment where we all win with precision.

Job Description

As a Principal Network Security Engineer at Palo Alto Networks, you'll be a pivotal force in defining and securing our global network infrastructure. Based at our Santa Clara headquarters, this position is for a highly experienced and innovative engineer who excels in fast-paced environments and is passionate about architecting, building, and optimizing secure, scalable, and reliable network solutions.

You'll operate as a recognized authority within your domain, providing technical leadership and driving the evolution of our enterprise-grade security controls. This role demands a forward-thinking mindset, deep technical expertise, and a relentless drive for automation and continuous improvement. If you're ready to spearhead critical initiatives and make a profound, company-wide impact, this is your opportunity.

Your impact includes:

• Architecting, implementing, and maintaining advanced network security architectures across our global infrastructure, influencing long-term strategic direction.
• Defining, developing, and enforcing enterprise-wide security policies, including segmentation, access control, and traffic inspection, serving as a subject matter expert.
• Driving integration of security into all layers of network design, collaborating extensively with security, infrastructure, and IT teams.
• Proactively identifying vulnerabilities and leading complex remediation efforts across on-prem and cloud environments, setting best practices.
• Leveraging Palo Alto Networks products and third-party platforms to enhance network visibility, protection, and threat intelligence.
• Championing and implementing advanced network security automation using scripting, CI/CD pipelines, and infrastructure-as-code best practices, setting the technical direction.
• Leading major incident response efforts for network security events, ensuring rapid resolution and comprehensive stakeholder communication.
• Providing technical mentorship to senior engineers, contributing significantly to our architectural standards, and fostering a strong security-first culture.

Qualifications

Your experience includes:

• 12+ years of progressive experience in enterprise networking and network security engineering, with a demonstrable track record of leadership in large-scale environments.
• Exceptional expertise in firewall technologies, VPN, IDS/IPS, NAC, and advanced microsegmentation strategies.
• A deep and proven background with Palo Alto Networks products and platforms is highly preferred.
• Extensive hands-on experience architecting and implementing security automation and infrastructure-as-code frameworks (Terraform, Ansible, Python, etc.).
• Mastery of routing, switching, and TCP/IP protocols; significant experience with Arista, Juniper, or equivalent enterprise-grade network hardware.
• Expert-level understanding of Zero Trust architecture principles and advanced cloud security models (AWS, Azure, GCP).
• Experience with leveraging AI/ML tools to simplify operational tasks and build auto-healing capabilities.
• Superior troubleshooting and analytical skills to diagnose and resolve the most complex security issues.
• Exceptional communication and technical leadership skills with a proven ability to drive cross-functional collaboration and influence strategic decisions.