Principal Software Engineer (threat Intelligence)

Principal Software 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 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 Cortex Threat Intelligence team is growing, and we're looking for a Principal Software Engineer to join our team. This team builds the systems that transform raw signals into trusted, timely intelligence for security teams. Your work will shape a platform that delivers clear, actionable insights to help prevent attacks and accelerate response. As a Principal Software Engineer on this team, you will contribute to the entire development lifecycle of our systems, from architecture and implementation to testing, deployment, and operation. You will design and scale distributed systems, build high-throughput ingestion pipelines, and APIs that transform raw signals into trustworthy intelligence across Cortex.

Your impact will include:

• Design, build, and maintain the core services and data pipelines.
• Take part in architecture strategy sessions—work with your colleagues to design solutions that accommodate the requirements of the various modules across Cortex.
• Collaborate with your team to solve problems, reduce technical debt, and evolve development practices.
• Drive technical best practices and evangelize new technologies within the engineering organization.
• Collaborate with other engineers and ensure that your team delivers high-quality output.
• Take ownership of projects, drive them to completion, and support them in production.

We're looking for a seasoned engineer with:

• 5+ years of professional experience in software engineering, with a proven track record of designing, developing, deploying, and supporting complex, scalable software systems.
• Proficiency in Python and Go programming languages.
• Extensive experience with API design and development, including RESTful APIs and microservices architecture.
• Demonstrated experience in building and maintaining data pipelines and ETL processes.
• Ability to lead across research, design, prototyping, and implementation phases.
• Expertise with software development best practices, including CI/CD, automated testing, and agile methodologies.
• Working knowledge of at least one major cloud platform (GCP, AWS, or Azure), preferably GCP.
• Proven experience driving design and implementation of technical solutions in the face of ambiguity.
• Proven technical team leadership and interest in mentoring other engineers in order to contribute to the technical growth of the team.

Nice to haves:

• Experience with or interest in frontend development.
• Experience in Threat Intelligence.
• Experience in building Cybersecurity products.

The Cortex Threat Intelligence transforms our Unit 42 expertise and global telemetry into precise, timely intelligence that powers detection, prevention, and investigation across the Cortex platform. Your work will help safeguard critical missions by delivering intelligence that is clear, actionable, and timely.

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/commissioned roles) is expected to be between $147,000 - $225,000/YR. The offered compensation may also include restricted stock units and a bonus. A description of our employee benefits may be found here.

We're problem solvers that 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 accommodations@paloaltonetworks.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.