Palo Alto Networks · 6 hours ago
Principal Software Engineer (Cortex Platform)
Santa Clara, CA
Full-time
Onsite
Lead/Staff
$140K/yr - $230K/yr
8+ years expPalo Alto Networks is dedicated to protecting our digital way of life through innovation and cutting-edge technology. They are seeking a Principal Backend Engineer for their Cortex backend engineering group to develop, innovate, and scale the Cortex Platform, while ensuring seamless integration and technical excellence across teams.
Agentic AICloud SecurityCyber SecurityNetwork SecuritySecurity
Responsibilities
Lead the end-to-end backend development of features and components, from design and development to testing, deployment, and maintenance
Collaborate effectively with peers across diverse teams and disciplines to shape solutions and ensure seamless integration with other product components
Drive team-wide technical excellence by actively participating in code reviews, design reviews, and architectural decisions
Maintain a production-first mindset, providing real-time mitigation and solutions to production issues to ensure platform stability and customer satisfaction
Challenge the status quo by exploring and applying new technologies and methodologies to innovate and scale the Cortex Platform
Simplify complex systems by designing and implementing elegant, scalable, and maintainable backend services
Mentor junior engineers, empowering others by sharing knowledge and fostering a culture of technical growth and accountability
Qualification
Required
Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science or a related field, or equivalent experience
8+ years of professional software engineering experience, including the development of scalable server-side applications
Extensive hands-on programming skills in Go and/or Python
Proven experience with major cloud platforms (e.g., GCP, AWS, Azure)
Deep understanding of and experience with Microservices architecture (e.g., Kubernetes, Docker, Serverless)
Strong computer science fundamentals and experience with distributed computing concepts (e.g., CAP theorem, master election, distributed databases)
Preferred
Experience with big-data architectures using technologies like Kafka, Splunk, or Flink
Hands-on experience with both SQL and NoSQL databases (e.g., BigQuery, Elasticsearch)
Familiarity with CI/CD pipelines and infrastructure-as-code practices
Knowledge of cybersecurity, information security, or software security principles
Benefits
Restricted stock units
Bonus
Company
Palo Alto Networks
Palo Alto Networks is a cybersecurity company that offers cybersecurity solutions for organizations.
10001+ employees
H1B Sponsorship
Palo Alto Networks has a track record of offering H1B sponsorships. Please note that this does not
guarantee sponsorship for this specific role. Below presents additional info for your
reference. (Data Powered by US Department of Labor)
Distribution of Different Job Fields Receiving Sponsorship
Represents job field similar to this job
Trends of Total Sponsorships
2025 (579)
2024 (482)
2023 (341)
2022 (452)
2021 (493)
2020 (235)
Funding
Current Stage
Public CompanyTotal Funding
$65MKey Investors
Icon VenturesLehman HoldingsGlobespan Capital Partners
2012-07-20IPO
2008-11-03Series C· $10M
2008-08-18Series C· $27M
Leadership Team
Helmut Reisinger
CEO EMEA
Nikesh Arora
Chairman CEO
Recent News
2026-01-13
Jerusalem Post
2026-01-11
2026-01-09
Company data provided by crunchbase