Principal Software Engineer

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

We are seeking a Principal Engineer Software to lead the technical evolution of our Identity Governance & Administration (IGA) platform. This is a role for a deeply technical, hands-on engineer who thrives on solving the "hard problems" and setting the pace for the team. You will be a primary driver of our codebase, delivering high-impact features while ensuring our architecture remains secure, observable, and performant. As a senior technical presence, you will naturally uplevel the engineers around you by demonstrating engineering excellence in practice—shaping the platform through superior code, insightful design reviews, and the practical application of engineering standards.

What You’ll Do

• Drive End-to-End Initiatives: Lead technical initiatives across Identity Governance & Administration (IGA), from problem discovery and design through implementation, rollout, and long-term ownership.

• Execute with Autonomy: Operate with a high degree of autonomy, translating ambiguous business and product problems into well-designed technical solutions.

• Define and Govern Standards: Establish engineering benchmarks to enhance the testability, observability, and performance of all technical solutions.

• Architect Complex Systems: Design cross-functional architectures that effectively balance product requirements with rigorous security constraints.

• Mentor and Uplevel Teams: Lead design reviews and architecture discussions while coaching engineers on implementation, testing, and security best practices.

• Drive Strategic Alignment: Build trust through clear communication and lightweight RFCs, collaborating with product partners to influence outcomes without formal authority.

#LI-KR1 

Qualifications

• Full-Stack Technical Expertise: 10+ years extensive experience with the MEAN stack (MongoDB, Express, Angular, Node.js) and modernizing legacy frameworks.

• Cloud Architecture & Infrastructure: Proven track record in cloud engineering environments, with a primary focus on AWS ecosystems.

• Systems-Level Thinking: Ability to reason across complex layers—including APIs, identity, and observability—to make technical trade-offs explicit and decisions durable.

• Security-First Mindset: Deep practical knowledge of secure web development, including OWASP Top 10 mitigation, Zero Trust principles, and Least Privilege access.

• Collaborative Leadership: Strong communicator skilled at facilitating cross-team design sessions, mentoring and “leveling up” more junior engineers, and driving consensus across stakeholders.

• Operational Excellence: Committed to building highly observable and performant systems by integrating testing and monitoring into the core development lifecycle.

• Excellent written, verbal, and cross-functional communication skills, especially when working with product, design, and non-engineering stakeholders.

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science or a related field, or equivalent practical experience.

• Ability to work a hybrid schedule in the Newton, MA area.

Nice to Have

• Security & Identity Specialization: Working knowledge of Identity & Access Management (IAM), PAM, IGA, and robust secrets management for security-centric products.

• Design Systems at Scale: Experience managing cross-product component governance and maintaining unified design languages across large-scale applications.

• Modern DevOps Practices: Familiarity with observability tools, feature flagging strategies, and implementing progressive delivery within CI/CD pipelines.

• Performance & Scalability: Proficiency in load and stress testing using tools like JMeter to ensure system resilience and identify architectural bottlenecks before production.

• Data Privacy & Compliance: Familiarity with privacy-by-design principles and technical implementations for GDPR, CCPA, or SOC2 compliance, particularly regarding data anonymization and auditability.

• Advanced Frontend Tooling: Fluency in TypeScript, RxJS, and Signals, complemented by modern testing frameworks like Jest, Playwright, or Cypress.

Impact

You will be a cornerstone of the technical foundation and engineering culture behind our flagship IGA experience. By leading from the codebase, you will transform ambitious product visions into high-performance, secure realities that our customers trust. Your influence will be felt through the durability of the systems you build and the rising caliber of the engineers you work alongside. Ultimately, you will bridge the gap between legacy challenges and modern solutions, creating a maintainable, enterprise-grade platform that empowers our teams to ship with confidence and speed.

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/com-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.

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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  [email protected].

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