Principal Engineer (Software)

• 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
• 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
• 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

Benefits

• Healthcare: We value your health and provide options so you can choose what best supports your lifestyle and personal health goals. Various nationwide plans — including Blue Shield of California, Kaiser Permanente, Delta Dental, VSP, and more — are available to you and your family. Our providers offer the flexibility you want and the coverage you need
• Wellness: With a large on-site gym and daily, instructor-led exercise classes at HQ in Santa Clara, Palo Alto Networks actively supports employee fitness. Our juice bar, Gym & Juice, features fresh juice blends, a quick and nutritious option pre- or post-workout. And our ongoing wellness speaker series highlights the latest trends in health and wellness
• Development: Professional development is serious business at Palo Alto Networks, where the Talent Development team offers 25+ courses to help employees boost their careers and develop leadership capability
• Financial: Most roles are eligible for equity grants, and we now offer new hires a quarterly vesting schedule right away. We want you to be fairly compensated and rewarded as soon as you make an impact – on our team, that happens immediately! And because we consider every employee a stakeholder in our long-term success, we offer an Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP) with a 24-month lookback. From life insurance to health savings accounts, we provide ways to help you protect and grow your wealth. Palo Alto Networks offers both traditional and Roth 401(k) options, along with a company match of 50% to a max annual amount of $1,000
• Time Off: In addition to paid corporate holidays, Flexible Time Off programs empower our employees to balance their work schedules with personal time off. We offer 12 weeks of full pay for medical leave and 6 weeks of full pay for parental leave. As a company with strong ties to the military and veterans, we also offer 26 weeks of full pay for military leave
• Perks: Our corporate discount program provides employees with significant discounts on merchandise, travel and entertainment. We offer many on-site perks at headquarters, including cafeterias, fuel service, dry cleaning service, EV charging stations, and a company store. We also provide complimentary drinks, fresh fruit, and snacks in break rooms across our campus to help everyone power through the day.

Life at Palo Alto Network- Ability to work a hybrid schedule in the Newton, MA area

• Operational Excellence: Committed to building highly observable and performant systems by integrating testing and monitoring into the core development lifecycle
• 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
• Cloud Architecture & Infrastructure: Proven track record in cloud engineering environments, with a primary focus on AWS ecosystems
• Excellent written, verbal, and cross-functional communication skills, especially when working with product, design, and non-engineering stakeholders
• Full-Stack Technical Expertise: 10+ years extensive experience with the MEAN stack (MongoDB, Express, Angular, Node.js) and modernizing legacy frameworks
• Collaborative Leadership: Strong communicator skilled at facilitating cross-team design sessions, mentoring and “leveling up” more junior engineers, and driving consensus across stakeholders
• Bachelor’s degree in computer science or a related field, or equivalent practical experience
• 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