Senior AI Software Engineer

Who you are

• Minimum of 2+ years of related professional software engineering experience with a Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or a related field, or equivalent military experience
• 3+ years of professional experience in backend development with Python, utilizing frameworks like Django or FastAPI to design and build fault-tolerant microservice architectures
• Professional experience deploying, maintaining, and optimizing Generative AI or LLM-powered applications in a production environment
• Hands-on experience with LLM orchestration and agentic frameworks (e.g., LangChain, LangGraph, or native cloud Agent SDKs)
• Strong technical understanding and hands-on experience with Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) architectures, including vector embeddings, semantic search, and working with vector databases
• Demonstrated experience implementing LLM guardrails, prompt engineering best practices, and prompt injection defenses
• Demonstrated expertise in frontend development with JavaScript, TypeScript, and React
• Strong proficiency in containerization and orchestration using Docker and Kubernetes (GKE)
• Proven track record of delivering complex software solutions from concept to production
• Proven track record of architecting, deploying, and scaling production-grade Generative AI and LLM-powered applications
• Experience implementing robust AI evaluation (Evals) workflows, metrics selection, and automated testing methodologies for generative AI applications
• Deep, hands-on experience with Google Cloud Platform, particularly Google Vertex AI (including Vertex AI Evaluation services)
• Production-level knowledge of Agent SDK, LangChain, or LangGraph frameworks, as well as A2A protocols and the implementation of MCP servers
• Experience using Agentic IDEs (e.g., Cursor, Windsurf) in a professional development environment
• Master's degree in Computer Science or a related field

What the job involves

• We are seeking a dynamic Sr. AI IT Software Engineer to lead the design and delivery of our next-generation scalable services
• Leveraging Python, Django, FastAPI, React, and GraphQL within Google Cloud Platform, you will evolve our core architecture and drive our transition into AI-native engineering
• As a technical leader, you will ensure our systems—including traditional microservices and emerging agentic workflows—are resilient, scalable, and innovative
• Drive the strategic architectural vision and deployment of high-quality, scalable software assets using Python and React, ensuring long-term alignment with enterprise architecture
• Architect and govern advanced agentic systems using the Vertex AI Agent SDK (or alternative frameworks such as LangChain / LangGraph) and A2A protocols to enable seamless interoperability among autonomous enterprise services
• Establish enterprise-wide AI Evaluation (Evals) frameworks and automated benchmarking pipelines to rigorously measure, monitor, and optimize LLM/agent performance across metrics like accuracy, safety, latency, and cost
• Define the organizational strategy and architecture for data retrieval pipelines, ensuring scalable and optimized utilization of vector embeddings, semantic search, and similarity-based retrieval patterns
• Establish enterprise-wide prompt-engineering standards and LLM security frameworks to safeguard applications against vulnerabilities such as prompt injection through robust input/output validation models
• Standardize and scale Model Context Protocol (MCP) servers to effectively bridge core enterprise IT data with LLM-driven applications across business units
• Partner closely with technical executives, product management, and cross-functional engineering teams to align AI initiatives with overarching business objectives and drive high-impact results
• Mentor and cultivate technical leaders and engineers across the organization, fostering a culture of excellence, applied learning, and accountability in full-stack and AI domains
• Take ultimate accountability for cross-team project outcomes, ensuring AI and software solutions meet rigorous enterprise-grade standards for security, quality, and performance

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