Senior Director IT Engineering

Who you are

• Exceptional people-management skills, acting as a Player/Coach to inspire and foster desired behaviors
• Outstanding verbal and written communication skills, coupled with executive presence
• Strong enterprise communication, business acumen, and financial understanding
• Proven track record of thought leadership (e.g., technical articles, conference speaking, open source contributions)
• Extensive experience with Go-to-Market (GTM) applications, particularly the Opportunity to Quote lifecycle
• Excellent analytical skills and a demonstrated ability to translate detailed data analysis into actionable strategic insights to drive customer adoption and provide business recommendations
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively across internal and external organizations, building consensus and driving results
• Proven ability to reduce organizational friction and implement scalable mechanisms
• 1. Agentic AI & Generative Workflows
• Autonomous Sales & Commerce Agents: Proven experience building agentic workflows using frameworks like LangChain, LlamaIndex, AutoGPT, or CrewAI to automate multi-step commercial processes (e.g., automated RFPs, dynamic quote generation, automated lead nurture)
• RAG (Retrieval-Augmented Generation): Deep expertise in architecting high-accuracy RAG pipelines using vector databases (Pinecone, Milvus, Weaviate, Qdrant) to ground LLMs in internal product catalogs, pricing rules, and sales collateral
• LLM Engineering & Fine-Tuning: Fine-tuning open-source models (Llama 3, Mistral) vs. orchestrating proprietary foundation models (OpenAI GPT-4, Anthropic Claude, Google Gemini); prompt engineering, guardrailing (NeMo Guardrails), and context window optimization
• 2. Predictive Analytics & Machine Learning
• CPQ ML Engines: Hands-on architecture experience with personalized recommendation algorithms (Collaborative Filtering, Neural Collaborative Filtering, Graph Neural Networks), dynamic pricing engines, search relevance engines, and automated visual search
• Sales Intelligence ML: Predictive lead scoring, opportunity win/loss modeling, churn prediction, account propensity-to-buy (P2B) scoring, and automated deal health assessments
• 3. CPQ & Revenue Ecosystem Architecture
• Commercial Platform Integrations: Direct experience embedding AI microservices into enterprise CRM and Commerce suites, including Salesforce SAP Commerce Cloud / CX, Adobe Commerce / Magento, Commercetools, or Zuora
• Headless & Microservices Architecture: Experience deploying AI capabilities via API-first, composable architecture patterns (REST, GraphQL, gRPC) directly into customer-facing storefronts and seller interfaces
• 4. MLOps, LLMOps & Enterprise Infrastructure
• Production MLOps: Enterprise experience with ML lifecycle management platforms (MLflow, Kubeflow, Databricks, AWS SageMaker, Vertex AI), model drift detection, automated retraining loops, and A/B testing infrastructure
• Master's Degree or PhD in Engineering or a related STEM field is preferred
• 15+ years of experience in Product Application Engineering
• Expertise in enterprise AI productivity tools and platforms
• Modernization Mindset: Proven experience in leveraging AI and automation to modernize governance. Demonstrated success in transitioning programs from manual, spreadsheet-based processes to automated, self-healing platforms

What the job involves

• The Sr Director IT Engineering , GTM AI Applications, will be the principal technical leader responsible for integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) capabilities across our Go-to-Market (GTM) technology ecosystem, with a core focus on the Opportunity-to-Quote lifecycle
• This executive role demands a blend of visionary leadership, deep technical architecture expertise, and hands-on experience in building and deploying enterprise-grade AI products
• The successful candidate will not only set the technical direction for transforming GTM applications with an AI mindset but will also be accountable for the execution and successful delivery of scalable, reliable, and high-impact AI solutions that drive significant business growth and efficiency
• Technology Strategy & Roadmap: Define the multi-year technology strategy and architecture roadmap for AI integration into the GTM stack, focusing on maximizing business value in areas like intelligent automation, predictive forecasting, and generative AI-assisted selling
• AI Solution Architecture: Architect and establish company standards for advanced AI customer solutions, demonstrating viability through proof-of-concepts
• Lead Go-To-Market Engineering to scale pipeline generation and seller productivity through AI, automation, and data-driven execution
• Team Leadership: Lead and develop a global, multi-disciplinary team comprising AI Solutions, full-stack, and SaaS developers, cultivating a collaborative, inclusive, and innovative culture
• Strategic Impact: Drive significant business impact by leading large-scale, multi-organizational, or global initiatives
• AI Governance and Ops: Drive AI ops culture to drive continuous evolution of all GTM applications
• Performance and Optimization: Monitor, analyze, and optimize the performance, cost-efficiency, and operational health of all deployed AI models and solutions, driving continuous improvement through data-driven insights

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