Senior Principal Machine Learning Engineer

Who you are

• BS/MS in Computer Science, Cyber Security, or equivalent practical experience
• 4+ years of dedicated experience in detection engineering, threat analysis, or security research
• Deep expertise in writing and optimizing signature-based patterns (e.g., custom Snort/Suricata rules, Yara, PAN-OS custom threat signatures)
• Thorough understanding of application-layer evasion techniques
• Strong knowledge of the detection-as-code philosophy and building automated testing pipelines for signature validation
• Experience with Python, Regex, or other scripting tools to automate packet capture analysis, rule creation, and parsing threat telemetry
• Solid understanding of the MITRE ATT&CK framework and translating offensive techniques into robust defensive controls

What the job involves

• As a Security / Detection Engineer, you will analyze multi-stage attack behavior sequences and translate complex threat patterns into highly deterministic signatures. You will own the end-to-end detection lifecycle—from rule creation to continuous false-positive (FP) tuning—ensuring our defense mechanisms are performant, accurate, and resilient against evasion
• Analyze complex, multi-stage attack behavior sequences and transform them into precise, deterministic signatures
• Develop and maintain high-performance, signatures that can be safely enforced by our inline engines without impacting network throughput
• Own the entire signature lifecycle, from initial research and threat modeling to deployment, automated regression testing, and deprecation
• Drive continuous False Positive (FP) tuning and validation processes to minimize alert fatigue while maximizing true positive detection rates
• Implement robust version pinning strategies and dependency management for threat prevention content updates, ensuring consistency across distributed firewall deployments
• Partner with threat research groups and inline machine learning teams to integrate behavioral signatures with automated deep learning classifiers

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