Staff Software Engineer
At a glance
Senior Engineering Leadership role at Paloaltonetworks. Office - USA - CA - Headquarters · full-time · $104,000–$169,500 base.
techroles summary, based on the employer's posting.
What you'll do
- Build and ship software with partner teams, iterating quickly as you design and develop solutions
- Use AI coding assistants to improve productivity and code quality, and help apply them to testing, docs and refactoring
- Write maintainable code, review teammates’ changes and take part in design discussions
- Automate development, releases and monitoring as part of the team’s DevOps work
- Join retrospectives and apply new AI techniques to improve engineering workflows and product quality
What you bring
- A computer science or related degree earned between May 2023 and July 2025
- One to three years of software engineering work
- Working knowledge of at least one modern language, such as Python, JavaScript or another listed language
- Basic familiarity with software lifecycles and Git, plus the ability to solve problems and collaborate openly
Who this fits
This role suits an early-career engineer interested in cybersecurity and hands-on product development. Most teams work from the office full time, with flexibility when needed. Work visa sponsorship is unavailable.
From the employer
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 Description
Job Summary You will join a Research and Development (R&D) team that will give you the opportunity to make a global impact. One that protects our way of life in the digital age by preventing successful cyber attacks. This team is looking for engineers who are passionate about technology, have an interest in cyber security, and want to make a positive difference. The projects you are assigned will give you real hands-on experience working on our products from our Strata, Prisma and Cortex organizations. Key Responsibilities Collaborate with cross-functional teams to design, develop, and deploy software solutions with agility and rapid iteration. Use and experiment with AI-assisted development tools (e.g., Cursor, Claude Code, internal agents) to boost productivity and improve code quality. Help define and evolve new engineering practices that leverage AI for code generation, testing, documentation, and refactoring. Write clean, maintainable code and actively participate in peer reviews and team design discussions to ensure alignment. Contribute to the automation of development, deployment, and monitoring processes as part of a DevOps culture. Continuously learn and apply new AI technologies, frameworks, and techniques that can enhance developer workflows. Participate in team retrospectives and help drive improvements in team velocity and product quality.Qualifications (Additional Job Description)
Required Qualifications Bachelor's degree in Computer Science or a related field, awarded between May 2023 and July 2025. 1–3 years of software engineering experience. Proficiency in one or more modern programming languages (e.g., Python, JavaScript/TypeScript, Java, Go). Basic understanding of software development lifecycles (e.g., agile, DevOps) and version control tools like Git. Demonstrated problem-solving skills and a willingness to ask questions and work openly with others. Preferred Qualifications Exposure to large language models (LLMs) or AI/ML APIs, even through personal projects. Familiarity with cloud environments (GCP, AWS, or Azure) and containerized development (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes). Experience with modern developer tools such as CI/CD pipelines, observability platforms, and infrastructure-as-code.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.
$104,000.00 - $169,500.00/yrOur 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 accommodations@paloaltonetworks.com .
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? No. Please note that we will not sponsor applicants for work visas for this position.