> Markdown version of [/jobs/ext/3449453-principal-software-engineer-foundational-platform](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/jobs/ext/3449453-principal-software-engineer-foundational-platform). Every page supports `.md` or `Accept: text/markdown`. Links point to the HTML versions so they work for humans too. Agent guide: [/agents.md](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/agents.md). --- # Principal Software Engineer (Foundational Platform) - **Company:** Palo Alto Networks - **Location:** San Jose, United States - **Experience:** Expert - **Salary:** $183,600.0 - $297,000.0 - **Contract:** Permanent contract - **Skills:** Amazon Web Services, Systems Engineering, Software as a Service, Cloud Computing, Distributed Data Store, Distributed Systems, Identity and Access Management, Python (Programming Language), Message Broker, MongoDB, Node.Js, NoSQL, OAuth, OpenID, Role-Based Access Control, Redis, Reliability Engineering, Cloud Services, Zero Trust Network Access, Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML), Systems Integration, Transaction Data, Web Application Frameworks, Workflow Management Systems, Google Cloud, Cloud Platform System, ReactJS, Istio, Firebase, Backend, Event Driven Architecture, Build Management, Webpack, Kubernetes, Palo Alto Networks, Front End Software Development, Api Gateway, Terraform, Golang, Microservices - **Published:** September 30, 2026 - **Apply:** https://startup.jobs/senior-principal-software-engineer-foundational-platform-paloaltonetworks-com-10220651 ## About the Role * Experience: 15+ years of experience building large-scale enterprise SaaS applications, with 5+ years in lead technical architecture or Staff/Principal engineering roles for cloud-native platforms. * Backend Expertise: Deep hands-on experience building high-concurrency microservices in Go, Node.js, and Python. * Distributed Data Stores: Proven expertise with high-availability relational/transactional data stores (Cloud Spanner, Cloud SQL, AlloyDB) as well as NoSQL engines (Firestore, MongoDB, Redis). * Async & Workflow Orchestration: Strong background in event-driven architectures utilizing message brokers (GCP Pub/Sub) and stateful workflow engines (Temporal). * AuthN / AuthZ & Zero-Trust: Strong foundation in identity standards (OIDC, SAML, OAuth2), fine-grained authorization (OPA/OPAL, Permify, RBAC/ABAC), and service-mesh security (Istio mTLS, client-cert auth). * Cloud Platform & Infrastructure: Hands-on experience with public cloud infrastructure (GCP/AWS), Kubernetes (GKE), Helm packaging, Infrastructure-as-Code (Terraform), and modern GitOps CI/CD pipelines. * Frontend & Platform Ecosystem (Desirable): Exposure to React micro-frontend architectures (Webpack Module Federation), API Gateway pattern design, or multi-tenant SaaS licensing systems. * Leadership & Influence: Proven track record of influencing cross-functional engineering teams, driving technical consensus, and delivering complex, multi-year initiatives. ## Description * Technical experts that help accelerate adoption of the very best engineering practices, while maintaining knowledge on industry innovations, trends and practices. * Experts who deliver on critical business needs and are recognized across the company as go-to engineering resources on given domains. * Role models and mentors who exemplify the best of Palo Alto Networks culture * Leaders who can communicate cogently with hands-on engineers * Hands-on engineers that can code and build great products., * Architect & Evolve Platform Services: Lead the end-to-end architectural strategy and design for high-scale platform domains, including IAM/RBAC, fine-grained authorization, licensing/entitlement lifecycle, device management, and workflow orchestration. * Hands-on System Engineering: Design and build resilient, distributed microservices using Go, Node.js, Python, Google Cloud, and Temporal workflow orchestration. * Security & Zero-Trust Architecture: Enforce zero-trust security patterns across global services, integrating mTLS service-to-service authentication, OAuth2.0/OIDC, and fine-grained authorization models. * Technical Leadership & Strategy: Partner closely with Product Management, SRE, QA, and customer-facing teams to deliver robust end-to-end cloud solutions in a fast-paced environment. * Core Framework & Standards Development: Contribute to shared internal Go, Node, Python frameworks, core client SDKs, event-driven async patterns, and micro-frontend platform tooling. * Operational & Distributed Systems Excellence: Drive reliability initiatives, scalability improvements, latency optimization, and root-cause analysis for high-priority incidents across multi-region Kubernetes (GKE) deployments. * Talent Development: Recruit, mentor, and guide principal, senior, and mid-level engineers, fostering a technical culture of high quality and continuous learning. ## Related Videos - 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