> Markdown version of [/jobs/ext/3533968-principal-engineer-developer-productivity](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/jobs/ext/3533968-principal-engineer-developer-productivity). 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 Engineer, Developer Productivity - **Company:** Palo Alto Networks - **Location:** United States - **Experience:** Expert - **Salary:** $243,000.0 - $335,000.0 - **Contract:** Permanent contract - **Skills:** Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), Artificial Intelligence, Audit Trail, Cloud Computing, Code Review, Continuous Integration, Distributed Systems, Human Resources Information System (HRIS), Integrated Development Environments, Systems Development Life Cycle, Software Engineering, Systems Integration, Enterprise Software Applications, Multi-Agent Systems, Prompt Engineering, Technical Debt, Agentic-AI, Event Driven Architecture, Low Latency, Free and Open-Source Software, Machine Learning Operations, Automation Anywhere - **Published:** October 1, 2026 - **Apply:** https://startup.jobs/senior-principal-engineer-developer-productivity-paloaltonetworks-com-10241958 ## About the Role * 15 years of related experience with a Bachelor's degree; or 12 years and a Master's degree; or a PhD with 8 years experience in software engineering field, or equivalent demonstrated technical impact. * Experience operating at Senior Principal, Principal or equivalent scope across multiple teams or engineering domains. * Strong hands-on software-engineering skills and a recent record of building and operating production systems. * Practical experience with large language model APIs, tool-using agents, agent orchestration, context engineering, evaluation frameworks, and AI observability. * Experience integrating AI capabilities into developer workflows, engineering platforms, or enterprise applications. * Strong knowledge of distributed systems, APIs, event-driven architectures, CI/CD, cloud infrastructure, testing, observability, and production operations. * Experience modernizing complex, business-critical, or poorly documented systems. * Demonstrated ability to influence technical direction across organizations without direct authority. * Clear communication with engineering, executive, and non-technical audiences., * Experience introducing AI-assisted or agentic development workflows across a large or regulated enterprise. * Experience with enterprise platforms such as ERP, CRM, HRIS, CLM, finance, or customer-support systems. * Experience implementing AI security controls for data protection, permission boundaries, auditability, and prompt-injection defenses. * Familiarity with developer-productivity frameworks such as DORA and SPACE. * Technical publications, open-source contributions, conference presentations, or other evidence of external engineering leadership. ## Description Build Agentic SDLC Capabilities * Design, prototype, and productionize AI agents and workflows for requirements, coding, code review, testing, documentation, deployment, and operations. * Build reusable agent skills, integrations, evaluation harnesses, templates, and reference implementations. * Work directly in codebases on high-value prototypes, critical components, integrations, and difficult engineering problems. * Evaluate coding assistants, agent platforms, models, and frameworks based on capability, security, reliability, cost, and enterprise fit. * Integrate approved AI capabilities into developer platforms, repositories, integrated development environments, CI/CD pipelines, and operational tooling. Modernize Critical Systems * Apply AI-assisted analysis to uncover undocumented code behavior, dependencies, business rules, and operational failure modes. * Convert discovered knowledge into tests, technical documentation, dependency maps, and actionable modernization plans. * Lead targeted language, framework, architecture, and test-modernization initiatives while protecting business continuity. * Establish safe practices for AI-assisted refactoring, migration, test generation, and technical-debt reduction. * Partner with application owners and business stakeholders to validate that modernization preserves intended behavior. Establish Safe and Reliable Agentic Workflows * Implement controls such as least-privilege access, sandboxing, approval checkpoints, time and cost limits, audit trails, and safe rollback. * Build evaluation frameworks that measure correctness, security, reliability, latency, cost, and workflow effectiveness. * Partner with Security, Privacy, Legal, Risk, and Compliance teams to translate policies into practical engineering controls. * Ensure AI-generated changes meet established standards for testing, review, security, and production readiness. * Design agent workflows that fail safely and remain observable, traceable, and understandable to human operators. Drive Adoption and Developer Productivity * Work with engineering teams to identify and implement high-value AI use cases across a phased adoption model, from individual assistance to governed agentic workflows. * Develop reusable patterns and golden paths that teams can adopt without recreating infrastructure or controls. * Mentor engineers through architecture reviews, pairing, code reviews, workshops, and technical demonstrations. * Build a community of practitioners who can scale successful methods across the organization. * Communicate technical decisions, tradeoffs, progress, and risks to engineering leaders, executives, and business stakeholders. Measure Engineering Outcomes * Establish baselines and success criteria before introducing new AI workflows. * Measure outcomes through lead time, review cycle time, test effectiveness, change-failure rate, security findings, recovery time, developer experience, and operating cost. * Run controlled pilots and use the results to determine whether capabilities should be expanded, redesigned, or retired. * Distinguish meaningful engineering improvement from activity measures such as tool usage, prompt counts, or generated code volume. Contribute to External Technical Leadership * Represent the organization in selected conferences, technical forums, partner discussions, and industry communities. * Publish practical technical content, reference architectures, case studies, and lessons learned. * Bring relevant industry practices and emerging technologies back into the organization. * Build external credibility through demonstrated engineering outcomes and clear technical guidance. Success in This Role * Production-ready AI engineering workflows deliver measurable improvements in delivery speed, quality, developer experience, or operational reliability. * Reusable patterns for agent orchestration, evaluation, security, and observability are adopted by multiple engineering teams. * Brownfield modernization and greenfield development both benefit from safe, repeatable AI-enabled workflows. * Engineering teams can adopt approved AI capabilities consistently without weakening security, compliance, or production standards. * Engineering and business leaders have a credible measurement framework for AI-enabled productivity, quality, and cost. * Senior engineers and architects view this role as a trusted source of hands-on technical guidance. ## Related Videos - [The AI-Native Engineering Org: What’s Real, What’s Hype, What’s Next](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/100004-the-ai-native-engineering-org-what-s-real-what-s-hype-what-s-next) - [Resilient by Design: Building Robust Architectures in High-Stakes Financial Systems](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/2106-resilient-by-design-building-robust-architectures-in-high-stakes-financial-systems) - [Swapping Low Latency Data Storage Under High Load](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/746-swapping-low-latency-data-storage-under-high-load) - [AI Won't Fix Your Engineering Culture](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/100266-ai-won-t-fix-your-engineering-culture) - [No Keys for the Robot: GitOps as the Control Plane for Autonomous Agents](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/100095-no-keys-for-the-robot-gitops-as-the-control-plane-for-autonomous-agents) - [Unleash the power of 5G in your code: transform your apps](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/videos/1567-unleash-the-power-of-5g-in-your-code-transform-your-apps) ## Related Articles - [What is Agentic Programming and Why Should Developers Care?](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/625-what-is-agentic-programming-and-why-should-developers-care) - [How to Become an AI Engineer](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/331-how-to-become-an-ai-engineer) - [Navigating the AI Shift](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/629-navigating-the-ai-shift) - [What is Software Engineering in the Age of AI?](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/640-what-is-software-engineering-in-the-age-of-ai) - [Transforming Software Development: The Role of AI and Developer Tools](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/527-transforming-software-development-the-role-of-ai-and-developer-tools) - [Stephan Gillich - Bringing AI Everywhere](https://www.wearedevelopers.com/magazine/489-stephan-gillich-bringing-ai-everywhere)