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# Principal Software Engineer

- **Company:** Palo Alto Networks
- **Location:** Santa Clara, CA, United States
- **Experience:** Expert
- **Salary:** $147,000.0 - $237,500.0
- **Contract:** Permanent contract
- **Skills:** Java (Programming Language), Application Programming Interfaces (APIs), Agile Methodology, Amazon Web Services, ARM Architecture, Automation of Tests, Microsoft Azure, Big Data, Cyber Security, Continuous Integration, Extract Transform Load (ETL), Distributed Systems, Python (Programming Language), Software Engineering, Software Organization, Google Cloud, Cloud Platform System, Data Ingestion, Technical Debt, Kubernetes, Api Design, Restful APIs, Data Pipelines, Programming Languages, Microservices
- **Published:** October 11, 2026
- **Apply:** https://www.themuse.com/jobs/paloaltonetworks/senior-engineer-software-cortex-us-citizen-or-gc

## About the Role

* 5+ years of professional experience in software engineering, with a proven track record of designing, developing, deploying, and supporting complex, scalable software systems.
 * Proficiency in Python and Go programming languages.
 * Extensive experience with API design and development, including RESTful APIs and microservices architecture.
 * Demonstrated experience in building and maintaining data pipelines and ETL processes.
 * Ability to lead across research, design, prototyping, and implementation phases.
 * Expertise with software development best practices, including CI/CD, automated testing, and agile methodologies.
 * Working knowledge of at least one major cloud platform (GCP, AWS, or Azure), preferably GCP.
 * Proven experience driving design and implementation of technical solutions in the face of ambiguity-we will ask you about this.
 * Proven technical team leadership and interest in mentoring other engineers in order to contribute to the technical growth of the team., * Experience in building Cybersecurity products.
 * Experience in large scale data processing.
 * Experience with GCP, Java, and Kubernetes

## Description

The Cortex Attack Surface Management team is growing, and we're looking for a Principal Software Engineer to join our team. This team scans the internet for vulnerabilities on external attack surfaces and processes petabytes of data to deliver clear, actionable insights that help security teams prevent attacks and accelerate response.

As a Principal Software Engineer on this team, you will contribute to the entire development lifecycle of our systems, from architecture and implementation to testing, deployment, and operation. You will design and scale distributed systems, build high-throughput ingestion pipelines, and APIs that transform raw signals into trustworthy intelligence across Cortex.

Your Impact

 * Design, build, and maintain the core services and data pipelines.
 * Lead architecture strategy sessions-work with your colleagues to design solutions that accommodate the requirements of the various modules across Cortex.
 * Collaborate with your team to solve problems, reduce technical debt, and evolve development practices.
 * Drive technical best practices and evangelize new technologies within the engineering organization.
 * Collaborate with other engineers and ensure that your team delivers high-quality output.
 * Take ownership of projects, drive them to completion, and support them in production.