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# Principal Engineer Software, Tools & Platforms (Cortex)

- **Company:** Palo Alto Networks
- **Location:** Santa Clara, CA, United States
- **Experience:** Experienced
- **Salary:** $147,000.0 - $237,500.0
- **Contract:** Permanent contract
- **Skills:** Amazon Web Services, Architectural Patterns, ARM Architecture, Microsoft Azure, Cloud Computing, Cloud Engineering, Software Quality, Code Review, Continuous Integration, Software Debugging, DevOps, Distributed Systems, Performance Tuning, Systems Development Life Cycle, Software Engineering, Systems Architecture, Strategies of Testing, Google Cloud, DevOps Tools - Open-source, Kubernetes, Information Technology, Microservices
- **Published:** October 26, 2026
- **Apply:** https://www.themuse.com/jobs/paloaltonetworks/principal-engineer-software-tools-platforms-cortex-a753fb

## About the Role

We seek a Principal Software Engineer who is first and foremost a software craftsman with a passion for building innovative tools and platforms. The ideal candidate will possess a deep-rooted background in software engineering and a strong understanding of the needs and challenges of R&D and DevOps teams. This role is for a true developer at heart, someone who excels at building high-quality, maintainable, and scalable software. If you have a passion for creating tools that enhance productivity, streamline workflows, and support the operational needs of a growing infrastructure, you're the candidate we're looking for., * Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or a related technical field, or equivalent practical experience.

 * 5+ years of hands-on experience designing, building, and operating large-scale distributed systems, cloud infrastructure, networking, storage, and compute platforms.
 * 5+ years of deep expertise with one or more major cloud providers (AWS, Microsoft Azure, or Google Cloud) and modern cloud-native architectures.
 * 5+ years of extensive experience developing, deploying, and operating microservices on Kubernetes using modern cloud-native technologies.
 * Demonstrated expertise in system architecture, scalability, reliability, performance optimization, security, observability, and operational excellence.
 * 5+ years of Strong experience with infrastructure as code, CI/CD automation, platform engineering, and developer productivity tooling.
 * Expert knowledge of software quality practices, code health, testing strategies, performance analysis, diagnostics, debugging, and production support.

Preferred Qualifications

 * Proven track record of leading enterprise-scale technical initiatives, influencing architecture across multiple engineering organizations, and driving engineering strategy without direct organizational authority.
 * Strong communication and collaboration skills, with the ability to effectively influence executive leadership, architects, and engineering teams across the organization.

## Description

* Architect and implement resilient infrastructure solutions, with a strong focus on performance, security, and sound system design principles.
 * Write product or system development code.
 * Lead the design and development of complex product and system features.
 * Initiate and lead technical design reviews with peers and stakeholders, driving decisions on best design practices and architectural patterns.
 * Maintain/build resilient infrastructure focused on performance, security, and sound system design practices
 * Provide expert-level code reviews, offering in-depth feedback on best practices, including style, accuracy, testability, efficiency, and overall code quality.
 * Spearhead the creation and improvement of technical documentation, establishing standards and best practices.
 * Provide advanced operational support and lead troubleshooting efforts for tools and applications maintained by the Cortex DevOps Tooling team.