Senior Principal Engineer Software (Unit 42)

Santa Clara, California, United States Product Engineering Ref ID: JR-018757

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!

This role is remote, but distance is no barrier to impact. Our hybrid teams collaborate across geographies to solve big problems, stay close to our customers, and grow together. You will be part of a culture that values trust, accountability, and shared success where your work truly matters.

Job Summary

Unit 42 offers industry-leading threat intelligence and incident response. As a Sr Principal Software Engineer (Backend-Focused), you will be the primary technical leader responsible for architecting and modernizing the backend infrastructure that powers Unit 42’s intelligence platforms. This role is for a 'Full-stack aware' engineer who prioritizes backend resilience and scalability, is an expert in leveraging AI-assisted environments like Cursor or Claude to maximize code velocity, and will initially own critical backend initiatives as an Individual Contributor while preparing to grow and mentor a team of junior backend engineers.

Key Responsibilities

Champion the use of AI tools (Cursor/Claude) throughout the development lifecycle to enforce coding standards, automate boilerplate, and accelerate technical debt resolution.

Lead the design and implementation of highly resilient, distributed backend services (Go, Python, C++), prioritizing deep backend architectural health while maintaining sufficient frontend literacy to guide full-stack product outcomes.

Act as an Individual Contributor for complex, greenfield backend projects, establishing the technical roadmap and mentorship framework to guide and grow junior backend engineers as the team scales.

Bridge the gap between threat research data and scalable service architecture, ensuring that our backend systems are built for long-term maintainability and high-throughput data processing.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

10+ years of backend-heavy experience with proven success in distributed systems (Go/Python/Java).

Expert-level proficiency in AI-assisted coding tools (e.g., Cursor, Claude); you optimize your workflow and the team’s workflow around them.

Strong desire to mentor and develop junior engineering talent, with a demonstrated ability to transition from a high-impact individual contributor to a technical leader.

Comfortable reading, debugging, and architecting data flow with frontend teams (React/TypeScript) to ensure seamless API and state integration.

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.

$170,000.00 - $277,000.00/yr

Our 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.

Is role eligible for Immigration Sponsorship? No. Please note that we will not sponsor applicants for work visas for this position.