Principal Software Engineer, Device Security & Containers (NGFW) - NetSec

About the job

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!

We believe collaboration thrives in person. That’s why most of our teams work from the office full time, with flexibility when it’s needed. This model supports real-time problem-solving, stronger relationships, and the kind of precision that drives great outcomes. Job Summary

The Team Engineering - Our engineering team is at the core of our products – connected directly to the mission of preventing cyberattacks. We are constantly innovating – challenging the way we, and the industry, think about cybersecurity. Our engineers don’t shy away from building products to solve problems no one has pursued before. We define the industry, instead of waiting for directions. We need individuals who feel comfortable in ambiguity, excited by the prospect of a challenge, and empowered by the unknown risks facing our everyday lives that are only enabled by a secure digital environment.

Job Summary As a Principal Software Engineer for Device Security & Containers, you will build the enterprise managed devices running the PANW security stack. You will serve as the primary technical interface between PANW and hardware teams, responsible for platform firmware, cloud management agents, and new hardware board bring-up. Operating at the intersection of embedded Linux, cloud-connected agents, and platform hardware, you will define and build features across network and security layers.

Key Responsibilities

- Design and implement the container runtime to host the PANW security stack as an isolated privileged container.

- Build data path integration using netfilter hooks and eBPF programs for intercepting and inspecting client traffic.

- Benchmark and optimize on-device security inspection across various SoC tiers to define product performance commitments.

- Implement IPS/IDS capabilities on the device, including rogue device detection and signal jamming detection.

- Develop post-quantum cryptography at the application layer to leverage vendor SoC PQC silicon support.

- Establish a firmware security hardening baseline, including read-only overlays and runtime attestation hooks.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

- 8+ years of experience in embedded or systems security engineering focusing on resource-constrained Linux environments.

- Production experience with eBPF programs for network traffic inspection or security monitoring (XDP, TC, socket filters).

- Experience with container runtimes (Docker, containerd) in embedded Linux environments, including seccomp and capability management.

- Working knowledge of netfilter/nftables for data path traffic redirection and inspection.

- Strong programming skills in C and C++, along with Python for tooling and test automation.

- BS/MS degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field, or equivalent experience.

Preferred Qualifications

- Experience implementing or working with IDS/IPS systems for rogue device detection

- Familiarity with ML inference at the edge, deploying models on resource-constrained hardware with NPU integration.

- Understanding of secure boot chains, firmware attestation, and TPM-backed trust anchors.

- Experience with network security protocols and threat detection such as DPI and file sandboxing.

- Strong experience in packet processing, parsing, and networking (L2-L4) protocols across architectures.

- Experience in data plane forwarding, network processor programming, and DPDK packet processing performance tuning.

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 .

Palo Alto Networks is an equal opportunity employer. We celebrate diversity in our workplace, and all qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, family or medical care leave, gender identity or expression, genetic information, marital status, medical condition, national origin, physical or mental disability, political affiliation, protected veteran status, race, religion, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, or other legally protected characteristics.

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.

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