Principal Engineer - Cortex Xpanse, Collections

Job Summary

The Collections team is the foundational engine behind the Cortex Xpanse Attack Surface Management (ASM) platform. We architect, scale, and orchestrate global internet-scale discovery and scanning infrastructure. In this role, you will design distributed systems that continuously map the entire IPv4 and IPv6 internet, while building high-throughput data pipelines to create the foundation for Xpanse’s Attack Surface Management. As a Principal Software Engineer, you will drive the design of scalable services and collaborate with engineering peers, product managers, and leadership to execute end-to-end, mission-critical initiatives that directly impact our platform's success.

Key Responsibilities

• Build, optimize, and scale distributed backend scanning systems in Go.
• Design and develop robust data collection pipelines using Apache Beam and Java multithreading frameworks.
• Investigate new data sources and perform data analysis to estimate customer impact.
• Take ownership of projects, drive them to completion, and support them in production.
• Partner with engineering peers and product managers to define product strategy and enable the creation of new customer-facing features.
• Mentor and grow engineers, setting a high bar for technical excellence, architecture design, and system reliability.

Qualifications

• 8+ years of professional software engineering experience building backend systems.
• Proficiency in Java or Golang is preferred, though strong experience with other modern backend languages is welcome.
• Experience building data pipelines for real-time streaming or batch processing.
• Experience with distributed systems, API design, and decoupling complex data architectures.
• Experience with at least one major cloud platform (GCP, AWS, or Azure).

Preferred Qualifications

• Have expertise with any of the following: GCP, Kubernetes, Terraform, BigQuery, PostgreSQL, MySQL, BigTable, Apache Beam.
• Familiarity with low-level Internet protocols and high-throughput network scanning.
• Experience with cybersecurity, attack surface management, or internet measurement domains.

Pay & Benefits

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/commissioned 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. $147,000.00 - $237,500.00/yr

Our Commitment

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.