Principal Escalation Engineer

About Us

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. Our engineering team is at the core of our products and connected directly to the mission of preventing cyberattacks. We define the industry instead of waiting for directions, challenging the way we and the industry think about cybersecurity.

We weave AI into the fabric of everything we do and use it to augment the impact every individual can have. 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.

About the Role

As a Principal Escalation Engineer, you will hold a highly visible, senior-level position on a growing team. This role requires a blend of customer management and deep technical expertise in telecommunication equipment and internet traffic. You will leverage your background in troubleshooting modern networks and understanding of internet protocols to resolve the most critical technical escalations that reach the executive level.

Responsibilities

• Intercept, assist, and drive highly critical technical escalations that are raised to the executive engineering level.
• Serve as a primary technical point of contact for executive-level customers, effectively communicating situation status, root cause analysis, and resolution progress.
• Proactively collaborate with internal account teams to ensure alignment and provide status updates on critical customer issues.
• Address and clarify complex technical questions during high-stakes customer interactions, ensuring clarity and confidence.
• Analyze complex network issues, including dynamic routing and security protocols, to identify root causes and deliver robust solutions.
• Engage in open discussions regarding network design, security architecture, and other technical topics with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• BE/B.Tech degree, equivalent technical graduation, or equivalent military experience.
• Career-level experience in a technical support, service, or troubleshooting-related role within a network security or equipment vendor organization.
• Demonstrated experience as a technical lead in a relevant area of expertise.
• Proficiency in configuring and troubleshooting dynamic routing protocols, primarily BGP and OSPF.
• Strong skills in Layer 1-3 (OSI model) troubleshooting and packet capture analysis using tools like Wireshark.
• Experience troubleshooting VPNs (IPSec and SSL tunnels) and telecommunications hardware.

Preferred Qualifications

• Advanced industry certifications such as JNCIE, CCIE, CCNP, or similar.
• Experience with cloud deployments and solutions in AWS, GCP, Azure, or KVM environments.
• Programming or scripting knowledge in languages like C, C++, or Python.
• Proven ability to explain complex technical issues effectively to non-technical audiences.

Pay

The compensation offered for this position will depend on qualifications, experience, and work location. The starting base salary range is $147,000.00 - $237,500/yr. The offered compensation may also include restricted stock units and a bonus.

Benefits

A description of our employee benefits may be found here.