Principal Engineer (Software)

Join Palo Alto Networks as a Principal Engineer (Software) to lead the technical evolution of our Identity Governance & Administration (IGA) platform. In this hands-on role, you will drive end-to-end initiatives, execute with autonomy, define and govern standards, architect complex systems, mentor and uplevel teams, and drive strategic alignment. You will have a significant impact on our flagship IGA experience and the engineering culture at Palo Alto Networks.

- Full-Stack Technical Expertise: 10+ years extensive experience with the MEAN stack (MongoDB, Express, Angular, Node.js) and modernizing legacy frameworks
- Collaborative Leadership: Strong communicator skilled at facilitating cross-team design sessions, mentoring and “leveling up” more junior engineers, and driving consensus across stakeholders
- Excellent written, verbal, and cross-functional communication skills, especially when working with product, design, and non-engineering stakeholders
- Bachelor’s degree in computer science or a related field, or equivalent practical experience
- Systems-Level Thinking: Ability to reason across complex layers—including APIs, identity, and observability—to make technical trade-offs explicit and decisions durable
- Security-First Mindset: Deep practical knowledge of secure web development, including OWASP Top 10 mitigation, Zero Trust principles, and Least Privilege access
- Ability to work a hybrid schedule in the Newton, MA area
- Cloud Architecture & Infrastructure: Proven track record in cloud engineering environments, with a primary focus on AWS ecosystems
- Operational Excellence: Committed to building highly observable and performant systems by integrating testing and monitoring into the core development lifecycle
- Security & Identity Specialization: Working knowledge of Identity & Access Management (IAM), PAM, IGA, and robust secrets management for security-centric products
- Design Systems at Scale: Experience managing cross-product component governance and maintaining unified design languages across large-scale applications
- Modern DevOps Practices: Familiarity with observability tools, feature flagging strategies, and implementing progressive delivery within CI/CD pipelines
- Performance & Scalability: Proficiency in load and stress testing using tools like JMeter to ensure system resilience and identify architectural bottlenecks before production
- Data Privacy & Compliance: Familiarity with privacy-by-design principles and technical implementations for GDPR, CCPA, or SOC2 compliance, particularly regarding data anonymization and auditability
- Advanced Frontend Tooling: Fluency in TypeScript, RxJS, and Signals, complemented by modern testing frameworks like Jest, Playwright, or Cypress