Principal Software Engineer (Directory Services)

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

We are seeking an energetic and versatile Principal Software Engineer to join our elite team responsible for building our Identity Directory Service and User Management platform. In this role, you will be a core technical authority using AWS architecture, AWS CDK, and .NET to design, develop, test, secure, and deploy high throughput, production ready cloud services from planning to production.

Working in full collaboration with security architects, product managers, and cross functional development teams, you will produce complex and advanced SaaS services that satisfy demanding scalability, security standards, and Non-Functional Requirements (NFRs).

Your Impact

• System Architecture & Design: Lead the architectural design and system implementation of cloud-native, distributed microservices using AWS and .NET following secure-by-design principles.

• SDLC Mastery: Practice all aspects of the software development lifecycle within an agile, continuous-delivery environment.

• Research & Innovation: Spearhead research into modern cybersecurity mechanisms, evaluate emerging tech stacks, and pioneer cut-edge solutions to solve complex platform bottlenecks.

• Technical Mentorship: Drive engineering excellence through code reviews, design discussions, and active coaching to uplevel engineers across the team.

• Quality & Scalability: Participate in continuous and iterative engineering cycles with a heavy focus on code quality, testability, supportability, performance, and cost optimization.

Your Experience & Qualifications

• Education/Background: Bachelor’s or Master’s Degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or related technical field / IDF elite technology unit alumni.

• Professional Experience: 15+ years of hands-on software development experience with extensive background in .NET / C# (or Java/Go/Python) within cloud-based microservices environments. 

Technical Mastery:

• Passionate about system design, high-quality code, peer code reviews, performance optimization, and challenging the status quo.

• Deep understanding of cloud architecture patterns, RESTful APIs, asynchronous workflows, and event-oriented design.

• Proactive by nature with an internal drive for engineering excellence, self-direction, and problem-solving.

• Communication: Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English with the ability to articulate complex architectural decisions simply.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience building enterprise-scale SaaS applications using AWS services and Infrastructure-as-Code (AWS CDK or Terraform).

• Solid understanding of security protocols, networking best practices, and Identity & Access Management concepts (directory services, SSO, OAuth2/OIDC, SAML).

• Hands-on experience with modern CI/CD automation tools (GitHub, Jenkins, Artifactory) and containerization ecosystems (Docker, Kubernetes, OpenShift).

• Build end-to-end features using models from providers like OpenAI, Anthropic, or open-source ecosystems.

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.