Principal Software Automation / Test Engineer

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 and 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

We are seeking an AI-savvy Principal QA Test Engineer to transform how we test and validate Prisma Access Services. As a technical leader, you will design and implement autonomous QA workflows that leverage AI to achieve unprecedented test coverage, efficiency, and defect detection. You will take ownership of quality outcomes, mentor teams, and drive innovation in how we approach testing at scale.

Key Responsibilities

• Design and implement autonomous QA workflows using AI agents and LLM-based frameworks to achieve continuous, intelligent test execution across multiple services.

• Develop AI-augmented test infrastructure enabling scalable, context-aware testing that reflects real-world deployment scenarios.

• Build AI-powered test generation systems that automatically create comprehensive test suites from requirements, specifications, and production telemetry.

• Participate in system design to ensure quality, observability, and testability are built-in throughout the feature development lifecycle.

• Provide technical leadership in browser security, cloud orchestration, distributed systems, and AI-assisted quality engineering across multi-team quality initiatives.

• Mentor junior and mid-level engineers on AI/ML testing techniques, prompt engineering, and modern quality practices; lead adoption of new testing methodologies and measure impact.

• Collaborate with Development, SRE, Product Management, and Technical Marketing to align quality strategy with business outcomes and establish quality standards.

• Enhance test strategies, automation, and build infrastructure with feedback and analysis from real-world customer deployments.

• Stay current with AI/ML advancements and translate them into practical testing innovations like agentic workflows, multimodal testing, and AI-powered observability.

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• M.S./B.S. degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or equivalent military experience required.

• 10+ years of experience in QA/Test Automation Engineering with demonstrated impact on product quality and team practices.

• 2+ years of hands-on experience with AI/ML technologies, including LLMs, prompt engineering, and AI-assisted development workflows.

• Proven track record of building autonomous testing systems or AI-powered quality engineering tools.

• Intermediate to Expert level experience with REST API driven automation using Python or Go.

• Deep expertise in cybersecurity, cloud networking, or distributed systems test, including expert knowledge of TCP/IP, DNS, and SSL/TLS.

• Experience with Identity Technologies such as Azure AD, Okta, or Ping Identity.

• Experience with cloud providers (AWS, Azure, GCP) and cloud networking architectures (VPCs, subnets, security groups, NAT).

• Experience with Windows/Linux/MAC Networking and Security Features.

• Expertise in REST API testing, web UI automation (Selenium, Playwright, Puppeteer), and cloud-native application testing.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with designing or building automation frameworks from scratch for Endpoint products.

• Experience with Network or Application Load Balancers.

• Experience building RAG pipelines, vector databases, and knowledge graphs for test intelligence.

• Experience with browser security solutions such as enterprise browsers, remote browser isolation, or browser extensions.

• Knowledge of SASE (Secure Access Service Edge) architecture and Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) principles.

Compensation Disclosure

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/com-missioned 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’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?: Yes