Senior Staff Software Engineer
Palo Alto NetworksOur 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
As a Staff Software Development Engineer in Test (Staff SDET), you will play a technical leadership role in ensuring quality, reliability, and scalability of CyberArk’s Identity and CIAM solutions. You are expected to quickly onboard, operate with high ownership, and independently drive test strategy, design, and execution in an Agile environment. Beyond hands-on testing and automation, this role requires strong proactive engagement with product and development teams, early involvement in design discussions, and the ability to influence quality at the architectural and requirements stage.
Key Responsibilities
- Own end-to-end test strategy for complex features and initiatives, including functional, integration, regression, and non-functional testing.
- Proactively analyze developer epics, user stories, and technical designs to identify risks, gaps, and edge cases early in the SDLC.
- Drive test design and testability discussions—translate product and technical requirements into well-structured test scenarios and coverage plans.
- Act as a quality advocate by continuously raising the bar on QA processes, standards, and best practices.
- Design, develop, and maintain high-quality automation frameworks.
- Increase and sustain regression coverage through stable, scalable, and maintainable automation.
- Leverage tools such as Pytest, Selenium/WebDriver, and related frameworks to ensure robust CI-level validation.
- Actively participate in debugging production and pre-production issues from a quality perspective.
- Work closely with developers, product managers, architects, and DevOps teams during backlog grooming, sprint planning, and design reviews.
- Ensure stories meet quality and testability criteria before sprint commitment.
- Provide clear execution updates, risk assessments, and quality signals to engineering leadership.
- Mentor and guide SDETs and QA engineers on test design, automation best practices, and debugging skills.
- Influence team-wide adoption of better test patterns, coverage models, and CI/CD quality gates.
- Contribute to hiring, onboarding, and upskilling of quality engineers.
- Actively contribute to CI/CD pipelines, enabling fast and reliable feedback using Jenkins or equivalent systems.
- Partner with DevOps to ensure automation is a first-class citizen in deployment pipelines.
- Continuously explore new tools, frameworks, and AI-assisted testing approaches to improve productivity and quality.
Qualifications
- 8–10 years of experience as a Quality Engineer, SDET, or Developer in Test on Agile teams.
- Strong experience in manual and automation testing.
- Deep understanding of Agile/Scrum methodologies, QA processes, and SDLC.
- 3+ years of hands-on experience testing Mac OS / Desktop applications.
- Experience with Active Directory, JAMF Connect, and enterprise desktop environments.
- Proven experience building and maintaining desktop automation frameworks, preferably on Mac.
- Strong expertise in automation tools such as Pytest (preferred), Selenium / WebDriver, JMeter, SoapUI, Watir, or equivalent.
- Proficiency in at least two scripting/programming languages (Python strongly preferred; Java or Ruby acceptable).
- Experience with source control systems such as Git, Bitbucket, Perforce, or equivalent.
- Excellent debugging, problem-solving, and analytical skills.
- Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to collaborate across teams and with leadership.
- BS in Computer Science or equivalent practical experience.
- Experience working in a DevOps-first environment with strong CI/CD exposure (Jenkins or similar).
- Prior experience in Identity, Access Management, or Security domains.
- Exposure to cloud-based, SaaS, or large-scale enterprise products.
- Understanding of PKI, certificates, encryption, HTTPS, OAuth/OIDC, SAML, or related security protocols.
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.