Palo Alto Networks

Distinguished Forward Deployed Engineer, AI Security

Palo Alto Networks • $248K — $341K *
Information Technology
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • 10+ years in software development and distributed systems architecture.
  • Master's degree or Ph.D. in Computer Science, AI, Cybersecurity, or equivalent experience.
  • Master-level proficiency in Python, Go, or C++, with asynchronous programming expertise.
  • Extensive experience with API gateways (Envoy, Kong) and enterprise protocols (gRPC, REST).
  • Expert knowledge of LLM orchestration and prompt injection mitigation.
  • Advanced skills in containerization and infrastructure-as-code across cloud providers.
  • Comprehensive understanding of enterprise security protocols and network segmentation.

Responsibilities

  • Lead architectural design reviews for zero-trust AI safety topologies.
  • Write production-grade code integrating Prisma AIRS into enterprise microservices.
  • Build middleware and proxy extensions for real-time security and access controls.
  • Architect automated deployment modules to accelerate product adoption.
  • Optimize traffic paths for low-latency streaming and global load balancing.
  • Serve as a tier-4 escalation point for production outages and distributed systems.
  • Analyze telemetry pipelines to resolve edge-case failures.

Benefits

  • Comprehensive health, dental, and vision insurance.
  • 401(k) plan with company matching.
  • Generous paid time off and flexible work arrangements.
  • Professional development opportunities and tuition reimbursement.
  • Employee wellness programs and mental health support.
Full Job Description
Job Summary

As a Distinguished Forward Deployed Engineer for Prisma AIRS, you will serve as the principal technical authority embedded within strategic enterprise engineering teams. Operating at the intersection of AI safety, zero-trust architecture, and distributed systems, you will architect, build, and deploy secure enterprise-grade AI workloads to production. You will write highly performant code, define industry-leading deployment standards, and bridge high-impact enterprise environments with core product engineering. Your technical leadership will drive direct contributions back to the core Prisma AIRS engine, shaping the future of our product roadmap.

Key Responsibilities
  • Lead Architectural Design Reviews to build zero-trust, high-availability AI safety topologies across enterprise environments.
  • Write production-grade code (Python, Go, C++) integrating Prisma AIRS into enterprise microservices and AI infrastructure.
  • Build high-throughput middleware and proxy extensions for real-time prompt security and identity-aware access controls.
  • Architect automated IaC deployment modules and SDK wrappers to accelerate rapid enterprise product adoption.
  • Optimize low-latency traffic paths for streaming LLM payloads, intelligent caching, and global load balancing.
  • Serve as the ultimate tier-4 escalation point for mission-critical production outages and complex distributed systems.
  • Analyze telemetry pipelines to resolve edge-case failures across agentic frameworks like LangChain and LlamaIndex.
  • Upstream custom plugins, platform optimizations, and core engine enhancements to primary Prisma AIRS repositories.
  • Partner with cross-functional leadership to convert recurring enterprise architectural patterns into native product capabilities.
  • Author enterprise reference architectures and whitepapers to establish industry standards for AI security and compliance.


Qualifications

Required Qualifications
  • 10+ years of professional software development and distributed systems architecture experience in production environments.
  • Master's degree or Ph.D. in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, or equivalent practical experience.
  • Master-level proficiency in Python, Go, or C++, with expertise in asynchronous programming and high-concurrency systems.
  • Extensive background designing and operating API gateways (Envoy, Kong) and enterprise protocols (gRPC, REST).
  • Expert-level knowledge of LLM orchestration, vector databases, runtime guardrails, and prompt injection mitigation.
  • Advanced mastery of containerization, custom Kubernetes operators, service meshes, and infrastructure-as-code across major cloud providers.
  • Comprehensive knowledge of enterprise security protocols, data loss prevention, and network segmentation frameworks.
  • Proven ability to build consensus and partner with executive leadership to translate mandates into engineering designs.
  • Hands-on builder mindset, comfortable presenting to executives and debugging live production incidents.


Preferred Qualifications
  • Deep experience building, evaluating, and securing autonomous AI agent architectures and tool-use execution environments.
  • Prior contribution to open-source AI security tools, red-teaming research, or LLM vulnerability benchmark suites.
  • Expertise in architecting large-scale observability and logging infrastructure using Prometheus, Grafana, OpenTelemetry, or Datadog.
  • Hands-on experience with automated synthetic data generation, ML-driven data sanitization pipelines, and offline evaluation sandboxes.


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.

$248,700.00 - $341,250.00/yr

About Palo Alto Networks

Palo Alto Networks, Inc. is an American multinational cybersecurity company with headquarters in Santa Clara, California. Its core products are a platform that includes advanced firewalls and cloud-based offerings that extend those firewalls to cover other aspects of security. The company serves over 70,000 organizations in over 150 countries, including 85 of the Fortune 100. It is home to the Unit 42 threat research team and hosts the Ignite cybersecurity conference.
Learn more about Palo Alto Networks
Size
11,870 employees
Market Cap
$42.6 billion
Industry
Net Income
-$368.2 million
Founded
2005
5 Year Trend
+25.7%
Revenue
$3.7 billion
NASDAQ

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