Palo Alto Networks

Principal Software Automation / Test Engineer

Palo Alto Networks$147K — $237K *
Information Technology
8 - 10 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • M.S./B.S. degree in Computer Science, Electrical Engineering, or equivalent military experience required.
  • 10+ years in QA/Test Automation Engineering with a strong impact on product quality.
  • 2+ years of experience with AI/ML technologies, including LLMs and prompt engineering.
  • Proven background in building autonomous testing systems or AI-driven quality tools.
  • Intermediate to Expert level experience in REST API automation with Python or Go.
  • Deep expertise in cybersecurity and distributed systems testing, including TCP/IP, DNS, SSL/TLS.
  • Familiarity with cloud providers like AWS, Azure, GCP and identity technologies like Azure AD.

Responsibilities

  • Design and implement AI-based autonomous QA workflows for continuous test execution.
  • Develop AI-augmented test infrastructure for scalable testing.]
  • Build AI-powered test generation systems from requirements and telemetry.
  • Participate in system design to integrate quality and testability throughout development.
  • Provide technical leadership in browser security and AI-assisted testing.
  • Mentor engineers on AI/ML testing methodologies and modern practices.
  • Collaborate with cross-functional teams to align quality strategies with business goals.

Benefits

  • Immigration sponsorship eligibility.
  • Opportunity to work at the forefront of AI and cybersecurity.
  • Possibility for career growth and mentorship in a innovative environment.
  • Collaborative work culture across departments.
Full Job Description
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

Is role eligible for Immigration Sponsorship?: Yes

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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