Principal Engineer, System Architecture (ASIC Hardware)

Company Description

Our Mission

At Palo Alto Networks® everything starts and ends with our mission:

Being the cybersecurity partner of choice, protecting our digital way of life.

We have the vision of a world where each day is safer and more secure than the one before. These aren’t easy goals to accomplish – but we’re not here for easy. We’re here for better. We are a company built on the foundation of challenging and disrupting the way things are done, and we’re looking for innovators who are as committed to shaping the future of cybersecurity as we are.

We’re changing the nature of work. Palo Alto Networks is evolving to meet the needs of our employees now and in the future through FLEXWORK, our approach to how we work. From benefits to learning, location to leadership, we’ve rethought and recreated every aspect of the employee experience at Palo Alto Networks.  And because it FLEXes around each individual employee based on their individual choices, employees are empowered to push boundaries and help us all evolve, together.

Job Description

Your Career

As a member of the System Architecture team at Palo Alto Networks, you will influence and drive the design and development of our next-generation firewall platforms.  You will be in a position to make a direct impact on both the long and short term engineering direction for Palo Alto Networks.

Your Impact

You will work on cutting edge system architectures for next generation firewall products, identify performance bottlenecks and solutions, design and model protocol and subcomponent offload solutions.

In addition to high level design work, you will also do hands-on coding, including:

• Prototyping and modeling of new architectures and designs

• Architecture specifications, models, test infrastructure, pre- and post-silicon validation

• In-house Processor Tool Chain Development - Assembler, Debugger, Simulator

• Infrastructure to support ASIC team development and verification

• ASIC microcode and device driver development

Qualifications

Your Experience

The ideal candidate would have a background in embedded networking/forwarding or platform software with experience defining the architecture of ASIC/FPGAs and systems.

Bring your expert level experience with various aspects of system software design, networking protocols, multi-processor systems, and hardware offloading.  

• Expert level knowledge of networking equipment & architectures – system hardware, CPUs, ASIC/FPGAs, etc.

• Expert level knowledge of networking protocols – mobile, routing, transport layer, SSL/TLS, etc.

• Experience with designing and understanding HW offload including feasibility and tradeoffs/

• Experience with ASIC/FPGA design and architecture

• Experience with designing system software for enterprise networking equipment

• Strong coding skills including C/C++, Bash, Python, etc.

• Familiarity with containerized development and docker

• Experience with network security desired

• Familiarity with x86, MIPS and ARM architectures

• Experience with IPC mechanisms and multi-CPU architectures

• Understanding of signature matching using DFA/HFA/AHO

• New hardware bring-up experience desired

• Minimum 10 years of related experience required

Additional Information

The Team

To stay ahead of the curve, it’s critical to know where the curve is, and how to anticipate the changes we’re facing. For the fastest growing cybersecurity company, the curve is the evolution of cyberattacks, and the products and services that proactively address them. Our engineering team is at the core of our products – connected directly to the mission of preventing cyberattacks. They are constantly innovating – challenging the way we, and the industry, think about cybersecurity. These engineers aren’t shy about creating products to solve problems no one has tackled before. They define the industry, instead of waiting for directions. We need individuals who feel comfortable in ambiguity, excited by the prospect of challenge, and empowered by the unknown risks facing our everyday lives that are only enabled by a secure digital environment.

Our engineering team is provided with an unrivaled opportunity to build the products and practices that will support our company growth over the next decade, defining the cybersecurity industry as we know it. If you see the potential of how incredible people can transform a business, this is the team for you. If you don’t wait for directions, instead, identifying new features and opportunities we have to just get better, this is your new career.

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 [email protected].

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.

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/commissioned roles) is expected to be between $166,600/yr to $269,500/yr. The offered compensation may also include restricted stock units and a bonus. A description of our employee benefits may be found here.