Principal Machine Learning Engineer

$150,000 - $220,000/Yr

Palo Alto Networks - Santa Clara, CA

Full-time - Principal

Santa Clara, CA

Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services

About the position

The Principal Machine Learning Engineer at Palo Alto Networks will play a crucial role in shaping the future of cybersecurity by leveraging advanced machine learning techniques to solve network security challenges. This position involves designing and developing innovative AI and machine learning solutions that enhance threat detection and device protection, while actively contributing to the security community and driving technology evolution in the industry.

Responsibilities

• Create and deliver new product and mission features to the security platform.
• Engage and contribute to the security community through collaborations.
• Design and develop workflow frameworks using formal methods and algorithms, including result collection and visualization tools.
• Create and deliver training materials.

Requirements

• M.S. or Ph.D degree in Computer Science, Mathematics, Electrical Engineering, or a related field or equivalent military experience required.
• 8+ years of industry experience in Machine Learning techniques and data analytics.
• 8+ years of experience in design, algorithms, and data structures, with expertise in Java, Python, or Rust.
• Experience with designing and deploying high-performance RAG systems for real-world applications, with a strong understanding of scaling retrieval and inference challenges.
• In-depth knowledge of reranking algorithms (RRF, BM25, DPR, etc.) and experience in fine-tuning models to optimize retrieval performance and response quality.
• Experience with NLP, Recommender Systems, and LLM is strongly preferred.
• Experience with Formal Methods toolchain (z3, cvc5, TLA+) will be a plus.
• Excellent communication skills with the ability to influence at all levels of the organization.
• A self-driven individual contributor and an excellent team player.

Nice-to-haves

• Experience with NLP, Recommender Systems, and LLM is strongly preferred.
• Experience with Formal Methods toolchain (z3, cvc5, TLA+) will be a plus.

Benefits

• FLEXBenefits wellbeing spending account with over 1,000 eligible items.
• Mental and financial health resources.
• Personalized learning opportunities.