Principal Technical Program Manager

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.
Our vision is a world where each day is safer and more secure than the one before. 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.

Who We Are

We take our mission of protecting the digital way of life seriously. We are relentless in protecting our customers and we believe that the unique ideas of every member of our team contributes to our collective success. Our values were crowdsourced by employees and are brought to life through each of us everyday - from disruptive innovation and collaboration, to execution. From showing up for each other with integrity to creating an environment where we all feel included.

As a member of our team, you will be shaping the future of cybersecurity. We work fast, value ongoing learning, and we respect each employee as a unique individual. Knowing we all have different needs, our development and personal wellbeing programs are designed to give you choice in how you are supported. This includes our FLEXBenefits wellbeing spending account with over 1,000 eligible items selected by employees, our mental and financial health resources, and our personalized learning opportunities - just to name a few!

At Palo Alto Networks, we believe in the power of collaboration and value in-person interactions. This is why our employees generally work full time from our office with flexibility offered where needed. This setup fosters casual conversations, problem-solving, and trusted relationships. Our goal is to create an environment where we all win with precision.

Your Career

Palo Alto Networks is seeking an experienced and highly motivated Principal Technical Program Manager to join our exciting, fast growing company. This dynamic individual will be the liaison between Software Engineering and Product Management with a focus on high quality, on-time successful releases. This position reports to the VP Operations and is based at our headquarters in Santa Clara, CA.

You will be expected to be versed in the technical domains and be able to engage with an experienced cross-disciplinary staff to conceive and design innovative products that will secure our digital life. We are looking for someone with strong critical thinking and analytical skills, who is a self-starter, a great communicator and has demonstrated ability to build consensus at all levels, and is passionate about driving change in a dynamic fast-paced environment.

Your Impact

In this role, you will:

• Work with key stakeholders in product management, engineering and cross functional teams to deliver technological solutions in sync with launch timelines
• Communicate regularly with senior management on status, risks and change control
• Responsible for driving a wide range of development & infrastructure work-streams as part of any given technical initiative
• Able to work closely with Technical Architects/Technical leaders and understand deep technical topics
• What does a TPM do? Our TPM role is focused on working amongst multiple teams to deliver functionality that those teams are responsible for - The TPM is the “glue” that holds teams together and maintains a bird’s eye view over what those teams are delivering and how those deliverables fit together

This involves two aspects, both equally important:

• The “Technical” part of “TPM” requires identifying dependencies and technical risks that affect the various teams represented
• The “Program Manager” part of “TPM” involves scheduling, managing sprints, creating milestones, and reporting status - The interplay of these two responsibilities means that the TPM not only coordinates schedules, but helps the teams execute against their schedules

Your Experience 

• Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in a technical discipline or equivalent military experience 
• 8+ years working experience with 3+ years management experience building and leading a technical program management team
• Deep understanding of SaaS software development lifecycle, processes and best practices
• Knowledge of Agile process and tools and experience delivering product in Agile environment
• Experience working with engineering teams on defining requirements, writing detailed functional and test specifications, coordinating efforts to scope, schedule and deploy new features sets
• Executive presentation skills and demonstrated experience in running program meetings
• Comfortable hosting senior level leaders (SVP/VP) and providing status/program updates
• Hands on experience with JIRA, Confluence and Smartsheet
• Strong prioritization skills and the ability to handle multiple job duties in a fast-paced environment
• Exceptional communication skills and the ability to communicate appropriately at all levels of the organization, written and verbal
• Agile and Scrum Certification is a plus, e.g. PMI, CSM, CSC, SAFe, etc.
• Agile Coach experience preferred

The Team

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.

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/commissioned roles) is expected to be between $165,000/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.

Our Commitment

We’re problem solvers that 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.