Senior Principal Software Engineer – GlobalProtect (Windows & macOS Internals)
Palo Alto Networks · Posted Nov 4, 2026
- California, United States
- On-site
- Full-time · Senior
- $184K–$297K per year
- Visa sponsorship
Lead the design, reliability, and security of the deepest layers of the GlobalProtect client on Windows and macOS.
Compensation
$183,600.00 - $297,000.00/yr
Responsibilities
- Design and implement low-level components for GlobalProtect's virtual network adapters, packet interception, routing, split-tunneling, and DNS handling on Windows and macOS
- Modernize the client by moving Windows NDIS and WFP-based components toward KMDF, WFP, and user-mode patterns, and evolving macOS System Extension and NetworkExtension providers
- Own Windows HLK test passes, WHQL/attestation signing, Apple Developer ID signing, notarization, and system extension provisioning
- Serve as escalation engineer for BSODs, kernel panics, deadlocks, pool corruption, memory leaks, and hard-to-reproduce hangs using WinDbg, LLDB, crash dump analysis, ETW, and unified logging
- Drive fixes and design improvements for sleep/wake, Modern Standby, network change, and interface transition behavior
Requirements
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or a related technical field
- Nice to have: IPsec
- Nice to have: IKEv2
- Nice to have: SSL/TLS
- Nice to have: DTLS