Distinguished AI/ML Architect (Cortex)

Our Mission At Palo Alto Networks®, we’re united by a shared mission—to protect our digital way of life. We thrive at the intersection of innovation and impact, solving real-world problems with cutting-edge technology and bold thinking. Here, everyone has a voice, and every idea counts. If you’re ready to do the most meaningful work of your career alongside people who are just as passionate as you are, you’re in the right place. Who We Are In order to be the cybersecurity partner of choice, we must trailblaze the path and shape the future of our industry. This is something our employees work at each day and is defined by our values: Disruption, Collaboration, Execution, Integrity, and Inclusion. We weave AI into the fabric of everything we do and use it to augment the impact every individual can have. If you are passionate about solving real-world problems and ideating beside the best and the brightest, we invite you to join us! We believe collaboration thrives in person. That’s why most of our teams work from the office full time, with flexibility when it’s needed. This model supports real-time problem-solving, stronger relationships, and the kind of precision that drives great outcomes. Job Summary Are you a master of the AI lifecycle who can thrive at the intersection of deep learning research, cybersecurity and large-scale production systems? Do you possess the rare ability to jump into a complex technical crisis, diagnose a bottleneck in a Small Language Model (SLM), and lead a team to a production-ready solution? As a Distinguished AI/ML Architect, you will be the premier technical authority across the Cortex AI/ML organization. You will serve as the "force multiplier" for multiple AI & ML teams, ensuring that our AI strategy - from endpoint-deployed DL/ML models to cloud-scale agentic products - is executed with world-class precision. You will operate as the primary technical architect and hands-on leader for our most ambitious and difficult initiatives. Key Responsibilities Operate at the forefront of AI and cybersecurity, leveraging vast datasets to design and deploy innovative defense mechanisms. Provide horizontal technical leadership across endpoint, cloud, and agentic AI teams to ensure architectural excellence. Oversee the design and deployment of different model architectures to guarantee scalability and high-performance standards. Spearhead high-difficulty initiatives and new research frontiers, moving them from ambiguity to production. Resolve complex technical bottlenecks across the stack, optimizing model efficiency and runtime performance. Align research and engineering efforts to transform advanced models into robust, production-grade products. Qualifications Required Qualifications 10+ years of hands-on experience delivering production-grade machine learning and deep learning projects at scale. Proven ability to own the entire lifecycle of a project—taking ambiguous ideas from initial research through to successful production deployment. Extensive experience designing, training, and fine-tuning complex models, including SLMs and LLMs, tailored to specific proprietary datasets. Track record of shipping diverse models to production across both resource-constrained endpoints and high-throughput cloud environments. Deep expertise in building and optimizing agentic AI systems, including RAG architectures and autonomous workflows. Demonstrated ability to lead technical strategy, ensuring research code is scalable, reliable, and production-ready. Advanced degree (MSc or PhD) in Computer Science, Machine Learning, Physics, Mathematics, or a related quantitative field. Excellent communication skills, with the ability to articulate complex architectural decisions to both technical teams and leadership. Preferred Qualifications Background in the cybersecurity domain, specifically in developing AI/ML models to detect and prevent cyber attacks. Deep cybersecurity expertise in non-AI fields, such as vulnerability research, reverse engineering, or low-level security systems development. Experience with low-level performance engineering, including model quantization, pruning, and runtime frameworks like ONNX or TensorRT. 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 accommodations@paloaltonetworks.com. 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. Is role eligible for Immigration Sponsorship? No. Please note that we will not sponsor applicants for work visas for this position.