Partner Solutions Architect - Cortex Cloud

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.
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!

Job Description

Your Career

As part of the PANW Global Center of Partner Offer Excellence, the Partner Solutions Architect (PSA) supports internal and partner stakeholders with a mix of technical architecture, offer design activities, internal solution innovations, and ongoing knowledge management.  

Specifically, the  Cortex Cloud  PSA is an expert with a strong understanding of cloud security; Cloud-Native Application Protection Platform (CNAPP) and Runtime Security with foundational knowledge of Security Operations, including SIEM, SOAR and XDR/EDR. The Cloud PSA leverages the Cortex Cloud platforms to design, build, and implement comprehensive cloud security services within the Partner ecosystem. The Cloud PSA drives the development of new partner services and optimizes cloud security solutions by leading the initial execution of projects.  

The position requires strong leadership and communication skills; the Partner Solutions Architect will have to rally partners to agree on tools and techniques based on desired offerings and develop complementary assets.  Additionally, will have to articulate a clear vision to partners, customers, consultants, account managers, and other internal and external stakeholders relevant to technical offerings. 

Your Impact

• Develop pre-defined, partner-led offerings based on PANW next-gen security platforms, including but not limited to service descriptions, end-customer use cases, technology capabilities mapping, support models, delivery flows, runbooks, and troubleshooting guides.  

• Recommend advisory, implementation, and/or managed offers and best practices curated to the requirements provided by and/or interpreted from the partner, as well as based on subject matter expertise.  

• Assist Business Development with vetting of partner technical capabilities, both prior to offer development and ahead of offer launch.  

• Provide technical enablement and support for relevant partner personnel (ex., pre-sales support, delivery, operations, professional services, and/or consulting personas) as a trusted advisor through partner-specific webinars, workshops, and ongoing discussions, as well as product-specific on-demand and instructor-led training.  

• Create and influence technical documentation, including but not limited to offer development processes, technical offer collateral, internal systems flows, reference architectures, and learnings for future enhancements.  

• Facilitate and manage environments for labs, demos, partner training, and technology showcases, in support of partner offerings.  

• Maintain, Optimize, and Refine our partner offerings through their lifecycle with new capabilities while ensuring efficient and consistent consumption by partners and end-customers  

• Champion internal enhancements that benefit partner offers based on key learnings and partner feedback in collaboration with Business Development to ensure broader business goal alignment, including product innovations, new reference architecture models, process/systems optimization, and technical program benefits.  

• Collaborate with internal technical partners and support them as a subject matter expert on technical partner offers; including but not limited to Domain Consultants, Developer Relations, Product Management & Engineering, Professional Services, Customer Success, and other internal SMEs

• Responsible for discussing and highlighting product alignment with partner requirements and differentiation.

• Architect solutions that will help our partners strengthen and simplify their security posture.

• Help our customers build and develop further their services around Cortex Cloud.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience working with systems integrators and/or enterprise customers in a technical capacity.

• Experience selling, demonstrating, installing and/or troubleshooting cloud security products. Working with both hardware and cloud-based security platforms will be beneficial.  

• Experience with Cloud Security technologies, including Runtime Security and CNAPP (DevSecOps, IaC, CloudOps), as well as related components. Experience with log management and SIEM is a plus.

• Proven experience developing, managing, and/or supporting technical offers with SP, MSSP, and/or GSI partners.  

• Technical documentation experience preferred  

• Experience and understanding of cybersecurity and the latest market trends are encouraged, as is directional familiarity with and/or certification in Palo Alto Networks technologies.  

• Experience & good understanding of API’s, orchestration tools, scripting, etc. will be an added advantage.  

• Good understanding of Unix/Linux and Windows operating systems. Proficiency with G-Suite preferred.  

• Bachelor of Science degree or higher and/or relevant industry certifications (e.g., CCSP, CCSK) preferred.  

• Highly driven and collaborative individual with a self-motivated, solution-based mindset and a strong sense of urgency around execution while building trusted relationships.  

• Strong internal and external interpersonal skills, both written and verbal, as well as adaptability in fast-paced and dynamic situations, while influencing decision-making.  

• Passion for continuous education as well as collaborative knowledge sharing with partners and peers.  

• Travel of at least 25% within the designated region and subject to travel policy.

Preferred Skills

• Experience with Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) in the context of enterprise security, including but not limited to:

  • Threat detection and prediction

  • Automated security response

  • Security analytics and reporting

  • AI-driven security tools and platforms

Additional Information

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 $186000 - $255000/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  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.