District Systems Engineer

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!

This role is remote, but distance is no barrier to impact. Our hybrid teams collaborate across geographies to solve big problems, stay close to our customers, and grow together. You will be part of a culture that values trust, accountability, and shared success where your work truly matters.

Job Summary

Location: Pacific Northwest Region (Must reside in the greater Seattle, WA or Portland, OR metropolitan areas)

Position Type: Full-Time / Field Sales Engineering

Travel: Up to 50% regional travel within the assigned district

Role Overview

The District Systems Engineer, Commercial, is a critical technical leader within our Pacific Northwest commercial sales organization, serving as a trusted advisor to regional customers and helping them secure their businesses with Palo Alto Networks solutions. Candidates must be based in the Pacific Northwest region, residing within the greater Seattle, WA or Portland, OR areas to effectively support local accounts, lead on-site customer engagements, and collaborate with regional commercial sales teams.

In this role, you will align security architectures with business objectives, architect solutions across hybrid environments, and demonstrate the tangible value of Palo Alto Networks' cybersecurity platform. You will be directly responsible for driving technical wins, accelerating adoption, and ensuring the long-term success of commercial clients across the Pacific Northwest district.

Your Impact

Curiosity, deep technical acumen, and consultative problem-solving drive the District Systems Engineer role. You will make an impact by:

• Regional Account Leadership: Partnering with regional commercial account executives to build and execute strategic technical account plans that consistently exceed sales quotas across the Pacific Northwest territory.
• Architecture & Solution Design: Positioning, designing, and demonstrating robust architectures across the Palo Alto Networks portfolio—encompassing Network Security, Security Operations (Cortex/XSIAM), Cloud Security (Prisma Cloud), and SASE.
• Driving Platform Adoption: Leading customers from point-solution mindsets to integrated platform adoption, helping them achieve measurable security improvements, operational efficiency, and agility.
• Technical Validation & Discovery: Conducting technical discovery sessions, scoping customer environments, and leading tailored proof-of-concept (PoC) evaluations, hands-on workshops, and architectural demonstrations.
• Cross-Functional Collaboration: Orchestrating internal specialists, Professional Services, Customer Success, and regional channel partners to deliver cohesive, high-impact customer deployments.
• Executive & Practitioner Communication: Translating intricate cybersecurity concepts into actionable business insights for audiences ranging from technical practitioners to C-level executives (CIO, CISO, CTO).
• Continuous Technical Growth: Serving as an informal mentor to inside systems engineers, staying ahead of competitive technologies and the threat landscape, and cross-training across Cloud, SOC, and NetSec domains.
• Field Presence: Actively engaging with local customers and prospects, with the ability and willingness to travel up to 50% throughout the assigned Pacific Northwest district (primarily Puget Sound and greater Portland regions).

Qualifications

Location & Travel Requirements

• Geographic Requirement: Must currently reside in the Pacific Northwest region, specifically within commuting/operational distance of the Seattle, Washington or Portland, Oregon metropolitan areas. Relocation assistance is not guaranteed.
• Mobility: Willingness and ability to travel up to 50% across the district to attend on-site customer meetings, technical workshops, and local industry events.

Your Experience

• Pre-Sales Acumen: 3+ years of experience in pre-sales systems engineering/sales engineering and/or successful completion of the Systems Engineer Academy.
• Core Technical Competencies: Hands-on understanding of data networking, modern enterprise security architectures, and public/hybrid cloud environments.
• Portfolio Expertise: Demonstrated experience selling, designing, or implementing solutions in at least one of the following key domains: • • Network Security / Next-Gen Firewalls (NGFW)
• SASE & Zero Trust Architectures
• Cloud Native Application Protection Platforms (CNAPP) / Cloud Security
• SOC Transformation, XDR, SIEM, or Security Automation (SOAR)

• Sales Execution: Proven track record of influencing decision-makers, managing technical validation cycles, and winning technical selections in complex, multi-stakeholder commercial sales cycles.
• Consultative Communication: Exceptional verbal, written, and architectural presentation skills with full proficiency in English.
• Customer Lifecycle Focus: Experience partnering with post-sales, customer support, and channel ecosystems to drive long-term platform health, renewal, and expansion.

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/com-missioned roles) is expected to be the annual range listed below. The offered compensation may also include restricted stock units and a bonus. A description of our employee benefits may be found here .

$177,600.00 - $244,200.00/yr

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.