Sr. Competitive Testing Analyst

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!

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.

Job Description

Your Career

As a Competitive Test Engineer for Security Subscriptions at Palo Alto Networks, you will

play a pivotal role in defining how our advanced threat prevention and detection capabilities

stack up against competitors in the real world.

You will be responsible for testing and benchmarking key security services, including Threat

Prevention, DLP, CASB, SAAS security, DNS Security, URL Filtering, and more, using

real-world attack scenarios and advanced testing tools.

This is a hands-on role that blends deep technical expertise, competitive analysis, and

strategic influence. Your insights will help drive product improvements, influence GTM

strategy, and enable sales and field teams with data-backed confidence

Your Impact

• Build and operate a comprehensive test lab focused on evaluating subscription-based

  security services across Palo Alto Networks and competitor platforms

• Design and execute test plans that evaluate malware prevention efficacy, DNS-based threat

  mitigation, anti-phishing, command-and-control (C2) blocking, and more

• Leverage modern test tools (e.g., BreakingPoint, CyberFlood, Picus, Metasploit, CyPerf) to

  simulate real-world attacks and evasions

• Create data-driven benchmarking reports that highlight strengths, expose competitive gaps,

  and reinforce our product differentiation

• Collaborate with Product Management and Engineering to recommend improvements and

  close identified competitive gaps

• Develop competitive collateral for Sales, including battlecards, whitepapers, internal FAQs,

  and enablement decks

• Engage with the field to provide deep-dive technical support on competitive claims and assist

  in high-stakes sales situations

• Stay current on the threat landscape and emerging competitor capabilities to ensure testing

  remains relevant and forward-looking

Qualifications

Your Experience 

• 7–10 years of hands-on experience in cybersecurity testing or threat prevention roles

• Proven expertise in testing and validating network security capabilities such as IDS/IPS, DLP,

  CASB, SAAS security, antivirus, URL filtering, DNS security, malware sandboxing, etc.

• Deep familiarity with common NGFWs and competitive platforms (Fortinet, Checkpoint, Cisco,

  etc.)

• Strong background in network-based threat analysis, attack emulation, and malware behavior

  profiling

• Hands-on experience with test tools like BreakingPoint, CyberFlood, Caldera, Metasploit,

  Picus, CyPerf, Ixia, etc.

• Experience with security automation and scripting for test repeatability and dashboards

• Strong understanding of TCP/IP, routing, switching, DNS, SSL, and application-layer protocols

• Excellent analytical, written, and verbal communication skills

• Ability to present complex technical information to both technical and non-technical audiences

  Nice to Have

• Prior experience in technical marketing, product validation, or threat research

• Familiarity with Palo Alto Networks products and Panorama

• Exposure to test lab environments using virtualization (ESXi and Cloud like AWS, Azure etc)

Additional Information

The Team

To stay ahead of the curve, it’s critical to know where the curve is, and how to anticipate the changes we’re facing. For the fastest growing cybersecurity company, the curve is the evolution of cyberattacks, and the products and services that proactively address them. Our Product Management Team helps us do just that. 

Our organization and employees are committed to changing as rapidly as our industry’s threats do, and to do that, we need creative product teams to address emerging cyber threats. They provide the behind-the-scenes support for our products by being a source of information on our products for our systems engineers, staying on top of the environment we sell in, and help in implementing product wide technical solutions based on our client’s feedback and needs. As threats and technology evolve, we stay ahead to accomplish our mission.

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 $0 - $0/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.