Principal Consultant, Incident Recovery Operations (Unit 42)

Location: Burbank, United States of America

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

This is a senior, field-tested role for those who have successfully led organizations through real-world crises, from major outages to ransomware attacks. You will leverage your extensive incident recovery experience to make critical decisions with incomplete information while under immense pressure. We are seeking a creative problem-solver who uses AI as a force multiplier to enhance security solutions and deliver results. If you have a proven track record of guiding panicked executives and skeptical engineers toward a unified recovery strategy, this role is for you.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead recovery efforts from major outages, ransomware attacks, and breaches, driving next steps during critical bridge calls.
• Make rapid, high-stakes decisions with incomplete information during active crises and confidently stand behind them.
• Determine whether to repair existing infrastructure or rebuild from scratch, managing the consequences of those technical decisions.
• Translate complex technical risks into clear business terms to secure prompt decisions from C-level executives.
• Direct and align cross-functional, non-reporting teams, including client staff, vendors, and MSPs, toward a unified recovery goal.
• Improvise effective recovery strategies when standard plans, backups, or vendor solutions fail to deliver.
• Travel to client sites up to 30% of the time and provide crucial after-hours or weekend support.

Required Qualifications

• 8+ years proven field experience managing and leading organizations through real-world incident recovery and crisis situations
• Demonstrated creativity in solving massive, novel technical problems under extreme pressure while client-facing.
• Proven ability to utilize AI technologies as a force multiplier to enhance and improve security answers and solutions.
• Exceptional executive presence with the ability to communicate effectively with both panicked C-level executives and exhausted technical staff.
• Strong self-driven motivation with a track record of elevating team performance, mentoring junior consultants, and proactively sharing knowledge.

Preferred Qualifications

• Expertise in Active Directory security architecture, including tiering, privileged access, and identity recovery (KRBTGT resets).
• Experience with review tools such as PingCastle, BloodHound, and Purple Knight.
• Strong understanding of Microsoft Entra ID, SSO, MFA, and modern authentication protocols.
• Experience with enterprise backup solutions, specifically focusing on protection, isolation, and validation of backups.
• Knowledge of EDR/XDR functions and deployment strategies.
• Proficiency in WAN/LAN security architecture and network segmentation.
• Familiarity with virtualization platforms (VMware vSphere/ESXi, Hyper-V) and their respective hardening guides.
• Experience in cloud and hybrid-cloud security architecture across AWS, Azure, and GCP.
• Working knowledge of frameworks such as NIST CSF and CIS Benchmarks for hardening environments.
• Prior experience in incident response, MSP, or consulting, along with familiarity with HIPAA and PCI DSS.
• Experience with Infrastructure as Code tooling (Terraform, Ansible, Packer).
• Experience securing macOS in an enterprise environment.

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.

$157,600.00 - $216,700.00/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 [email protected].

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.