Engineering Director Jobs in Santa Clara, CA
Engineering Director jobs in Santa Clara are in high demand, concentrated in the Central Expressway corridor, the Lawrence Expressway tech zone, and the downtown core near City Hall. Hiring is heaviest in semiconductor, enterprise software, and networking hardware, and companies posting right now include NVIDIA, Atomic Machines, and Applied Materials. Find a role that fits below and apply directly.
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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
Your Career:
We are seeking a Leader in Engineering who will lead the design, development, and delivery of core services of the Prisma Access platform
Key Responsibilities
This role is ideal for someone with expertise in Kubernetes, container orchestration, multi-cloud resource orchestration and distributed systems. The team you will join is responsible for architecting, scaling, and optimizing our multi-cloud environments (Terraform, CFT etc. as well as Kubernetes-based environments) to build and maintain a high-availability, resilient infrastructure.
Your Impact:
- Lead, mentor, and grow a team of cloud infrastructure engineers.
- Drive a culture of innovation, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
- Establish best practices for container orchestration, CI/CD, and cloud automation.
- Work cross-functionally with development, DevOps, and security teams to streamline deployments and optimize system reliability.
Technical Strategy & Implementation:
- Architect, implement, monitor and scale multi-cloud deployments, Kubernetes clusters for mission-critical applications.
- Oversee the design and automation of multi-cloud and containerized workloads, ensuring reliability and efficiency.
- Define and enforce Kubernetes security, networking, and governance best practices. Improve monitoring, logging, and alerting solutions for Kubernetes-based workloads.
- Evaluate and integrate service mesh technologies like Istio where necessary.
- Optimize performance, cost, and availability in cloud-native environments (AWS, GCP, OCI).
Process & Collaboration:
- Develop and manage dynamic orchestration for multiple cloud resources in AWS, GCP, OCI etc.
- Ensure compliance with SLAs, SLOs, and SRE best practices for uptime and performance.
- Lead incident response, root cause analysis, and capacity planning efforts.
Qualifications
Your Experience:
- 15+ years of progressive software engineering experience, with at least 5 years leading large, distributed engineering organizations.
- Strong knowledge of cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, or OCI) and cloud-native technologies.
- Experience with Helm, Terraform, Kustomize, ArgoCD, or Flux.
- Strong problem-solving skills and ability to work in a fast-paced, evolving 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.
$252,500.00 - $346,500.00/yrOur 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?: YesOur 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
Your Career:
We are seeking a Leader in Engineering who will lead the design, development, and delivery of core services of the Prisma Access platform
Key Responsibilities
This role is ideal for someone with expertise in Kubernetes, container orchestration, multi-cloud resource orchestration and distributed systems. The team you will join is responsible for architecting, scaling, and optimizing our multi-cloud environments (Terraform, CFT etc. as well as Kubernetes-based environments) to build and maintain a high-availability, resilient infrastructure.
Your Impact:
- Lead, mentor, and grow a team of cloud infrastructure engineers.
- Drive a culture of innovation, collaboration, and continuous improvement.
- Establish best practices for container orchestration, CI/CD, and cloud automation.
- Work cross-functionally with development, DevOps, and security teams to streamline deployments and optimize system reliability.
Technical Strategy & Implementation:
- Architect, implement, monitor and scale multi-cloud deployments, Kubernetes clusters for mission-critical applications.
- Oversee the design and automation of multi-cloud and containerized workloads, ensuring reliability and efficiency.
- Define and enforce Kubernetes security, networking, and governance best practices. Improve monitoring, logging, and alerting solutions for Kubernetes-based workloads.
- Evaluate and integrate service mesh technologies like Istio where necessary.
- Optimize performance, cost, and availability in cloud-native environments (AWS, GCP, OCI).
Process & Collaboration:
- Develop and manage dynamic orchestration for multiple cloud resources in AWS, GCP, OCI etc.
- Ensure compliance with SLAs, SLOs, and SRE best practices for uptime and performance.
- Lead incident response, root cause analysis, and capacity planning efforts.
Qualifications
Your Experience:
- 15+ years of progressive software engineering experience, with at least 5 years leading large, distributed engineering organizations.
- Strong knowledge of cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, or OCI) and cloud-native technologies.
- Experience with Helm, Terraform, Kustomize, ArgoCD, or Flux.
- Strong problem-solving skills and ability to work in a fast-paced, evolving 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.
$252,500.00 - $346,500.00/yrOur 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?: YesSee All 290+ Engineering Director Jobs in Santa Clara
Find roles in Santa Clara that match your experience and apply in just a few clicks.
Find Engineering Director JobsEngineering Director Job Market in Santa Clara
Who's Hiring
- NVIDIA44
- Atomic Machines29
- Applied Materials29
- Palo Alto Networks29
- SiTime Corporation29
Top Industries Hiring
- Technology & Software
- Electronics & Hardware
Engineering Director Jobs in Santa Clara: Frequently Asked Questions
How do I get a engineering director job in Santa Clara?
Focus on Santa Clara's dominant sectors: semiconductor design, networking hardware, and enterprise cloud infrastructure. The companies concentrated along the Central Expressway corridor and near Great America Parkway hire heavily at the director level. Candidates who can show direct experience managing large engineering orgs, driving hardware or platform roadmaps, and partnering with product and operations leadership stand out most in this market.
Which companies hire engineering directors in Santa Clara?
Employers hiring engineering directors in Santa Clara right now include NVIDIA, Atomic Machines, and Applied Materials, based on current listings on Migrate Mate as of October 2026. Santa Clara's employer base skews toward established semiconductor giants, networking infrastructure firms, and large-scale cloud platform companies, many of which maintain their global headquarters or primary engineering campuses in the city.
Are there remote engineering director jobs in Santa Clara?
Yes, though remote availability is limited for this role since engineering directors typically need to be present for team leadership, lab oversight, and cross-functional collaboration. About 67% of engineering director openings tied to Santa Clara are remote or hybrid as of October 2026, with hybrid arrangements more common at enterprise software and cloud infrastructure companies than at hardware-focused or semiconductor firms.
How can I get a engineering director job in Santa Clara with little or no experience?
The most realistic path in Santa Clara is moving into a senior engineering manager or principal engineer role at one of the city's mid-size semiconductor or networking companies, then building toward director-level scope. Companies in the Great America Parkway corridor and the Agnew area often promote from within. Demonstrating ownership of a product line, a platform migration, or a significant headcount build is what accelerates that transition locally.
Which industries hire the most engineering directors in Santa Clara?
Most engineering director openings in Santa Clara sit in Technology & Software and Electronics & Hardware, per current listings on Migrate Mate as of October 2026. Santa Clara's position as a global center for chip design, enterprise networking, and cloud hardware means these sectors generate a disproportionate share of director-level engineering demand compared to most other U.S. cities.
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