
Failure Analysis Engineer
Santa Clara, CAJob$85–138K/yrSeen todaySeen in employer's feed today
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At a glance
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Job overview
Palo Alto Networks seeks a Failure Analysis Engineer for its Technical Operations team. The engineer will collaborate with Hardware Engineering, Software Engineering, and Customer Support to investigate customer product returns, identify hardware root causes, and monitor corrective actions. Most teams work from the office full time, with flexibility when needed. The role requires Linux, networking, programming, hardware debugging, and schematic-reading knowledge.
Skills & qualifications
Skills
Qualifications
Full job description
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
Palo Alto Networks is looking for a Failure Analysis Engineer for the Technical Operations team. This individual will work collaboratively with the HW Engineering, SW Engineering and Customer Support teams. This individual will perform root cause failure analysis on Customer product RMA’s.
Your Impact:
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Drive returned product Failure Analysis, characterizing failures, and escalating issues and trends to the Hardware Quality Engineering team
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Resolve escalated RMA’s by determining the hardware root cause of the failure issue.
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Track and report on RMA failure trends by product and cause to the Tech Op’s team.
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Track the progress of all in-progress RMA’s requiring FA and prioritizing accordingly.
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Monitor process and product corrective actions to ensure changes were in fact effective in improving the product.
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Maintain accurate data entry into SAP and Salesforce database tools.
Qualifications
Required Experience:
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Strong Linux system administration knowledge.
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Network protocol knowledge.
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Outstanding communication skills, both written and verbal.
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A highly collaborative working style is a must.
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Moderate to fluent in programming languages and tools used for the test environment (Linux OS, Tcl, Expect, Shell Script, Python, Network Switch, Terminal Server, and PDU)
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Ability to apply a working knowledge of server/client and IP based networking hardware architecture, both system and component level, to the test environment.
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Demonstrated ability at hardware debugging to component level and fault isolation.
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Knowledge of Salesforce,JIRA and SAP desired.
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Ability to read schematics and view board files (Allegro Viewer and Cadence PCB Design)
Education:
- Bachelors or Associates in Engineering discipline preferred
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 (https://benefits.paloaltonetworks.com/) .
$85,000.00 - $137,500.00/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.
How this job compares
Set against the 3,007 open Hardware Engineer jobs on Olive Jobs, counted November 5, 2026.
- Pay
- This posting$85–138K/yr
- California median$146–213K/yr913 salary ranges
- US median$133–204K/yr2,206 salary ranges
This range's midpoint, $111K, is 37% below the California median midpoint ($178K) — in the lowest quarter of Hardware Engineer salary ranges in California.
- Openings
- Olive Jobs lists 1,213 open Hardware Engineer jobs in California and 3,007 across the US. Under 1% of them nationwide are listed as remote or flexible.
- Experience
- Hardware Engineer postings that state a minimum ask for 5 years of experience at the median; the middle half ask for 3 to 8 years (2,544 postings).
- Education
- 1,752 of the 3,007 open Hardware Engineer jobs (58%) ask for a bachelor's degree or higher.
Counted across the open, public US postings on Olive Jobs on November 5, 2026. Pay medians are the middle values of the low ends and of the high ends of postings that list both ends of a range in the same cadence (a yearly salary or an hourly rate); a range's midpoint is halfway between its ends. Pay and experience figures resting on fewer than 20 postings are left out.
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