Senior UX Mixed Method Researcher (NetSec)

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 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.

Your Career

At Palo Alto Networks, our mission is to protect critical infrastructure from cyberattacks. As part of our Network Security (NetSec) Platform team, you'll play a key role in shaping intuitive, scalable user experiences for complex enterprise environments. You’ll drive impact by uncovering deep user insights through both qualitative and quantitative research and by helping teams across the company leverage those insights to make confident, user-centered decisions. 

Your Impact

As a UX Mixed-Methods Researcher, you’ll use both qualitative and quantitative approaches to untangle complex user problems across a large-scale enterprise platform. You’ll lead research that clarifies workflows, informs navigation and AI-powered experiences, and gives designers, PMs, and executives the evidence they need to make confident decisions. You’ll also help scale usability capabilities across teams and strengthen research operations so continuous discovery becomes a fully supported, repeatable practice.

This is an in-person role based in our Santa Clara office, with a minimum requirement of three days per week on site.

What You’ll Be Doing

• Lead research by diving into interviews, usability sessions, surveys, telemetry, and product data to uncover how real users navigate complex, high-stakes security workflows.
   
• Work directly with design and product, facilitating alignment sessions, translating research into clear decisions, and becoming the person teams rely on when they need user truth, clarity, and direction—fast.
   
• Blend qual and quant seamlessly, pairing behavioral data with human stories to create crisp, insight-driven guidance that helps teams cut through ambiguity and make confident product decisions.
   
• Level up the entire org’s usability muscles by building practical toolkits, running hands-on training, and jumping in alongside designers and PMs to help shape, run, and interpret fast, lightweight tests.
   
• Shape research infrastructure through action, improving recruiting, refining screeners, building repeatable processes, and creating ways to connect insights across studies, feedback channels, and customer conversations.

Your Experience 

• 4–6+ years of UX research experience, with hands-on expertise in both qualitative and quantitative methods.
   

• Proven success navigating complex enterprise environments and leading research that informs product decisions.
   

• Strong ability to translate insights into clear, actionable guidance for a range of audiences, from designers and PMs to SVPs and cross-functional leaders.
   

• Experience designing research programs or toolkits that scale usability testing across non-researchers without sacrificing rigor or user empathy.
   

• Familiarity with research operations, including participant recruitment workflows and repository strategies that enable pattern recognition across feedback channels.
   

• A collaborative, thoughtful approach, comfortable operating autonomously while also mentoring and enabling others not familiar with research.

The Team

At Palo Alto Networks, you’ll have the opportunity to tackle some of the most complex and high-stakes problems in tech today. As part of our product design team, you’ll be at the forefront of shaping how the world understands and navigates cybersecurity. We’re not just solving UX challenges—we’re building trust, protecting data, and securing critical infrastructure around the globe. If you're passionate about human-centered research, and energized by working in a fast-paced, mission-driven environment, this is your chance to make an impact at scale.

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 $151000 - $180000/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  [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.