Sr. Manager, Global Certifications (Federal)

Sr. Manager, Global Certifications (Federal)

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.

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.

As the Sr. Manager, Global Certifications (Federal), you will play a pivotal role in opening and maintaining critical public sector markets for our world-class products. Government certifications (FedRAMP, DoD IL, etc.) are high-stakes, high-value assets that enable our technology to protect the nation's most sensitive data.

In this strategic leadership role, you will drive the government certification roadmap, lead a high-performing team of Certification Product Managers, and serve as the bridge between federal compliance requirements and our engineering innovation. You will drive a compliance strategy that serves as a competitive advantage.

Your impact will include :

Strategic Leadership & Roadmap : define and execute a multi-year government certifications roadmap (FedRAMP, DoD IL5, etc.) with clear, measurable milestones that align with the company's diverse product portfolio and sales goals.

Team Management : Build, mentor, and maintain a high-performing team of Certification Product Managers; foster a culture of technical depth, operational efficiency, and proactive risk management.

Execution & Process Maturity : Own the end-to-end certification lifecycle. Establish and mature key operational processesincluding intake, audit management, artifact collection, and continuous monitoringto improve team efficiency and scalability.

Cross-Functional Influence : Guide Product and Engineering teams through complex certification requirements (NIST 800-53, architecture, crypto modules), translating government controls into actionable engineering specifications.

Executive Stakeholder Management : Effectively present certification status, risks, and solution options to senior leadership. Resolve compliance roadblocks by negotiating risk acceptance with internal leadership and external stakeholders.

External Relations : Serve as the primary point of contact for external auditors (3PAOs) and government accreditors (FedRAMP PMO, DISA). Deeply understand the government ecosystem to anticipate regulatory changes and their business impact.

Technical bridging : possess the technical aptitude to understand complex cloud architectures (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS) and shared responsibility models, acting as a translator between highly technical security teams and business-focused Sales / GTM teams.

Your experience will include :

Gov / Federal Expertise : 8+ years of total experience in Compliance / GRC, with at least 5+ years specifically leading government certification programs (FedRAMP, DoD SRG, Common Criteria, etc.).

Framework Mastery : Deep, expert-level understanding of the NIST Risk Management Framework (RMF) and NIST SP 800-53; ability to map these controls to specific product features and modern cloud architectures.

Leadership : Proven experience managing people and leading high-visibility projects; ability to coach team members on complex deliverables like System Security Plans (SSPs) and POA&M management.

Technical Fluency : Strong familiarity with Cloud Service Provider (CSP) infrastructure models and modern application architectures (containers, microservices). Experience with GRC platforms used to automate evidence collection is a plus.

Communication : Exceptional written and verbal communication skills. You must be able to explain "why" a control matters to an engineer and "how" a certification impacts revenue to a sales VP.

Education & Certifications : BS degree in a technical or business field required (MS preferred). Industry certifications such as CISSP, CISM, or CISA are highly desired.