Network Architect

Title: Network Architect
Location: Charlotte, NC (Onsite)
Employment Type: W2 only (no C2C)

• F5 BIG-IP LTM and GTM/DNS
• F5
  
  Certifications:
  
  F5-CTS LTM/GTM

We are seeking a highly experienced F5 Architect to design, implement, and govern enterprise-scale application delivery and global traffic management solutions. The candidate will own the end-to-end architecture for F5 LTM and GTM (DNS) platforms, driving high availability, security, and performance for mission-critical applications across on-prem, hybrid, and multi-cloud environments.

• Architect, design, and implement F5 BIG-IP LTM solutions including virtual servers, pools, iRules, iApps, SSL offloading, and traffic policies.
• Design and manage F5 GTM/DNS solutions for global load balancing, disaster recovery, and multi-site failover strategies.
• Define standards, reference architectures, and best practices for load balancing, application delivery, and DNS across the enterprise.
• Lead capacity planning, high availability (HA) design, and disaster recovery (DR) strategy for F5 platforms.
• Collaborate with network, security, and application teams to integrate F5 solutions with WAF, APM, and ASM modules and third-party security tools.
• Own the technical roadmap for F5 infrastructure lifecycle management including upgrades and migrations (e.g., BIG-IP versions, TMOS upgrades) and cloud migrations (AWS/Azure/GCP F5 deployments, BIG-IP VE).
• Automate F5 configuration and deployment using Ansible, Terraform, iControl REST API, or similar tools.
• Provide L3/L4 technical leadership and mentorship to network engineering teams; act as an escalation point for complex incidents.
• Conduct architecture reviews, risk assessments, and performance tuning for LTM/GTM environments.
• Develop and maintain documentation: HLD/LLD, runbooks, DR plans, and standard operating procedures.
• Ensure compliance with security policies, certificate management, and regulatory requirements (PCI-DSS, SOC 2, etc.).
• Partner with vendors (F5 support, TAM) for roadmap alignment, licensing, and issue escalation.

• 10+ years in network engineering/architecture, with 5+ years specifically on F5 BIG-IP LTM and GTM/DNS.
• Deep expertise in F5 BIG-IP modules (LTM, GTM/DNS) and working knowledge of ASM, APM, and AFM.
• Strong understanding of TCP/IP, DNS, SSL/TLS, HTTP/HTTPS, load balancing algorithms, and iRules (TCL scripting).
• Hands-on experience with BIG-IP VE deployments in cloud environments (AWS, Azure, GCP).
• Experience with F5 automation and orchestration:
  Ansible, Terraform, iControl REST/SOAP API, Python scripting.
• Solid grasp of enterprise network architecture: routing, switching, firewalls, VPNs, and data center design.
• Experience designing HA/DR architectures across multiple data centers and regions.
• Strong troubleshooting skills using tcpdump, Wireshark, qkview analysis, and F5 iHealth.
• Excellent stakeholder management, documentation, and communication skills.

• F5
  
  Certifications:
  
  F5-CTS LTM/GTM, F5 Certified Solution Expert (F5-CSE), or F5 Certified Architect.
• Experience with container/microservices load balancing:
  Kubernetes Ingress, NGINX, Container Ingress Services (CIS).
• Familiarity with SDN/NFV concepts and multi-cloud networking (Aviatrix, Cisco ACI, etc.).
• Experience with CI/CD pipelines and infrastructure-as-code practices.
• ITIL awareness for change, incident, and problem management processes.