Senior Manager, Network Engineering

At F5, we strive to bring a better digital world to life. Our teams empower organizations across the globe to create, secure, and run applications that enhance how we experience our evolving digital world. We are passionate about cybersecurity, from protecting consumers from fraud to enabling companies to focus on innovation.

Everything we do centers around people. That means we obsess over how to make the lives of our customers, and their customers, better. And it means we prioritize a diverse F5 community where each individual can thrive.

Position Summary

Play a pivotal role in expanding our Network Engineering capabilities and be central to the continued evolution of F5's corporate network. This is a technical people-management role that requires a strong sense of ownership. Validate requirements with internal consumers, prioritize the backlog, and ensure high-quality delivery through clear standards, governance, and operational excellence. Work closely with architects and leadership to ensure high quality execution in a highly visible space.

Success is achieved through leadership, coaching, alignment, and accountability.

Core Accountabilities

* Technical Leadership:
Develop and enforce best practices across data center, on-premise, and edge network infrastructures with a core focus on security and automation.

* Edge Networking and Firewalls:
Deliver scalable edge networking solutions and manage firewall configurations to ensure secure and efficient data traffic across environments.

* F5 on F5:
Understand and use F5 technologies where appropriate within the corporate ecosystem. Provide feedback to product teams and help improve the F5 product suite.

* Team Management and Servant Leadership:
Build, develop, and retain a high-performing team; set expectations, coaching, performance management, and career paths.

* Zero-Trust Network Architecture:
Implement network segmentation and ZTNA solutions using industry-leading technologies, ensuring robust user and device authentication across the network ecosystem.

* Stakeholder Engagement:
Serve as the bridge between technical and business units, help stakeholders understand priorities, timelines, and what's been delivered.

Key Responsibilities

Network Optimization and Security Strategy

* Standardize designs and operating patterns for secure connectivity, network redundancy, traffic optimization, and edge delivery.

* Enforce a "secure-by-default" approach to network configurations, aligning with modern security frameworks and compliance standards.

* Develop robust tooling and processes for vulnerability response and remediation across the network landscape and assets.

Network Technology Expertise

* Lead the implementation and management of firewalls, F5 products, and future SASE solutions with a focus on ZTNA.

* Conduct regular reviews of network security policies and ensure consistent alignment with organizational security goals.

* Help define and own the implementation of standards and guardrails for secure remote access and traffic filtering across diverse environments.

Automation and Observability

* Champion the automation of network configurations and security protocols using modern practices, including Infrastructure as Code (IaC).

* Establish reliable observability mechanisms to monitor and respond to network behavior and anomalies.

People Leadership and Backlog Ownership

* Build and manage a specialized team of engineers skilled in network automation, security, and edge environments.

* Own and maintain the backlog for network engineering projects, balancing technical debt remediation, risk reduction, service reliability work, and new capability development.

* Lead agile initiatives to ensure consistent velocity and predictable delivery milestones. Support on-call activities and KTLO and tech debt management as part of team processes.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

* Partner with architecture, network security, and operations teams to align all networking solutions with overarching organizational standards and strategic goals.

* Facilitate effective communication across teams to ensure seamless adoption of network engineering practices and solutions.

Required Qualifications

* +10 years experience as a network engineer and 5+ years experience in a leadership role.

* Proven experience in leading technical teams, managing strategic initiatives, and developing talent in network engineering fields.

* Proficient with agile practices with a proven track record of implementing and maintaining agile practices in a network engineering environment.

* Expertise in foundational network technologies, including Palo Alto firewalls, SASE/ZTNA solutions such as Netskope and Zscaler, and edge networking.

* Hands-on experience with network automation frameworks and tools and proficiency with IaC practices.

* Strong skills in stakeholder engagement and backlog ownership, with the ability to balance long-term goals and immediate delivery needs.

Preferred Qualifications

* Expertise with F5 products, especially…