Job Description

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.

The Role

The Infrastructure Architectis responsible fordesigning,testingand documenting the fundamentalinfrastructurebuild patterns upon whichtheF5 SaaSbusinessoperates They act as liaisons to internal stakeholders, such as product management,engineering,finance,and procurement. Externally, they collaborate with vendorsregardingproduct roadmaps and emerging hardware and software requirements, whileprovidingstrategic guidance to supplier executives on industry trends and product strategies that deliver substantive value to F5 and the broader sector.TheInfrastructureArchitectwill alsobe responsibleformaintainingexisting high-level relationships with F5 customers and suppliers.

F5Infrastructure Architects are recognized experts in their field – known by name across industry bodies and in corporate boardrooms. Their artifactsresideinsome oftoday's most criticaland well-known globalinfrastructure deployments.

They have lived through operating infrastructure at scale, and their architectural work productincorporates those experiences, thoroughly exploring andsolvingforscale,availability, operability, simplicity,and tooling.Their designs, documents,andplatformselections directlyimpactthe velocity and direction of F5’s SaaSbusinessandinfluence the work of thousands of people.

They are mentors, and their broad insight is routinely sought after by members of infrastructure engineering, as well as F5 executives, up to and including the CEO.Their communication style is fungible, and they are as comfortable in a boardroom as they are in front of an engineering whiteboard.

Theyhave a heavy executionbiasandare keenly aware that an architecture ivory tower is a recipe for failure. Theyremainengaged with the more operational areas of thecompanyandare not just open tonewideasbutalsothrive on exploringthoseideasand collaboratingwith otherstomake them real

Theyaredriven, highly empathetic, fearlessly kind, and believe in the concept of exhibiting andsolicitingpersonal authenticity without compromise.Theyneversettle for lesson culture,peopleor valuesTheyare radicallytransparentandalways tell the truthto any level of the organization.

Responsibilities

• Design, test, and document thebaselinebuildpatterns underpinning F5’s entire SaaS business

• Produce full-scope, tested artifacts thatprovablyenable 99.99% platform availability,

• Act as an escalation point and mentor for the engineering teams, ensuring that questions about thesolutionsyou produce are addressed quickly and thoroughly

• Ensure that yoursolutionartifacts are comprehensive, including datacenter footprint, racks, cabling, hardware selection, automation, documentation,runlists, SKUs, configurations, and telemetry

• Your designs span substrates whenwarranted, and your capabilities are just as exceptional in 3rdparty substrates as they are in first party

• Deliver designs thatcontainclear KPIs andmeasurementstrategies

• Your designs clearlyincorporate COGS impact and financial inflection points, helping F5 understand the costs of your proposed architecture over time

• You understand that not everything is a long-term deliverable. Sometimes,you’llneed to pivot from a next-generation architectural deliverable to a near-term technical debt retirement ask

• Act as an advocate for infrastructureengineering within F5, ensuring that the org’s requirements are well-understood by partner teams

• Act as F5’s infrastructure expert and advocate within the broader industry. Your credibility in the infrastructure architecture space is unquestioned

• Youoperatewith an extreme level of independence, making good prioritization decisions based on what you learn from your peers

• You understand the criticality of relationships, and build them early,upand down the organizational ladder

• Yourrequirementsgathering processes are very comprehensive, touching not just the technical areas of thecompany

• Yourecognizethat successisn'tjust about creatingan architecture,but alsoseeingyour designsuccessfullydeployedandoperatedasdesigned

BeF5 Requirements

• Be kind.

• You have advanced skills in assessing your audience, allowing you to tailor your questions, responses, and language appropriately for any setting.

• Youtake ownership of problems and drive them through to resolution.

• You build strong relationships with both internal and external customers by communicating transparently and clearly,maintainingcomposure under pressure, and choosing language that is articulate, empathetic, and respectful.

• You are atalentmagnet. People gravitate to F5 becauseyou’rehere.

• You are highly transparent and have a bias toward over-communication, understanding that the architecture process is iterative and collaborative, not a black box.

• You understand thatlarge portionsof F5 are yourcustomerand ensure that their needs are broadly met by the patterns you produce and solutions you select.

• F5’s customers see you as anally, andseek your input about how they should solve their own complex engineering challenges.

• Your peers come to you with challenges (personal or professional) without fear of judgment or reprisal. They view you as an ally and advocate.

TechnicalRequirements

• You pivot and re-prioritize with grace.

• Yourproducts areat theoptimalintersection of business velocity and safety,demonstrablyable to provide 99.99% availability.

• You weave security into everyartifact, never sacrificing customer safety for velocity.

• Youhave12+ years ofsignificant,progressiveconsumerwebscaleor multi-national carriersubstrateinfrastructureengineeringexperience.

• You have designedand fieldedinfrastructures for the largest and most criticalwebscale, financial,or carrier deployments on earth.

• Youcanconfidentlyand appropriatelymessage status and plans internally and externally.

• You measure everythingand act on data.

• Not only do you ensure thatarchitectureisnotan ivory tower, but you also actively prevent ivorytowers

• You understand that the availability and security of theF5 SaaSplatform is paramount, and when needed, you enthusiastically jump in to help.

• The quality of your written English languageskills isnovel-worthyYour audience will rangefrom highly technical engineering staff,to the CEO of the companyYour spoken and written language skills are equally exceptional in both forums.

• Youarebiasedtoward automation as a problem remediation vector and as a velocity enabler

• Youobtainsupport and consensususingdata and experience, not opinion

• Your artifacts are not limited to F5 infrastructure; instead, theytake into accountthe wider internet landscape, considering factors such as connectivity strategies, regulatory changes, political conditions, disasterrecoveryand high availability, as well as supply chains. These artifactsanticipatefuture developments and offer clear, well-reasoned recommendations.

• Your knowledge of engineering andoperationalneedsis extremely nuancedand predictive,deliveringwhatyourpartnersacrossthe company needtomake F5anditscustomerssuccessful

• You know who to call in thebroaderindustry when there is a problem outside of our control

• You understand the criticality of security engineering and compliance, and partner closely with F5’s CISO organization to ensure thatyour work products prioritize customer security.

The Job Description is intended to be a general representation of the responsibilities and requirements of the job. However, the description may not be all-inclusive, and responsibilities and requirements are subject to change.

The annual base pay for this position is: $246,400.00 - $369,600.00

F5 maintains broad salary ranges for its roles in order to account for variations in knowledge, skills, experience, geographic locations, and market conditions, as well as to reflect F5’s differing products, industries, and lines of business. The pay range referenced is as of the time of the job posting and is subject to change.

You may also be offered incentive compensation, bonus, restricted stock units, and benefits. More details about F5’s benefits can be found at the following link: https://www.f5.com/company/careers/benefits F5 reserves the right to change or terminate any benefit plan without notice.

Please note that F5 only contacts candidates through F5 email address (ending with @f5.com) or auto email notification from Workday (ending with f5.com or @myworkday.com)

Equal Employment Opportunity

It is the policy of F5 to provide equal employment opportunities to all employees and employment applicants without regard to unlawful considerations of race, religion, color, national origin, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, sensory, physical, or mental disability, marital status, veteran or military status, genetic information, or any other classification protected by applicable local, state, or federal laws. This policy applies to all aspects of employment, including, but not limited to, hiring, job assignment, compensation, promotion, benefits, training, discipline, and termination. F5 offers a variety of reasonable accommodations for candidates Requesting an accommodation is completely voluntary. F5 will assess the need for accommodations in the application process separately from those that may be needed to perform the job. Request by contacting accommodations@f5.com