Director - Strategy and Operations

F5; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

F5 is seeking a Director of Strategy Planning and Business Operations to translate operational strategy into integrated planning and execution across Product and Engineering Operations. The role drives the management system that connects strategy, investments, and performance with a clear operating narrative.

You will partner with Product Lifecycle Program Managers, TPMs, Finance, Sales, and Executive Leadership to ensure portfolio decisions and roadmaps are aligned with business outcomes,

Qualifications

• Requires strong ability to translate strategy into integrated planning and operational narratives.
• Experience coordinating across Product, Engineering, and Finance organizations.
• Proven track record in leading organizational change and executive communications.

Responsibilities

• Lead the integrated planning discipline and align long-range strategy with quarterly plans.
• Oversee executive communications, scorecards, and governance—driving decision readiness.
• Partner with Product Ops, Engineering, Sales, and Finance to ensure portfolio and investment alignment.

Skills

Integrated planning

Executive communications

Operations leadership

Cross-functional collaboration

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.

Role Summary

The Director of Strategy Planning and Business Operations is responsible for translating operational strategy into integrated planning, organizational alignment, executive visibility, and cross-functional execution.

The function leads the Product and Engineering management system and serves as the strategic planning, business operations, communications, and organizational management partner across Product Operations and Engineering Operations. It connects long-range strategy, annual and quarterly plans, Opex and workforce assumptions, portfolio investments, performance evidence, decisions, risks, and actions so strategic priorities, product direction, operational progress, and business outcomes are consistently understood, adopted, and acted upon throughout the organization. The role connects executive strategy with organizational execution through clear operating mechanisms and actionable communications that improve alignment, accelerate adoption, and strengthen cross-functional execution across the enterprise.

The Director partners closely with Product Lifecycle Program Managers, Technical Program Managers, Product Management, Engineering Leadership, Strategic Analytics and Insights, Finance, Business Process and Value Delivery, Sales, Channels, Customer Success, and Executive Leadership to connect planning, portfolio and investment choices, roadmap priorities, NPI readiness, organizational transformation, operational health, and business performance through one consistent management system and operating narrative.

Partner Boundaries

This role complements existing Investor Relations, Executive Communications, Product Marketing, Finance, Product Chief of Staff, and functional operations organizations rather than duplicating their responsibilities. Investor Relations retains shareholder, financial, and investor communications. Product Marketing owns external product positioning, messaging, launch campaigns, and go-to-market communications. Finance retains financial records, controls, and enterprise financial methodology. Product Chiefs of Staff continue supporting executive agendas, leader voice, office coordination, and leadership execution. Product, Engineering, and other functional leaders retain product strategy, roadmap, technical delivery, financial, commercial, people, and business outcome decisions. The Director owns the integrated planning and operating mechanisms, portfolio decision readiness, decision records and action closure, and the operational narrative connecting strategy, investment, execution, product delivery, business performance, and organizational transformation.

Core Capabilities

• Strategy, integrated planning, and operational communications: develop and continuously evolve the integrated planning discipline and operational narrative that connect long-range strategy, annual and quarterly plans, Opex and workforce assumptions, portfolio priorities, business objectives, transformation initiatives, and organizational progress across Product Operations and Engineering Operations
• Executive communications and Business Operations leadership: lead the integrated operating calendar, QBR design, review readiness, executive decision support, decision records, escalation, and action closure. Develop strategic planning updates, executive scorecards, executive operating reviews, selected Board-level operational readouts, organizational announcements, and transformation communications that support informed tradeoffs and timely decision-making.
• Product and Engineering operational communications: partner with PLPMs and TPMs to communicate product roadmap evolution, NPI readiness, program milestones, delivery progress, product lifecycle decisions, cross-functional dependencies, operational risks, and executive decisions.
• Sales and Channel engagement: partner with Product Operations, Product Management, Sales, Channel organizations, Customer Success, and Product Marketing to ensure strategic product investments, roadmap direction, NPI planning, and launch readiness are communicated early and consistently across commercial organizations.
• Organizational change and adoption: lead communications supporting new operating processes, governance changes, AI adoption, workflow modernization, organizational transformation, new operating rhythms, and cross-functional initiatives.
• Operational performance storytelling: partner with Strategic Analytics and Insights to translate governed operational metrics, executive scorecards, business performance, transformation progress, and organizational outcomes into meaningful executive narratives. Strategic Analytics and Insights owns metric definitions, data quality, analysis, dashboards, and scorecard evidence; this role owns the management questions, interpretation, decision linkage, narrative, and follow-through.

Portfolio and Investment Governance

Set intake, evidence, business-case, tradeoff, and decision-traceability standards for portfolio and investment reviews. Accountable executives retain investment approval and functional outcome ownership.

Team Leadership and Management System Improvement

Lead and develop a team with capabilities in operating rhythm, integrated planning and performance, portfolio and investment governance, executive communications, and change adoption. Continuously improve the management system, standardize repeatable work, and use data and automation to reduce manual coordination after processes and evidence requirements are clear.

Role Vision

The Director serves as the strategy, planning, business operations, and organizational storytelling leader for Product and Engineering Operations. Rather than owning product strategy, engineering execution, functional metrics, financial records, or corporate communications, the leader connects strategy with investment, execution, performance, and realized value by ensuring the organization understands where it is going, why it matters, which decisions and actions are required, how progress is measured, and what success looks like.

The role strengthens organizational alignment, improves decision readiness and accountability, accelerates change adoption, improves executive visibility, and builds confidence across Product, Engineering, Finance, Sales, Channels, Customer Success, and Executive Leadership through an integrated management system and consistent operational narrative.

Benefits and Success Outcomes

• Create one integrated management cadence and consistent operational narrative across Product Operations, Engineering Operations, Finance, Sales, Channels, and Executive Leadership, ensuring strategic priorities, investment choices, decisions, and actions are understood and traceable.
• Accelerate organizational alignment by translating strategy, operational priorities, and business decisions into clear communications that enable faster execution and reduce organizational ambiguity.
• Improve Sales and Channel readiness through earlier visibility into roadmap direction, NPI planning, product lifecycle decisions, and launch readiness.
• Strengthen executive decision-making by combining validated operational metrics, program health, portfolio and investment evidence, and business performance into concise executive narratives highlighting impact, risks, tradeoffs, recommendations, accountable owners, and required actions.
• Increase adoption of new operating models, governance processes, AI capabilities, and workflow improvements by integrating structured communications, training, stakeholder engagement, and reinforcement into transformation initiatives.
• Improve cross-functional coordination by ensuring Product Management, Engineering, Business Operations, Finance, Customer Success, Marketing, Sales, and Channels operate from the same priorities, timelines, and commitments.
• Elevate organizational transparency by regularly communicating progress against operational objectives, strategic initiatives, executive priorities, and transformation milestones.
• Reinforce accountability by celebrating measurable successes, communicating lessons learned, highlighting operational improvements, and recognizing teams demonstrating the behaviors required to build a high-performing Product and Engineering organization.

Risks and Mitigations

<