Principal Account Executive - BIG-IP Next for Kubernetes (BNK)

F5; United States; On-site; USD 154,000 - 230,000; Full time

Job summary

F5 is seeking a Principal Account Executive, BNK, to drive new logo acquisition and expansion across Neoclouds, AI-Native Platforms, and Hyperscalers. You will partner with a Solutions Architect to close complex, high-value AI infrastructure deals that span strategic accounts.

You’ll engage CIOs/CTOs and cloud leaders, lead multi-year capacity agreements, and build business cases that demonstrate ROI and value. The compensation reflects base pay and incentive opportunities.

Qualifications

• 10+ years enterprise technology sales targeting Hyperscalers, Cloud Providers, or AI platforms.
• Proven track record of exceeding quota and managing six- to seven-figure enterprise deals.
• Experience selling complex software, cloud, bare-metal infrastructure, networking, or platform engineering solutions.
• Executive presence with the ability to communicate business value to senior leaders.

Responsibilities

• Own the Strategic AI Territory: drive new logo acquisition and expansion with Neoclouds, AI-Native Platforms, Sovereign AI clouds, and Hyperscalers.
• Lead BNK sales, partnering with a Solutions Architect to build and execute strategic account plans.
• Engage CIOs/CTOs and Cloud Infrastructure leaders, focusing on business drivers like Time-to-Compute and Sovereign AI Isolation.
• Position BNK at the AI edge and manage complex, multi-year capacity agreements.
• Forecast and manage pipeline with accuracy to ensure 3-4x qualified coverage.

Skills

Executive presence

C-level engagement

Strategic selling

Forecasting

Collaboration with SE

Tools

Kubernetes

AI infrastructure

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.

Principal Account Executive, BNK (BIG-IP Next for Kubernetes)

F5 is transforming how organizations deliver, secure, and operate modern applications. BIG-IP Next for Kubernetes (BNK) is F5's cloud-native platform for Kubernetes networking, application delivery, and edge security. We are building a specialized sales team to target the most explosive-growth sector in technology: Neoclouds, AI-Native Platforms, Hyperscalers, and AI Foundationals.

The Principal Account Executive, BNK, is a quota-carrying, hunter-focused role responsible for driving new logo acquisition and expansion across these strategic accounts. Partnering completely in lockstep with a Solutions Architect, you will sell complex, high-value AI infrastructure solutions to senior technology leaders (CTOs, VP of Infrastructure), building long-term partnerships that drive growth.

What You’ll Do:

• Own the Strategic AI Territory: Drive new logo acquisition and expansion within a targeted portfolio of Neoclouds, AI-Native Platforms, Sovereign AI clouds, and Hyperscalers.
• Lead the Sales Team: Partner seamlessly with a BNK Solutions Architect to build and execute strategic account plans, operating as a unified commercial and technical front.
• Engage the C-Suite: Pitch directly to CIOs, CTOs, Chief Architects, and Cloud Infrastructure leaders, focusing on critical business drivers like "Time-to-Compute," "Energy Margin Defense," and "Sovereign AI Isolation."
• Position BNK at the AI Edge: Position BNK as the critical North-South infrastructure layer for Kubernetes, optimizing GPU utilization and delivering security on NVIDIA BlueField DPUs.
• Drive ROI-Based Sales Cycles: Develop comprehensive business cases that quantify the value of host CPU reclamation, thermal smoothing, and rapid deployment velocity.
• Manage Complex Deal Execution: Lead multi-stakeholder sales cycles, contract negotiations, and massive multi-year capacity agreements.
• Forecast & Pipeline Rigor: Maintain accurate forecasting, pipeline management, and CRM discipline to ensure 3-4x qualified pipeline coverage.

Required Qualifications:

• 10+ years of successful enterprise technology sales experience, specifically targeting Hyperscalers, Cloud Providers, or major AI/Infrastructure platforms.
• Proven track record of exceeding quota, winning new business, and managing six- and seven-figure enterprise agreements.
• Deep experience selling complex software, cloud, bare-metal infrastructure, networking, or platform engineering solutions.
• Strong understanding of the AI ecosystem, cloud-native architectures (Kubernetes), and high-performance networking economics.
• Proven ability to thrive in a high-growth, hyper-competitive emerging technology landscape.
• Executive presence with the ability to communicate profound business value (e.g., Megawatt scaling, infrastructure TCO) to senior leaders.
• Exceptional consultative selling, discovery, and account planning skills.
• Skilled at orchestrating complex sales motions across highly technical infrastructure teams and C-level executives.
• Fierce collaboration skills, particularly in maximizing the impact of your Solutions Architect partner.
• Disciplined approach to forecasting and territory planning.

Why F5?

You’ll help the world’s most ambitious Neoclouds and Hyperscalers build the AI Factories of the future. You will work with cutting-edge technologies across Kubernetes, NVIDIA hardware, AI infrastructure, and extreme-throughput networking, fundamentally changing how AI capacity is delivered to the market.

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: $153,600.00 - $230,400.00

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.

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 [e-mail].