Principal Engineer

F5 Networks, Inc.; San Jose (CA); Hybrid; USD 226,000 - 338,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid work model

Benefits package (as per company)

Job summary

F5 Networks, Inc. is seeking a Principal Engineer to lead the design and scaling of its AI Security and Delivery Platform across multi-cloud and Kubernetes-native infrastructures.

You will own end-to-end component design and data/control plane efficiency, driving advanced AI security and traffic delivery controls while mentoring senior engineers and collaborating with product teams.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or equivalent experience.
• 12+ years of software engineering experience in high-performance networking, API gateway, application delivery, distributed control plane, or cloud security infrastructure.
• Strong hands-on programming in Go, C, or Rust.
• Experience with Kubernetes internals, container orchestration, and multi-cloud networking (AWS, Azure, GCP).
• Understanding of AI software lifecycle, modern AI platforms, traffic optimization, and enterprise security protocols.
• Proven ability to drive complex technical projects from concept to production deployment.

Responsibilities

• Design, code, and deploy resilient, scalable features for enterprise AI control planes and data planes in Go, C, and Rust.
• Implement advanced security controls, semantic policy enforcement, rate limiting, and observability for high-throughput AI workloads.
• Build Kubernetes-native operators, CRDs, and high-performance proxy plugins bridging multi-cloud and on-prem environments.
• Mentor senior and staff engineers, perform architectural reviews, and enforce engineering standards.
• Collaborate with product management and platform architects to refine specifications and deliver.

Skills

Go programming

C programming

Rust programming

Distributed systems

Leadership

Mentorship

Education

Bachelor's or Master's in Computer Science/Engineering or equivalent experience

Tools

Kubernetes

CRDs (Custom Resource Definitions)

Kubernetes operators

Proxy plugins

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.

About the Role

As a Principal Engineer at F5, you will play a hands-on technical leadership role in building and scaling F5’s AI Security and Delivery Platform. You will owner end-to-end component design, data plane efficiency, control plane integrations, and advanced AI security and traffic delivery controls across multi-cloud and Kubernetes-native infrastructures.

Key Responsibilities

• System Design & Implementation: Design, code, and deploy resilient, scalable features for enterprise AI control planes and data planes utilizing Go, C, and Rust.
• AI Protection & Traffic Delivery: Implement advanced security controls, semantic policy enforcement, rate limiting, load distribution, and observability mechanisms tailored for high-throughput AI workloads with LLM pipelines.
• Kubernetes & Cloud Infrastructure: Build Kubernetes-native operators, custom resource definitions (CRDs), and high-performance proxy plugins that seamlessly bridge multi-cloud and on-premises environments.
• Technical Mentorship: Mentor senior and staff engineers, conduct architectural reviews, drive code quality standards, and enforce engineering best practie across teams.
• Collaboration: Work closely with product management and platform architects to refine technical specifications and deliver.

Minimum Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, or equivalent experience.
• 12+ years of software engineering experience building high-performance networking, API gateway, application delivery, distributed control plane, or cloud security infrastructure software.
• Strong hands-on programming skills in Go, C, or Rust.
• Demonstrated experience with Kubernetes internals, container orchestration, and multi-cloud networking primitives (AWS, Azure, GCP, Private Cloud).
• Solid understanding of the AI Software Development Lifecycle, modern AI application platforms, traffic optimization, and enterprise security protocols.
• Proven ability to drive complex technical projects from concept to production deployment.

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: $225,600.00 - $338,400.00 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.

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 [e-mail].

Hybrid: Employees within 30 commutable miles of an F5 office are required to work from the office a minimum of 30 business days per quarter.

Remote: Primarily work from designated home location but can come into an F5 office to work or travel to an offsite location as needed.

Together, we're building a better digital world. Founded in 1996, F5 is a global leader in application delivery and security. Our premier platform helps customers secure and deliver every app, API, and piece of infrastructure across all environments. Backed by over three decades of expertise and 553 patents, our solutions protect against threats while ensuring fast, reliable digital experiences. With over 6,400 employees, we serve more than 23,000 customers in over 170 countries. To continue this work, we need people like you—the best minds in the industry. We're committed to a unique, human-first culture that encourages authenticity, prioritizes diversity and inclusion, and fosters the growth and success of our employees.