Senior Contract Manager

F5 Networks, Inc.; San Jose (CA); Hybrid; USD 140,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

F5 Networks, Inc. is seeking an experienced Senior Contract Manager to own drafting, redlining, and negotiating complex SaaS and cloud technology agreements. You will partner with Sales, Procurement, Finance, and Security to drive efficient contract execution and scalable operations.

The role focuses on enterprise SaaS, cloud transactions, and data privacy, with opportunities to advance contract playbooks and CLM-driven processes in a fast-paced tech environment.

Qualifications

• Must have experience drafting and negotiating high-value commercial agreements.
• Strong knowledge of SaaS, cloud, and data privacy principles (GDPR/CCPA).
• Ability to lead negotiations, balance risk with velocity, and work with cross-functional teams.

Responsibilities

• Draft, review, and redline SaaS MSAs, cloud service agreements, SOWs, DPAs, and NDAs.
• Negotiate terms using approved playbooks and escalation frameworks.
• Review customer/vendor paper for deviations and propose compromise language.
• Escalate risks and collaborate with legal counsel on high-risk issues.
• Explain terms clearly to non-legal stakeholders.

Skills

SaaS contracts

Negotiation

Redlining

Enterprise tech contracts

Cross-functional partner

Contract lifecycle

Drafting & drafting

Data privacy basics

Education

Bachelor’s degree

CPCM/ CCCM certification

Paralegal certificate

Tools

CLM systems

AI-powered review tools

Playbooks

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. Location: San Jose, CA or Seattle, WA (Hybrid)

About the Role We are seeking an experienced, proactive, and commercially astute Senior Contract Manager to join our Legal team. In this high-impact role, you will serve as a primary engine for deal execution and commercial contracting. You will take direct, end-to-end ownership of drafting, redlining, and negotiating complex commercial transactions with a particular focus on SaaS, cloud software, and technology agreements. Cloud and SaaS transactions take priority, with other commercial matters supported as capacity allows. This position operates as a trusted business partner across Sales, Procurement, Finance, Product, Information Security, and Legal leadership. Beyond day-to-day deal velocity, you will help build scalable contracting operations, leveraging contract playbooks, modern Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) tools, and emerging AI-powered legal technology to drive continuous efficiency. If you are a seasoned contracts professional who excels at autonomous negotiations, understands the nuances of enterprise SaaS agreements, and thrives in a fast-paced technology environment, we want to hear from you.

Key Responsibilities

Contract Drafting, Redlining & Negotiation

• Direct Drafting & Redlining: Take hands-on responsibility for drafting, reviewing, and redlining a wide range of commercial agreements, including SaaS master subscription agreements (MSAs), cloud service agreements, Statements of Work (SOWs), data processing agreements (DPAs), nondisclosure agreements (NDAs), professional services agreements, security exhibits, reseller and channel agreements, and vendor/procurement contracts, all with high-level direction and minimal supervision.
• Deal Negotiation: Negotiate routine-to-complex legal and commercial terms, utilizing approved playbooks, fallback positions, and escalation frameworks.
• Third-Party Paper Review: Confidently analyze, redline, and negotiate on customer or vendor paper, identifying departures from company risk tolerance and proposing pragmatic compromise language. On complex enterprise deals, you will own the first-pass review of incoming customer paper against F5's standard positions and approved fallbacks, relying on the supporting attorney for final positions on novel or high-risk issues.
• Pragmatic Risk Escalation: Exercise sound independent judgment to evaluate contractual and business risks, escalating unique IP, compliance, regulatory, or liability issues to legal counsel when appropriate. You will negotiate both independently and alongside supporting attorneys, and will report to the Director, Commercial Legal (Cloud & SaaS).

Cross-Functional Partnership & Deal Execution

• Strategic Business Alignment: Partner closely with Sales, Customer Success, Procurement, Finance, Revenue Operations, and Information Security to ensure smooth deal execution and alignment with business objectives.
• Deal Triage & Pipeline Management: Triage incoming contract requests, manage prioritization against quarter-end deadlines, and ensure rapid, predictable turnaround times.
• Subject Matter Guidance: Act as an accessible, trusted advisor to internal stakeholders on contracting terms, policies, approval workflows, and risk mitigation strategies.

Operational Excellence & Legal Tech Innovation

• Playbooks & Templates: Author, refine, and maintain contracting playbooks, standard templates, fallback clause libraries, and standard operating procedures (SOPs).
• CLM System: Oversee the contract lifecycle within our CLM platform, ensuring data accuracy, automated workflow compliance, and streamlined signature routing.
• Metrics & Analytics: Track key contracting metrics, including contract turnaround times, negotiation cycle lengths, clause exception trends, and volume, to deliver actionable insights for continuous operational improvement.
• AI & Workflow Automation: Identify and champion opportunities to integrate AI-driven contract review, automated workflows, and self-service contracting mechanisms.
• Stakeholder Training: Develop and deliver interactive training sessions and self-serve resources for commercial and business teams to foster contracting literacy across the organization.

Qualifications Required

• Experience Level: 7+ years of dedicated contract management or commercial transactions experience, with a significant portion spent within a fast-paced technology company.
• Core Drafting & Redlining Mastery: Demonstrated, hands-on track record of independently drafting, redlining, and negotiating high-value commercial agreements from inception to execution, including the ability to work F5's standard positions into counterparty paper surgically, without wholesale deletion of the counterparty's sections.
• SaaS & Cloud Expertise: In-depth knowledge of enterprise SaaS business models, licensing mechanics, service level agreements (SLAs), and working knowledge of data security schedules and data privacy principles (e.g., GDPR, CCPA/CPRA).
• Negotiation & Influence: Proven ability to lead negotiations with sophistication, balancing legal protection with business velocity and relationship-building.
• Communication & Collaboration: Exceptional written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to explain nuanced legal concepts clearly and concisely to non-legal business stakeholders.
• Highly organized, detail-oriented, and self-directed, with strong interpersonal skills and a collaborative, team-oriented approach.
• Education: Bachelor’s degree, a professional certification such as Certified Professional Contract Manager (CPCM) or Certified Commercial Contracts Manager (CCCM), a paralegal certificate, or equivalent practical experience.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience supporting a global enterprise technology company managing high-volume inbound and outbound commercial transactions.
• Proven track record designing or scaling standard contract playbooks, clause fallback matrices, and automated approval workflows.
• Familiarity with AI-assisted contract review and analytics platforms.
• Experience navigating cross-border transactions and international contracting nuances.

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: $140,200.00 - $210,200.00 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.