Senior Software Engineer – Platform Security

F5; Reston (VA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 269,000; Full time

Job summary

F5 is seeking a Senior Software Engineer for the Platform Security team to design and build security services across its distributed cloud platform. You’ll own authentication, authorization, cert, secret, and key management at scale in a Kubernetes-based environment.

You will write production-grade Golang, work across multi-cloud and edge deployments, and collaborate with product, SRE, and other engineers to uphold security and reliability. U.S. citizenship is required.

Qualifications

• 6+ years of professional software development in C++, Java, or Golang (Golang preferred).
• Advanced knowledge of Linux and Kubernetes.
• Experience building platform security services (auth, authorization, certs, secrets, keys).
• Strong distributed systems and secure coding fundamentals.

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and operate highly available platform security services for F5 Distributed Cloud.
• Enhance core security capabilities across auth, authorization, certificate, secret, and key management.
• Write production-grade code in Golang for distributed, performance-sensitive systems.
• Deploy and operate services on Kubernetes across multi-cloud and edge environments.
• Collaborate with product, SRE, and other teams to deliver secure, scalable solutions.
• Mentor junior engineers and contribute to engineering best practices.

Skills

Golang

C++

Java

Linux

Kubernetes

Distributed systems

Security fundamentals

AI-assisted tools

US citizenship

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS or related

Tools

HashiCorp Vault

Keycloak

Copilot/AI tools

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

F5 Distributed Cloud is building the next generation of secure, scalable, multi-cloud application services. We are looking for a Senior Software Engineer to join our Platform Security team, where you’ll design and build the foundational security services that protect our distributed cloud platform and the customers who rely on it.

In this role, you’ll work on mission-critical security domains—authentication, authorization, certificate, secret, and key management—at massive scale across a globally distributed Kubernetes-based platform. If you’re passionate about building secure, reliable systems and want your work to directly safeguard a leading cloud platform, we’d love to talk to you.

What You’ll Do

• Design, develop, and operate highly available platform security services that form the trust foundation of F5 Distributed Cloud.
• Build and enhance core security capabilities across one or more domains: authentication, authorization, certificate management, secret management, and key management.
• Write high-quality, well-tested, production-grade code (primarily Golang) for distributed, performance-sensitive systems.
• Deploy and operate services on Kubernetes across multi-cloud and edge environments.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams—product, SRE, and other engineering groups—to deliver secure, scalable solutions.
• Participate in design reviews, code reviews, and threat modeling to uphold a high security and engineering bar.
• Contribute to compliance and audit readiness efforts (e.g., FedRAMP, PCI) for platform security services.
• Mentor junior engineers and help drive engineering best practices within the team.

What You’ll Bring (Must-Have)

• Be Kind
• 6+ years of professional software development experience in C++, Java, or Golang (Golang strongly preferred).
• Advanced knowledge of and hands-on experience with Linux.
• Advanced, hands-on experience with Kubernetes.
• Proven experience building platform security services in at least one of the following domains: authentication, authorization, certificate management, secret management, or key management.
• Strong fundamentals in distributed systems, system design, and writing secure, reliable code.
• Hands-on experience with AI-assisted development tools (Copilot, Claude, Codex, or similar).
• U.S. Citizenship Required: Due to FedRAMP compliance obligations, this role requires the candidate to be a U.S. citizen.

Nice to Have

• Experience with public cloud platforms such as AWS or GCP.
• Hands-on experience with HashiCorp Vault, Keycloak.
• Experience contributing to FedRAMP compliance initiatives.
• Experience with Integrating AI/ML or LLM capabilities into production (AI agents, RAG, ML-driven detection).
• AI security best practices (securing AI/ML pipelines, mitigating prompt injection / model misuse).

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: $179,500.00 - $269,300.00

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].