Sr. Program Manager, Global Early Careers

F5; San Jose (CA); On-site; USD 129,000 - 193,000; Full time

Job summary

F5 is seeking an experienced Senior Program Manager, Global Early Careers to lead university relations, internships, and early career programs across North America, EMEA, and APCJ. You will align business leaders, regional recruitment teams, and hiring managers to deliver an inclusive, high-impact candidate experience.

You will oversee program strategy, campus engagement, lifecycle management, and analytics, driving improvements and ROI while managing budgets and vendor partnerships in a global,

Qualifications

• 5 to 7 years of related experience in talent acquisition, university recruiting, or talent program management.
• Experience leading globally distributed teams and cross-functional partners.
• Strong stakeholder influence with executives and hiring managers.
• Experience coordinating campus recruiting campaigns and intern programs.

Responsibilities

• Lead the global early career program roadmap including campus engagement and internship cohorts.
• Provide leadership and mentorship to globally distributed recruiters and coordinators.
• Forecast hiring needs and coordinate annual hiring goals with cross-functional leaders.
• Influence senior leaders on early career investments and drive impact reporting.

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.

F5 is seeking an experienced, proactive Senior Program Manager, Global Early Careers to lead the strategic planning, operational execution, and continuous evolution of our global university relations, internship, and early career talent programs. In this role, you will bring strong program management expertise and leadership ability to coordinate a globally distributed team across North America, EMEA, and APCJ.

As a program leader within our People & Culture organization, you will serve as the strategic connective tissue between business leaders, hiring managers, and regional recruitment teams. You will drive campus engagement strategies, champion inclusive hiring initiatives, influence senior leadership on early career investments, and deliver a best-in-class, human-first intern cohort experience.

Primary Responsibilities

Program Strategy & Leadership

• Lead and drive F5’s global early career program roadmap, including campus engagement, undergraduate/graduate internship cohorts, and early career pathways.
• Provide leadership, operational guidance, and mentorship to a globally distributed team of early career recruiters and program coordinators across multiple regions.
• Partner with cross-functional talent leaders and hiring managers to forecast early-in-career hiring needs and operationalize annual hiring goals.
• Act as a key ambassador for early career initiatives, using data and insights to influence senior stakeholders across product, engineering, and sales organizations.

Campus Recruiting & Inclusive Sourcing

• Design and execute high-impact university recruiting strategies, building strong partnerships with target academic institutions and student organizations.
• Steer participation in key diversity conferences (e.g., AfroTech, Grace Hopper) and partner associations to cultivate broad, diverse talent communities.
• Champion equitable and inclusive selection processes across all campus recruitment touchpoints.
• Collaborate with Employer Brand and Communications teams to create engaging, authentic content tailored to early career candidates.

Cohort Experience & Lifecycle Management

• Manage the end-to-end global internship lifecycle, including pre-onboarding, cohort orientation, technical learning tracks, mentorship pairings, and showcase presentations.
• Develop manager enablement toolkits and guidance to empower host teams to mentor, coach, and evaluate early career talent effectively.
• Oversee full-time conversion evaluation processes, partnering with HR business partners and business leadership to optimize post-internship conversion rates.

Operational Excellence & Analytics

• Establish and track program health metrics, candidate net promoter scores (NPS), diversity benchmarks, and conversion rates.
• Analyze program outcomes and recruitment data to identify continuous improvement opportunities and deliver regular executive-ready updates.
• Manage vendor partnerships, university event logistics, and program budgets with high fiscal accountability.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Program Leadership & Collaboration: Proven ability to lead initiatives, mobilize cross-functional partners, and guide globally distributed teams across time zones.
• Campus & Early Career Expertise: Strong foundational knowledge of university recruitment lifecycles, campus engagement trends, and internship program structures.
• Stakeholder Influence: Excellent consultative communication skills, with the demonstrated ability to build consensus and influence senior leaders across diverse business units.
• Inclusive Mindset: Deep appreciation for diversity, equity, and inclusion, with experience embedding inclusive recruiting best practices into program frameworks.
• BeF5 Alignment: Demonstrated ability to embody F5’s core behaviors:
• We help each other thrive: Supporting team colleagues, interns, and business partners.
• We bring an owner’s mindset: Delivering end-to-end execution, program governance, and accountability.
• We make F5 more agile: Iterating and scaling programs to adapt to evolving technology priorities.
• Data-Informed Problem Solving: Strong project management, analytical, and problem-solving skills with proficiency in measuring ROI and program impact.

Qualifications

• 5 to 7 years of related experience in talent acquisition, university recruiting, or talent program management, with a clear emphasis on early careers or campus programs.
• Demonstrated leadership ability, including experience mentoring, directing, or leading project teams or recruiters in a direct or matrixed global environment.
• Proven experience collaborating with and influencing leadership and cross-functional business stakeholders.
• Hands-on experience coordinating university recruiting campaigns, campus hiring events, and intern cohort programs.
• Experience operating effectively within a global or multi-region organization.
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent practical experience in Human Resources, Business, Communications, or a related field.

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: $128,500.00 - $192,700.00

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.

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].