Sr Solutions Engineer - TS or TS/SCI Prefered

F5 Networks, Inc; Washington; Hybrid; USD 163,000 - 245,000; Full time

Job summary

F5 Networks, Inc is seeking an experienced Solutions Engineer for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) in Washington, DC. The role blends pre-sales engineering with deep security and cloud expertise to align F5’s application delivery solutions with DHS modernization goals.

You will engage as a trusted advisor, lead PoCs, and craft secure architecture across multi-cloud environments. Candidates must hold an active TS clearance and be able to travel up to 30%.

Qualifications

• Experience: 8+ years in a dynamic high-tech environment with a BA/BS or equivalent practical experience.
• Pre-Sales Expertise: 5+ years in a pre-sales engineering or technical consulting role (Federal/SLED focus preferred).
• Clearance: Active Top Secret (TS) security clearance required; TS/SCI eligibility preferred.
• Infrastructure Knowledge: UNIX/Linux and Windows administration with strong application-layer awareness.
• Networking & Security Core: Deep knowledge of LAN/WAN, 4-7 layers of traffic, routing, switching, firewalls, and DDoS mitigation.
• Communication Master: Exceptional written, verbal, and presentation skills able to explain complex technical concepts to varied audiences.

Responsibilities

• Trusted Advisor Engagement: deliver technical presentations, solution designs, and PoCs for DHS.
• Architecture & Solution Design: design secure application delivery configurations and hybrid/multi-cloud blueprints.
• Continuous Technical Leadership: maintain knowledge of F5 products and federal cybersecurity trends.
• Competitive Differentiation: articulate value of F5 solutions over alternatives for DHS.
• Content Collaboration: contribute technical content including briefs, whitepapers, reference architectures, and use cases.
• Team-First Mentality: mentor peers, document methodologies, build internal/external relationships.
• Account advocacy: manage Change Requests and Customer Special Requests for world-class support.

Skills

Communication

Pre-Sales experience

Federal/SLED focus

Unix/Linux administration

Windows administration

Networking fundamentals

Security fundamentals

Python/bash scripting

Active TS clearance

Education

BA/BS degree or equivalent practical experience

Tools

F5 BIG-IP (LTM/GTM/AFM/SSLo/WAF/ASM)

Terraform

Ansible

GitHub

CloudFormation

ARM templates

Docker

Kubernetes

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.

Solutions Engineer – Department of Homeland Security (DHS)

Location: Washington, D.C. (Hybrid / Remote options available, subject to customer requirements) Security Clearance: Active Top Secret (TS) required; Active TS/SCI preferred

Do you want a career you love? Imagine a role that provides you with the resources to research emerging trends in cybersecurity, cloud delivery, and modern networking. Picture a job that affords you the flexibility to take calculated risks in defining and building the next generation of secure application delivery—and allows you to use your talent for evangelizing these solutions to one of the world's most critical federal portfolios.

As a Solutions Engineer (SE) for the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), you will serve as the primary technical powerhouse of a highly collaborative, mission-driven sales team. In this pre-sales role, you will champion customer satisfaction and drive agency modernization by aligning F5’s advanced application security, multi-cloud networking, and API protection solutions with DHS mission requirements. Your daily impact will span architecture design, high-impact product demonstrations, proof-of-concept (PoC) leadership, and strategic account planning.

• Trusted Advisor Engagement: Act as a strategic technical advisor to DHS stakeholders, delivering compelling technical presentations, customized solution designs, and rigorous Proof of Concepts (PoCs).
• Architecture & Solution Design: Architect secure application delivery configurations, systems engineering layouts, and hybrid/multi-cloud integration blueprints.
• Continuous Technical Leadership: Maintain deep, cutting-edge knowledge of F5’s product portfolio, emerging Federal cybersecurity mandates, and federal network architecture trends.
• Competitive Differentiation: Articulate the distinct technical and business value of F5 solutions compared to industry alternatives, addressing complex agency pain points with tailored capabilities.
• Content Collaboration: Contribute to and support the creation of agency-specific technical content, including solution briefs, whitepapers, reference architectures, and localized use cases.
• Team-First Mentality: Champion a collaborative, sharing-focused environment by mentoring peers, documenting standard methodologies, and building lasting internal and external relationships.
• Account advocacy: Own, elevate, and assist on Change Requests (CR) and Customer Special Request (CSR) cases to ensure world-class support for your assigned accounts.
• Ethics & Compliance: Uphold F5’s Business Code of Ethics and promptly report any violations of company policies.

• Strategic Alignment: Map F5's corporate strategy and product value propositions directly to DHS civilian defense objectives and IT modernization goals.
• Relationship Capital: Cultivate and preserve strong, trust-based relationships spanning from hands-on agency technical staff to executive-level leadership (CxO).
• Outstanding Service Delivery: Provide elite customer service across all pre-sales phases, seamlessly bridging into post-sales transition support when required.
• Operational Precision: Partner closely with your Account Manager to develop, execute, and adapt comprehensive Technical Account Plans within Salesforce.com.
• Resource Optimization: Effectively navigate and leverage F5's internal engineering, product management, and support organizations to accelerate agency success.
• Opportunity Identification: Identify, qualify, and shape technical opportunities, ensuring alignment with agency budgeting and procurement cycles.

Post-Sales Continuity

• Escalation Management: Understand and master the F5 critical issue workflow to advocate for customers during high-severity incidents.
• Technical Support Partnership: Collaborate proactively with F5 Federal Technical Support and partner engineering teams to drive rapid resolution of complex technical issues.

Qualifications & Requirements

• Experience: 8+ years of technical experience in a dynamic, high-tech environment, with a BA/BS degree or equivalent practical experience.
• Pre-Sales Expertise: 5+ years of successful experience in a pre-sales engineering or technical consulting role (Federal/SLED focus highly preferred).
• Clearance: Active Top Secret (TS) security clearance is required; TS/SCI eligibility/clearance is highly preferred.
• Infrastructure Knowledge: Hands-on systems administration skills across UNIX/Linux and Windows environments, with strong application-layer awareness.
• Networking & Security Core: Strong expertise in LAN/WAN networking protocols and architecture, with deep knowledge of Layer 4-7 traffic management, routing, switching, firewalls, and DDoS mitigation.
• Communication Master: Exceptional written, verbal, and presentation skills, with a proven ability to explain complex technical concepts to

• F5 Technology Stack: Prior experience with F5 BIG-IP technologies, specifically Local Traffic Manager (LTM), DNS (GTM), Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM), SSL Orchestrator (SSLo), and Web Application Firewall (WAF/ASM).
• Modern Development & Cloud:Solid understanding of public/hybrid cloud architectures (AWS, Azure, GCP) and automation tools (Terraform, Ansible, GitHub, CloudFormation, ARM templates).Familiarity with modern containerized environments (Docker, Kubernetes) and CI/CD development methodologies.
• Security & Code Analysis: Experience with static and dynamic application security testing (SAST/DAST) or API security frameworks.
• Developer Mindset: Proficiency in scripting and programming languages (Python, bash, iRules/Tcl, Node.js, JavaScript, or C).
• Advanced Clearance: Active TS/SCI with Full Scope Polygraph.

Physical Demands & Work Environment

• Standard professional office or remote-office environment.
• Regularly utilizes computer systems, collaborates via phone/video, and reviews dense technical documentation.
• Occasional requirement to be on-call or support critical mission needs outside of standard business hours.
• Ability to travel up to 30% of the time to customer sites in the Washington, D.C. metro area and occasionally out-of-town.

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: $163,400.00 - $245,000.00

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].