Technical Program Manager

F5 Networks, Inc.; United States; Hybrid; USD 144,000 - 216,000; Full time

Job summary

F5 Networks, Inc. is seeking a Technical Program Manager to lead complex cross‑functional engineering programs from concept to delivery.

You will partner with engineering, product management, QA, security, SRE, and executives to define strategy, drive alignment, and ensure measurable outcomes with high autonomy. The role emphasizes executive‑level communication, risk management, and scalable processes, with responsibility for end‑to‑end planning, metrics, and governance across multiple teams.

Qualifications

• Strong understanding of software engineering fundamentals and system design.
• Ability to define requirements, assess risks, and drive decisions.
• Experience leading multi‑team programs through full lifecycle.

Responsibilities

• Own end‑to‑end delivery for complex programs across multiple teams.
• Drive cross‑team planning, dependencies, and tradeoffs to meet timelines and goals.
• Establish governance, cadence, and escalation paths for stakeholders.
• Anticipate ambiguity, make clear technical decisions, and manage risks.
• Mentor junior TPMs and improve planning artifacts and reporting.

Skills

APIs

Distributed systems

Cloud infrastructure

Data-driven decisions

Executive communication

Tools

Jira

Confluence

Smartsheet

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.

Technical Program Manager Role Summary

The Technical Program Manager (TPM) leads complex, cross-functional, and often cross-organizational engineering programs from conception through delivery. This role partners closely with engineering, product management, QA, security, operations/SRE, and executive stakeholders to define program strategy, drive alignment, manage execution, and ensure measurable outcomes. This is a role for TPMs who operate with high autonomy, influence without authority, and bring strong technical judgment, execution rigor, and executive-ready communication. TPMs are expected to proactively identify risks and systemic issues, drive decision‑making, and continuously improve processes that scale program delivery.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to‑end delivery for complex technical programs, defining scope, milestones, success metrics, and execution approach across multiple teams.
• Drive cross-team planning (roadmaps, release plans, cutovers), dependency management, and tradeoff decisions to meet quality, timeline, and business objectives.
• Establish operating rhythm and governance (cadence, decision logs, escalation paths) to keep stakeholders aligned and unblocked.
• Anticipate and resolve ambiguity by driving clear technical and program decisions, including prioritization, resourcing, and sequencing.
• Coach and mentor junior TPMs and project coordinators; raise the bar on planning artifacts, reporting, and execution discipline.

Cross-Functional & Cross-Org Alignment

Partner with engineering, product, QA, security, SRE/operations, support, and go-to-market stakeholders to align on requirements, constraints, and launch readiness. Lead stakeholder alignment forums, ensuring decisions are made at the right level with clear owners, timelines, and follow-through. Represent program health to leadership with crisp narratives on progress, tradeoffs, risks, and asks.

Data, Reporting & Metrics

Define and instrument program metrics and mechanisms (OKRs/KPIs, quality and reliability signals, delivery predictability) to measure outcomes and drive accountability. Develop and deliver executive-ready status reporting (dashboards, QBR/SteerCo updates) that highlights risks, decisions needed, and customer/business impact. Use data to identify trends, unblock teams, and recommend corrective actions to improve delivery and operational excellence.

Risk & Issue Management

Own RAID management for assigned programs, ensuring risks, issues, assumptions, and dependencies are actively mitigated with measurable actions and accountable owners. Proactively surface delivery, quality, and security risks early; drive cross-team mitigation plans and contingency options. Manage escalations end-to-end, including framing the decision, presenting options and tradeoffs, and driving closure with stakeholders.

Process & Continuous Improvement

Design and implement program mechanisms that scale execution (intake and prioritization, planning templates, release readiness, change management, post-launch reviews). Lead continuous improvement initiatives based on retrospective insights, operational data, and stakeholder feedback. Standardize and improve documentation and tooling (Jira/Smartsheet/Confluence) to increase visibility, reduce churn, and improve predictability.

Required Skills & Qualifications

• Technical Skills Strong understanding of software engineering fundamentals and system design (APIs, distributed systems, cloud infrastructure, reliability, and security concepts). Ability to engage deeply with technical teams: drive requirements clarity, evaluate solution options, and identify technical risks and non-obvious dependencies. Proficiency with program tooling and documentation practices (Jira/Confluence, Smartsheet/Excel, dashboards, decision logs, RAID management). Data fluency: ability to define metrics, interpret trends, and use quantitative and qualitative signals to drive program decisions.
• Program & Project Management Skills Demonstrated ability to lead multi-team programs through the full lifecycle: discovery, planning, execution, launch, and post-launch learning. Expertise in building integrated plans (milestones, dependencies, resourcing), managing critical paths, and driving tradeoffs to achieve outcomes. Strong risk management and escalation leadership; able to frame decisions, propose options, and drive closure. Experience establishing program mechanisms and improving processes across teams (operating rhythms, readiness criteria, retrospectives, governance).
• Communication & Collaboration Skills Executive-ready communication: can translate complex technical and program realities into clear narratives, decisions, and asks. Influence without authority across engineering and product leaders; strong facilitation and conflict-resolution skills. High ownership and judgment in ambiguous environments; proactive in identifying gaps and driving clarity. Mentorship mindset and ability to raise execution standards across teams.

Preferred Qualifications (Nice to Have)

Experience leading platform, infrastructure, security, or large-scale product programs with multiple engineering teams and multi-quarter roadmaps. Experience driving launches with operational readiness, incident response preparation, and post-launch operational excellence mechanisms. Background in cloud, networking, DevOps, reliability engineering, or cybersecurity. Comfort partnering with architecture/technical leadership on requirements and roadmap strategy.

Certifications (optional)

PMP, PgMP, SAFe, Scrum (CSM/PSM), AWS/Azure/GCP fundamentals, or security certifications (e.g., Security+). Certifications are not required but can be helpful depending on the program domain and stakeholder needs.

Behavioral Expectations

Strategic Ownership: Sets direction, defines success, and drives outcomes across teams and stakeholders. Technical Judgment: Understands system constraints well enough to challenge assumptions, identify risks, and drive pragmatic decisions. Influence: Builds alignment, navigates conflict, and drives decisions through strong relationships and credibility. Execution Excellence: Operates with rigor, anticipates issues, and ensures commitments are met with high quality. Mentorship: Elevates program management capability across the org through coaching, templates, and mechanisms.

Performance Indicators (How Success Will Be Measured)

Consistent delivery of complex programs with predictable execution, clear critical paths, and high-quality outcomes. Stakeholder confidence and alignment, demonstrated through timely decisions, reduced ambiguity, and effective escalation management.

Measurable improvements in program health and business/customer outcomes (e.g., reliability, adoption, time-to-market, operational readiness). Proactive risk identification and mitigation that prevents or minimizes impact to delivery, quality, or security. Creation of scalable mechanisms (process, tooling, templates) that improve execution effectiveness across teams beyond a single program.

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: $144,000.00 - $216,000.00

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].

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.