F5 Solutions Engineer III 

United States, Virginia, Virginia Beach 

822496313

The Solutions Engineer (SE) plays a crucial technical role within a highly specialized sales team focused on driving sales performance and ensuring customer satisfaction. This role primarily entails providing pre-sales technical support for the implementation of products, applications, and solutions. Key activities include delivering presentations,products, assessing the applicability of F5 solutions, and developing comprehensive account plans.

Primary Responsibilities:

• Serve as a trusted advisor by delivering technicalexpertisethrough sales presentations, solution designs, demonstrations, and proof of concepts.
• Design and configure solutions and systems engineering configurations.
• Maintain an advanced level of technical knowledge of F5 products, relevant industry trends, and sales proficiency.
• Design and communicate the technical and business value of F5 solutions in comparison to competitors.
• Develop technical solutions to address customer business problems or create new service offerings.
• Contribute to the creation and support of content for customers and partners, including presentations, white papers, and use cases.
• Keep abreast of the competitive landscape and share insights with peers.
• Foster a collaborative team environment by sharing best practices, successes, and building lasting relationships.
• Negotiate effectively and manage conflict resolution.
• Handle Change Request (CR) and Customer Special Request (CSR) cases on behalf of customers.
• Uphold F5’s Business Code of Ethics and promptly report any violations of the code or company policies.
• Perform other related duties as assigned.

• objectives.
• Build and maintaintrusted advisor relationships with customer technology staff and management.
• Deliver exceptional customer service during both pre-sales and post-sales activities.
• Present sales pitches and technical details effectively to both CxO-level executives and detailed technical staff.
• Utilize Salesforce.com for managing opportunities and named accounts.
• Collaborate with the sales team to develop and manage Technical Account Plans and/or Territory Account Plans.
• Leverage F5 organizational resources effectively.
• Utilize SE tools such as CSR, Idea, Hive, Mainstreet, and others.
• Identify and qualify technical opportunities.
• Influence sales strategy.
• Assess the viability of opportunities and map out account political structures.
• Channel Support Activities:
• Support F5 channel partner sales initiatives.
• Provide sustainable training for channel partners on F5 solutions and competitive differentiation.
• Offer technical expertiseand oversight to channel partners as needed.
• Proactively provide consultative support.
• Collaborate with Channel and Sales management to establishand qualify channel partners' capabilities to sell F5 solutions.

Post Sales Activities:

Understand and follow the escalation process.

• Partner with F5 Technical Support and customers/partners to resolve issues.
• F5 Certified Professional Credentials (Preferred):
• F5 Certified BIG-IP Administrator (F5-CA)
• F5 Certified Technical Specialist (F5-CTS) in LTM, DNS, ASM, or other relevant modules

in F5 BIG-IP Modules:

• Hands-on experience with BIG-IP Local Traffic Manager (LTM) for load balancing, traffic routing, health monitoring, and optimization.
• Advanced knowledge of BIG-IP Application Security Manager (ASM) for WAF configurations and web application protection.
• Proficiency in BIG-IP Advanced Firewall Manager (AFM) for network-layer protection.
• Familiarity with BIG-IP DNS (formerly GTM) for global traffic management and DNS services.
• Experience with BIG-IP Access Policy Manager (APM) for Identity and Access Management solutions.
• Expertise in BIG-IQ for centralized management and monitoring.

Networking and Protocol Expertise:

• Strong understanding of TCP/IP, HTTP/HTTPS, DNS, SSL/TLS, and UDP protocols.
• Proficiency in routing protocols (BGP, OSPF, VRRP) and switching concepts.
• Configuration and troubleshooting experience with Layer 4 (transport) and Layer 7 (application) traffic management.

Infrastructure and Security Integration:

• In-depth experience implementing F5 solutions in hybrid environments (on-premises and cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud).

• Extensive knowledge of F5 integration with firewalls, VPNs, IDS/IPS systems, and network security tools.

• Ability to design secure SSL offloading, DDoS mitigation, and high-availability architectures.

Scripting and Automation:

• in configuringiRulesfor traffic manipulation, scripting, and custom logic writing using TCL.

• Experience with F5 automation tools such as REST API or iControl REST.

• Familiarity with configuration management tools such as Ansible, Puppet, or Terraform for BIG-IP automation.

Performance Troubleshooting and Optimization:

• optimizethroughput.

• tcpdump, packet capture, and performance monitoring utilities.

Technical Documentation and Deployment Experience:

• Demonstrated capability to create andmaintaincomprehensive documentation for F5 architecture, configurations, and operational procedures.

• Hands-on experience deploying, upgrading, and maintaining F5 environments, including migration planning and execution.

Cloud Computing and Containerization:

• Familiarity with F5 solutions for Kubernetes-based environments like BIG-IP Container Connector.

• Hands-on experience integrating F5 infrastructure with cloud-native services or Istio Service Mesh.

Load Balancer Comparisons:

• Exposure to competitive technologies such as Citrix ADC, NGINX, orHAProxyfor comparative architectural designexpertise.

Technical Project Leadership:

• Experience leading proof-of-concept (POC) evaluations and solution demonstrations for F5 products.
• Ability to mentor junior engineers on F5 technologies, best practices, and troubleshooting strategies.

General Technical Competencies:

• Strong diagnostic and troubleshooting skills in high-volume, mission-critical environments.
• Ability to design and implement proactive monitoring solutions for F5 platforms.
• Knowledge of regulatory compliances such as PCI DSS, HIPAA, or GDPR as it pertains to F5 solutions.

Education and Practical Experience Requirements:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or related field (or equivalent work experience).
• Minimum of 5 years of hands-on experience deploying and supporting F5 technologies in production environments.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to simplify complex technical concepts for stakeholders.

Domain experience

• 5yrs experience working and/or solution selling in the US Federal Government (preferred Department of Defense)

• Familiar with US Government certifications (FIPS, Common Criteria, DoDIN UC APL, CSfC)

Qualifications:

• 8+ years of related industry experience.
• 4+ years of pre-sales experience.
• BS/BA degree or equivalent work experience.

Physical Demands and Work Environment:

• Duties are performed in a standard office environment, typically while seated at a desk or computer table.
• Role requires the ability to use a computer, communicate via telephone, and read printed material.
• Position involves being on call periodically and working outside normal hours, including evenings and weekends.
• Travel requirements can be up to 60-80% of the time.
• US Government Clearance
• DoD/OPM Active Secret Clearance