Principal Solution Engineer (Tokyo)

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.

Role Overview:

We are seeking a highly skilled and experienced Principal Solution Engineer with deep expertise in F5 Inc. technologies and a forward-thinking understanding of emerging technologies like AI and containerization to join our dynamic team. In this pivotal role, you will be responsible for designing and implementing robust, scalable, and secure application delivery and security solutions, leveraging the full capabilities of the F5 product suite, including F5 Distributed Cloud, while also considering the architectural implications of modern AI and cloud-native deployments.

You will act as a trusted advisor and contribute to thought leadership, collaborating with sales, engineering, and client stakeholders to translate business requirements into technical architecture and drive successful project outcomes. You will also play a key role in supporting the Product and Engineering teams with the adoption and go-to-market strategy of new F5 products and features and potentially presenting at significant industry events.

Sounds interesting? Read on!

What You’ll Do:

• Serve as the subject matter expert for F5 Inc. solutions, including BIG-IP (LTM, GTM, APM, AWAF), NGINX, and F5 Distributed Cloud Services.

• Design and architect comprehensive application delivery and security solutions that meet client requirements for performance, scalability, security, and high availability, with consideration for AI workloads and containerized environments, potentially leveraging F5 Distributed Cloud.

• Lead technical discussions with clients to understand their business needs, technical constraints, and articulate the value proposition of F5 Inc. solutions, including F5 Distributed Cloud, in the context of their overall IT landscape, including AI initiatives.

• Develop detailed solution designs, including diagrams, specifications, and implementation plans, potentially incorporating F5 (including Distributed Cloud) in support of AI Factories, RAG implementations, and AI Gateways.

• Provide technical guidance and support to sales teams during the pre-sales process, including presentations, demonstrations, and proposal development, highlighting how F5 Inc. solutions, including F5 Distributed Cloud, can enhance the delivery and security of AI-powered applications.

• Collaborate with engineering teams during the implementation and deployment phases, ensuring adherence to the defined architecture.

• Stay up to date with the latest F5 Inc. product updates, industry trends, and best practices, including developments in AI infrastructure, cloud-native technologies, and F5 Distributed Cloud.

• Contribute to the development of internal knowledge base, methodologies, and best practices related to F5 Inc. solutions (including Distributed Cloud) in modern application architectures.

• Troubleshoot complex technical issues related to F5 deployments, potentially within Kubernetes environments, those supporting AI workloads, or utilizing F5 Distributed Cloud.

• Potentially mentor and guide junior team members.

• Contribute to thought leadership activities such as white papers, blog posts, presentations, and participation in industry forums, potentially including Mainstage Keynotes.

• Collaborate with Product Management and Engineering teams to provide field feedback and support the introduction of new F5 products and features to the market.

• Lead and track Proof of Concepts (PoCs) with customers, ensuring successful technical validation and alignment with business requirements.

What You’ll Bring:

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, engineering or a related field, or equivalent level of experience

• Minimum of 7+ years of experience in designing and implementing network or application delivery solutions, with a strong focus on F5 Inc. is preferred.

• Deep technical expertise in F5 BIG-IP platform (LTM, GTM, APM, AWAF), ideally NGINX, and familiarity with F5 Distributed Cloud Services is a plus.

• Strong understanding of networking protocols (TCP/IP, HTTP, DNS, etc.) and security principles.

• Experience with cloud environments (AWS, Azure, GCP) and Kubernetes is highly desirable.

• Familiarity with concepts related to AI, including AI Factories, Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG), and AI Gateways.

• Proficiency in scripting languages (e.g., Python, Ansible) for automation.

• Experience with Application-to-Application (A2A) concepts and familiarity with Anthropic's Model Context Protocol (MCP) is a plus.

• Excellent communication, presentation, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to effectively communicate technical concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences, including experience with Mainstage Keynotes.

• Proven ability to work independently and as part of a team.

• Relevant F5 certifications (e.g., F5 Certified! Technology Specialist) are highly advantageous.

• Direct experience deploying or securing AI/ML applications is a bonus.

• Experience with F5 Distributed Cloud in customer deployments is a plus.

• Experience with infrastructure-as-code (IaC) tools like Terraform is preferred.

• Knowledge of other applications, delivery and security technologies.

• Experience in a consulting or professional services environment.

• Demonstrated contributions to thought leadership in the application delivery or security space, including Mainstage Keynotes.

• Experience providing feedback to Product and Engineering teams on product direction.

• Proficiency in both spoken and written English and Japanese is required.

What You’ll Get:

• Hybrid working mode

• Career growth and development opportunities

• Recognitions and Rewards

• Employee Assistance Program

• Competitive pay, comprehensive benefits, and cool perks

• Culture of Giving Back

• Dynamic Diversity & Inclusion Interest Groups

Apply if you believe your own unique capabilities can contribute to the success of this role and our organization!

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.

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 accommodations@f5.com.