Senior F5 Technical Lead

***CANDIDATE MUST RESIDE WITHIN 50 MILES OF THE DC AREA***

The Senior Network F5 Technical Lead will support Inserso’s Enterprise Infrastructure Management and Customer Support Service contract for a key federal customer and serves as the primary technical subject matter expert (SME) responsible for the administration, troubleshooting, performance, security, and reliability of F5 load balancing infrastructure supporting mission-critical enterprise applications. The position provides hands-on technical leadership for complex F5 issues, system upgrades, configuration changes, and infrastructure improvements. The individual must be capable of independently resolving technical challenges, coordinating across support teams, and leading implementations through successful production deployment. This position reports to the Network Engineering Team Lead.

Responsibilities:

Technical Leadership and Troubleshooting

• Serve as the primary technical lead and escalation point for F5-related incidents, problems, and engineering activities.
• Independently diagnose and resolve complex F5 issues involving load balancing, application connectivity, performance, and availability.
• Lead troubleshooting and root cause analysis, identifying corrective actions to prevent recurring issues.
• Coordinate technical activities across Network Engineering, NOC, Cybersecurity, Server Administration, and Application Support teams.
• Engage F5 vendor support when necessary and provide technical guidance and mentoring to other engineers.
• Provide advanced engineering support for complex, multi-layer network connectivity issues involving F5, routing, switching, firewalls, VPNs, and application delivery services; coordinate resolution with the responsible network teams.

F5 Administration and Engineering

• Configure, administer, maintain, and optimize F5 BIG-IP platforms, particularly Local Traffic Manager (LTM).
• Manage virtual servers, pools, health monitors, SSL/TLS certificates, persistence profiles, iRules, and traffic management policies.
• Maintain system availability, redundancy, failover capabilities, and performance.
• Monitor F5 infrastructure health, capacity, and security; proactively identify and address potential problems.
• Assess F5 traffic flows, throughput, and capacity requirements in conjunction with upstream and downstream network dependencies; recommend design or configuration improvements to prevent bottlenecks.
• Support integration of F5 application delivery solutions with enterprise network architecture, including cloud connectivity, web proxy, content delivery, and security services, in coordination with DOJ enterprise network engineers.

Change Management and Implementation

• Lead F5 software upgrades, configuration changes, migrations, and infrastructure modernization activities.
• Develop and validate implementation plans, test procedures, risk assessments, and rollback strategies.
• Identify differences between test and production environments and address technical dependencies before deployment.
• Lead technical readiness reviews and coordinate production implementations, including post-change validation.
• Ensure changes follow established change management and security requirements.
• Prepare and maintain F5-related network architecture diagrams, technical design specifications, and integration plans; coordinate required design reviews and approvals with OJP and DOJ enterprise network stakeholders.
• Evaluate proposed F5 and related application delivery technologies for interoperability with existing network infrastructure, enterprise standards, resilience, and scalability.

Security and Documentation

• Maintain F5 configurations consistent with applicable federal cybersecurity standards and organizational policies.
• Support vulnerability remediation, patching, certificate management, and security assessments.
• Incorporate applicable DOJ enterprise security requirements and federal Zero Trust architecture principles into F5 design and configuration decisions, including traffic access controls and application-layer protections.
• Maintain accurate technical documentation, configuration records, and troubleshooting procedures.
• Develop knowledge articles and share technical expertise to strengthen team capabilities.

Required Skills/Experience:

• Must be a U.S. Citizen and successfully complete a DOJ T2 Public Trust background check.
• Bachelor's degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Engineering, or related field; equivalent experience may be considered.
• Minimum 7 years of network engineering experience with at least 3 years as a lead , including at least 4 years of hands-on F5 BIG-IP administration and troubleshooting.
• Advanced knowledge of F5 BIG-IP LTM, load balancing, high availability, iRules, SSL/TLS, and application traffic management.
• Strong understanding of TCP/IP, DNS, routing, switching, firewalls, and network security.
• Demonstrated experience leading complex technical troubleshooting, system upgrades, and production implementations.
• Proficiency with packet captures, network diagnostic tools, and root cause analysis.
• Strong analytical, communication, documentation, and cross-team coordination skills.
• Ability to independently manage high-priority technical issues through successful resolution.

Preferred Skills/Experience:

• Advanced F5 certification, such as F5 Certified Technical Specialist.
• Experience with F5 Advanced WAF, DNS, APM, and integration with content delivery networks (CDNs).
• Experience supporting federal government IT environments and familiarity with NIST and DISA security requirements.
• Experience with automation, scripting, and F5 APIs.
• Familiarity with ITIL incident, problem, and change management practices.

Physical and/or Mental Qualifications, if applicable*:

• Effectively communicate with customers, stakeholders, and technical specialists
• Able to work with minimal supervision

*Reasonable accommodation will be made for qualified individuals with a disability, where such accommodation will not impose an undue hardship during the application process and on the job.