Senior Contract Manager

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. Location: San Jose, CA or Seattle, WA (Hybrid) About the Role We are seeking an experienced, proactive, and commercially astute Senior Contract Manager to join our Legal team. In this high-impact role, you will serve as a primary engine for deal execution and commercial contracting. You will take direct, end-to-end ownership of drafting, redlining, and negotiating complex commercial transactions with a particular focus on SaaS, cloud software, and technology agreements. Cloud and SaaS transactions take priority, with other commercial matters supported as capacity allows. This position operates as a trusted business partner across Sales, Procurement, Finance, Product, Information Security, and Legal leadership. Beyond day-to-day deal velocity, you will help build scalable contracting operations, leveraging contract playbooks, modern Contract Lifecycle Management (CLM) tools, and emerging AI-powered legal technology to drive continuous efficiency. If you are a seasoned contracts professional who excels at autonomous negotiations, understands the nuances of enterprise SaaS agreements, and thrives in a fast-paced technology environment, we want to hear from you.

Contract Drafting, Redlining & Negotiation Direct Drafting & Redlining: Take hands-on responsibility for drafting, reviewing, and redlining a wide range of commercial agreements, including SaaS master subscription agreements (MSAs), cloud service agreements, Statements of Work (SOWs), data processing agreements (DPAs), nondisclosure agreements (NDAs), professional services agreements, security exhibits, reseller and channel agreements, and vendor/procurement contracts, all with high-level direction and minimal supervision. Deal Negotiation: Negotiate routine-to-complex legal and commercial terms, utilizing approved playbooks, fallback positions, and escalation frameworks. Third-Party Paper Review: Confidently analyze, redline, and negotiate on customer or vendor paper, identifying departures from company risk tolerance and proposing pragmatic compromise language. On complex enterprise deals, you will own the first-pass review of incoming customer paper against F5's standard positions and approved fallbacks, relying on the supporting attorney for final positions on novel or high-risk issues. Pragmatic Risk Escalation: Exercise sound independent judgment to evaluate contractual and business risks, escalating unique IP, compliance, regulatory, or liability issues to legal counsel when appropriate. You will negotiate both independently and alongside supporting attorneys, and will report to the Director, Commercial Legal (Cloud & SaaS). Cross-Functional Partnership & Deal Execution Strategic Business Alignment: Partner closely with Sales, Customer Success, Procurement, Finance, Revenue Operations, and Information Security to ensure smooth deal execution and alignment with business objectives. Deal Triage & Pipeline Management: Triage incoming contract requests, manage prioritization against quarter-end deadlines, and ensure rapid, predictable turnaround times. Subject Matter Guidance: Act as an accessible, trusted advisor to internal stakeholders on contracting terms, policies, approval workflows, and risk mitigation strategies. Operational Excellence & Legal Tech Innovation Playbooks & Templates: Author, refine, and maintain contracting playbooks, standard templates, fallback clause libraries, and standard