Senior Network Architect - AI

Job Title: Senior Network Architect – AI-Ready Infrastructure
Location: Chicago, IL (4 Days onsite)
Duration: Full-time

Job Description:

Position Overview

We are seeking a Senior Network Architect to lead the design and modernization of the firm’s enterprise network infrastructure. This role will be responsible for developing a highly available, low-latency, secure, and scalable network architecture capable of supporting the evolving technology requirements of an investment banking environment, including AI-enabled applications, high-performance computing workloads, cloud services, trading platforms, financial partner connectivity, and data-intensive analytics .
The Senior Network Architect will establish the firm’s network architecture roadmap and provide technical leadership across on-premises, data center, cloud, and partner environments. The successful candidate will combine deep enterprise networking expertise with an understanding of modern cloud, security, automation, and AI infrastructure requirements.
This is a senior technical leadership position requiring the ability to translate business and technology objectives into a resilient network architecture while remaining sufficiently hands-on to validate designs and guide implementation.

Key Responsibilities

AI-Ready Network Architecture & Modernization

• Develop the strategic architecture and roadmap for a secure, scalable, and highly available enterprise network capable of supporting current and future AI workloads.
• Design high-bandwidth, low-latency network infrastructure supporting AI applications, large datasets, analytics platforms, trading systems, research, and other mission-critical financial applications.
• Evaluate network capacity, latency, throughput, redundancy, and data-flow requirements associated with AI and data-intensive workloads.
• Architect resilient data center, campus, WAN, cloud, and hybrid network environments.
• Develop architectures capable of supporting accelerated computing and future GPU-based or high-performance computing environments as business requirements evolve.
• Establish network segmentation strategies separating users, servers, AI/data workloads, trading systems, cloud environments, third parties, and privileged administrative systems.
• Define network architecture standards, reference designs, and technology roadmaps.

Investment Banking & Financial Connectivity

• Architect highly available and low-latency infrastructure supporting investment banking and capital markets operations.
• Design secure and redundant connectivity with financial partners, market-data providers, clearing organizations, and other third parties.
• Architect dedicated circuits, private connectivity, VPNs, redundant routing, and appropriate security controls for critical external connections.
• Establish resilient architectures that minimize single points of failure and support business continuity and disaster recovery requirements.
• Develop monitoring and redundancy standards for business-critical partner connectivity.

Cloud & Hybrid Infrastructure

• Architect secure hybrid connectivity between on-premises infrastructure and cloud environments, including Microsoft Azure, AWS, and/or GCP.
• Design private cloud connectivity, routing, segmentation, private endpoints, and unified network security policies.
• Develop scalable network patterns for cloud-hosted applications, data platforms, AI services, and SaaS environments.
• Partner with infrastructure, cloud, application, cybersecurity, and data teams to ensure network architecture supports enterprise technology strategy.

Zero Trust & Network Security Architecture

• Lead development of the firm’s Zero Trust Network Architecture.
• Design micro-segmentation, identity-aware access, least-privilege connectivity, and continuous verification models.
• Establish architectural standards for next-generation firewalls, secure remote access, ZTNA, SASE, VPNs, WAF, and API security.
• Standardize encryption requirements, including TLS 1.2/1.3, IPsec, and other appropriate protocols.
• Integrate network architecture with identity platforms such as Microsoft Entra ID, Okta, or equivalent IAM solutions.
• Partner with cybersecurity teams to incorporate network telemetry and security events into SIEM and threat-monitoring platforms.

Network Automation, Observability & Resilience

• Define an enterprise network observability strategy across routers, switches, firewalls, cloud networks, wireless infrastructure, and partner connections.
• Establish standards for performance monitoring, capacity management, alerting, logging, and network telemetry.
• Promote infrastructure-as-code and network automation using technologies such as Python, PowerShell, Ansible, APIs, and related automation frameworks.
• Develop architectural standards that improve network resiliency, operational efficiency, and recoverability.
• Guide root-cause analysis for complex network and performance issues.

Governance & Technical Leadership

• Establish and maintain enterprise network architecture standards, diagrams, documentation, and technology roadmaps.
• Lead technical design reviews and provide architectural guidance to network engineers, administrators, security teams, and technology partners.
• Evaluate emerging network, cloud, AI infrastructure, and cybersecurity technologies.
• Develop technical requirements and participate in vendor and technology evaluations.
• Ensure architecture aligns with applicable SEC, FINRA, SOX, cybersecurity, audit, and internal risk requirements.
• Communicate network strategy, risks, investments, and recommendations to both technical teams and senior management.

Required Qualifications

• 10+ years of progressive experience in enterprise network engineering and architecture.
• Significant experience designing highly available enterprise, data center, WAN, and hybrid-cloud networks.
• Expert knowledge of TCP/IP, BGP, OSPF, routing, switching, VLANs, VPNs, QoS, network segmentation, and network resiliency.
• Advanced knowledge of enterprise switching, routing, next-generation firewalls, and network security technologies.
• Strong experience designing network infrastructure for high-bandwidth and low-latency applications.
• Experience with Azure, AWS, and/or GCP networking and hybrid-cloud connectivity.
• Experience with Zero Trust, network segmentation, secure remote access, and modern network security architecture.
• Experience designing resilient connectivity to third-party or business-critical external partners.
• Strong understanding of network monitoring, observability, capacity planning, and performance management.
• Experience creating network architecture diagrams, standards, technical specifications, and strategic roadmaps.
• Strong communication skills with the ability to explain complex architecture to technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience within investment banking, capital markets, trading, financial services, or another highly regulated industry.
• Experience designing infrastructure supporting AI, machine learning, high-performance computing, GPU clusters, or other data-intensive environments.
• Knowledge of high-speed data center networking and emerging AI infrastructure requirements.
• CCDP, CCDE, CCNP, CCIE , PCNSE, JNCIP/JNCIE, or equivalent advanced certification.
• Experience with SD-WAN, SASE, ZTNA, and micro-segmentation technologies.
• Experience with network automation using Python, PowerShell, Ansible, APIs, or infrastructure-as-code methodologies.
• Familiarity with financial-services regulatory and cybersecurity requirements, including SEC, FINRA, SOX, and related frameworks.

Key Competencies

• Strategic and forward-looking technology mindset.
• Strong architectural and technical decision-making skills.
• Ability to balance innovation with security, reliability, and operational risk.
• Strong troubleshooting and analytical capabilities.
• Ability to collaborate across infrastructure, cybersecurity, cloud, application, data, compliance, and business teams.
• Ability to mentor engineers and establish enterprise technical standards.
• Strong documentation and executive communication skills.