Cisco Network Architect
Role details
Job location
Tech stack
Job description
The Senior/Lead Cisco Network Engineer is responsible for the design, implementation, and support of highly available, low-latency network infrastructure supporting trading, market data, risk, and back-office systems. This role operates in a mission-critical financial services environment, where network stability, performance, and security directly impact trading outcomes.
The engineer serves as a technical leader and escalation point, driving network architecture decisions, mentoring junior engineers, and partnering closely with trading, systems, security, and application teams. Key Responsibilities Network Architecture & Engineering
- Design, deploy, and maintain enterprise and low-latency Cisco network architectures
- Lead LAN/WAN, data center, and campus network design initiatives
- Engineer solutions for high availability, redundancy, and fault tolerance
- Support latency-sensitive trading and market data environments
- Routing & Switching: Cisco IOS/IOS-XE, NX-OS
- Protocols: BGP, OSPF, EIGRP, HSRP/VRRP, STP
- Data Center Networking: Cisco Nexus (5K/7K/9K), vPC
- Load balancing and traffic engineering (where applicable)
- Support Real Time trading platforms, FIX gateways, and market data feeds
- Troubleshoot packet loss, jitter, and latency issues under time-critical conditions
- Partner with application and systems teams to resolve end-to-end performance issues
- Participate in on-call rotations and rapid incident response during market hours
Network Security & Compliance
- Implement and enforce network security standards and segmentation
- Support regulatory and audit requirements (SEC, FINRA, SOC, SOX)
- Manage Firewall rules, VPN connectivity, and secure remote access
- Collaborate with InfoSec teams on threat mitigation and incident response
Automation & Operational Excellence
- Automate network provisioning and configuration using Python, Ansible, or similar tools
- Develop standard configurations, templates, and runbooks
- Improve monitoring, alerting, and proactive detection of network issues
- Drive continuous improvement and technical debt reduction
- Act as senior escalation point for complex network issues
- Mentor junior and mid-level network engineers
- Provide architectural guidance and technical leadership
- Communicate clearly with traders, engineers, and leadership
Requirements
- 7+ years experience in enterprise networking, with strong Cisco focus
- Deep expertise in:Cisco routing and switching
- BGP, OSPF, VLANs, TCP/IP
- Cisco Nexus and data center networking
- Experience supporting 24x7 production environments
- Strong troubleshooting skills under pressure
- Excellent documentation and communication skills
- Experience in financial services, trading, hedge funds, or broker-dealer environments
- Knowledge of multicast (PIM, IGMP) for market data
- Network automation and DevNet experience