Cisco Network Architect

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.

• 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

• 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 Info Sec teams on threat mitigation and incident response

• 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

• 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 Dev Net experience