Distinguished Architect, Trading Platforms and Technology

LPL Financial•Austin, TX

3d•$188,902 - $314,768•Hybrid

About The Position

Lead with Purpose, Unlock Your Team's Passion LPL Financial is the nation's largest independent broker-dealer and a Fortune 500 fintech leader, supporting more than $1.2 trillion in assets through a modern technology platform that powers over 22,000 advisors. Technology is not just a support function at LPL — it is a primary growth engine. As a Distinguished Architect for Trading & Investment Management Technology, you will operate at the intersection of business strategy, product innovation, and enterprise architecture — shaping the future of LPL's trading platforms across Broker Dealer, Advisory, and Models capabilities. This is a rare opportunity to define and drive architecture at enterprise scale while remaining deeply hands-on in crafting modern, cloud-native, API-first solutions that directly impact advisors and their clients across retail, self-directed, and private wealth trading — including emerging capabilities in blockchain-based assets and tokenized securities. Job Overview This role serves as a senior individual-contributor architecture leader within Trading & Investment Management Technology. The Distinguished Architect partners directly with the EVP/CIO and executive leadership to define target-state architecture across LPL's trading platforms while contributing to the broader enterprise architecture strategy. The role blends strategic influence with deep technical engagement — guiding domain architects, shaping architectural standards, and ensuring business strategy, regulatory considerations, and trading industry best practices are translated into scalable, secure, and high-performance technology solutions. Year One Expectations Immerse yourself in LPL's business vision and strategy; develop a deep understanding of the trading and investment management domain, including internal and external actors, end-to-end dependencies, and regulatory landscape. Partner with business and technology stakeholders to construct a Blueprint that articulates a 3-year, business-and-technology-aligned target-state and roadmap for trading platforms spanning Broker Dealer, Advisory, and Models. Contribute broadly to LPL's solution architecture work and platform foundations — including API definition, framework and reusable asset identification — and identify synergies in business requirements that enable efficiency, enterprise reuse, and enhanced outcomes for advisors and clients. Contribute to and evangelize the company's architecture strategy, principles, and processes across the enterprise. Develop relationships with business and technology leadership and teams; establish feedback loops that enable continuous improvement for both the individual and the organization.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or a related field.
5 or more years of experience in trading technology domains, resulting in both trading business and technology expertise — including knowledge of retail, self-directed, and private wealth trading across equities, mutual funds, ETFs, options, annuities, and structured products.
Hands-on experience with major trading platforms and order management systems (OMS), execution management systems (EMS), and trading venue connectivity, including FIX protocol and market data infrastructure.
Experience designing and integrating AI/ML capabilities into trading platforms, including use cases such as intelligent order routing, predictive risk models, anomaly detection, and AI-assisted advisor tools.
8 or more years of experience designing enterprise-class solution and data architectures, including microservices, event-driven systems, and high-volume, mission-critical trading platforms.
Demonstrated experience designing and implementing strategic roadmaps along with the governance mechanisms to achieve them.
Hands-on experience developing architecture blueprints, systems diagrams, data models, process flows, data flows, and other key architecture deliverables.
Demonstrated experience leading major transformations from monolithic to cloud-native architectures, with focus on AWS.
Experience with Architecture as Code (AaC) practices and tooling — including defining, versioning, and validating architecture models programmatically using tools such as Structurizr, Backstage, ArchiMate, or equivalent DSL-based frameworks — to ensure architecture is treated as a living, auditable artifact alongside code.

Nice To Haves

Master's degree in computer science, Engineering, or a related technical field.
Expertise in pricing, market data, and order management systems across equities, mutual funds, ETFs, options, annuities, and structured products.
Experience with retail and self-directed trading platforms, including architecture patterns for high-throughput, low-latency order routing and execution.
Experience with blockchain platforms (e.g., Ethereum, Hyperledger, Solana) and their application to financial services use cases such as digital asset custody, tokenization, and on-chain settlement.
Familiarity with AI/ML frameworks and platforms (e.g., Amazon SageMaker, Bedrock, or equivalent) and experience embedding AI capabilities into financial services workflows.
Financial services experience, particularly in wealth management or broker-dealer environments.
AWS Solutions Architect certification.
Familiarity with regulatory standards relevant to trading and broker-dealer operations.
Strategic systems thinking with the ability to translate business strategy into executable trading technology architecture; skilled at conveying technical solutions clearly and facilitating build-versus-buy evaluations with senior leadership.
Adept at defining IT vision and strategy, including cloud adoption roadmaps and identification of initiatives that lead to target-state architectures and outcomes.
Continuous learner, especially in emerging areas of technology including AI/ML, generative AI, modern work practices, and digital transformation in financial services.
Proficiency in Architecture as Code principles and tooling, with the ability to embed architectural governance into engineering workflows and treat architecture models as versioned, testable artifacts.
Demonstrated competency in innovative, strategic thinking, and leadership with strong abilities in relationship management.
Experience working and leading in matrixed, fast-moving environments; influence-based leadership in large-scale technology organizations.
Extensive experience working in large technology ecosystems with emphasis on integrating high-scale, high-volume, always-on, mission-critical trading systems — including OMS/EMS platforms, retail trading engines, market data feeds, and emerging blockchain-based settlement infrastructure.

Responsibilities

Define and steward target-state architecture for mission-critical trading platforms, including Broker Dealer, Advisory, and Models capabilities, along with all upstream and downstream dependencies.
Partner with business, product, and technology leaders to align architectural strategy with enterprise priorities and funding decisions.
Guide and influence domain-aligned solution and data architects to maintain architectural coherence and quality across the trading domain.
Lead the effective application of enterprise architecture principles through a deep understanding of the architecture discipline, processes, concepts, and best practices.
Establish and evolve architectural standards, principles, reusable assets, and frameworks that drive scalability, availability, security, performance, and quality across the enterprise.
Research, develop, and implement innovative solutions across the architecture to enable strategic objectives; serve as an expert for enterprise architecture tools, technology, and standards.
Monitor and apply emerging technologies — including AI/ML for predictive analytics, intelligent order routing, and anomaly detection; blockchain and distributed ledger technology for tokenized securities and on-chain settlement; and modern event-driven data platforms — to transform trading operations and advisor experiences.
Drive the adoption of AI-powered capabilities across trading workflows, including algorithmic trading assistance, real-time risk monitoring, portfolio rebalancing optimization, and natural language interfaces for advisors and clients.
Identify opportunities for enterprise reuse, efficiency, and improved business outcomes through architectural alignment and shared platform foundations.
Lead modernization initiatives including cloud adoption on AWS, API-first transformation, and migration from legacy monolithic trading systems to microservices and event-driven architectures.
Define architectural blueprints and best practices for mission-critical trading portfolios; lead continuous evolution of the supporting technology platform, including strategic technology decisions and integration strategies.
Champion Architecture as Code (AaC) practices — defining, versioning, and governing architecture models as code artifacts integrated into CI/CD pipelines — to enable automated compliance checks, drift detection, and living documentation across the trading technology estate.
Contribute to and drive common architectural standards across the enterprise that emphasize scalability, availability, security, performance, and quality.
Interface with key business and IT leaders to understand priorities and deliver modern product architecture strategies and solutions that enable the company's vision and growth.
Proactively engage executive leadership to influence funding, priorities, and architecture change while engaging deep in the technology organization to communicate strategies and collaborate hands-on with solutioning.
Provide architectural and strategic consulting in the areas of external trends, best practices, and adherence to standards; present build-versus-buy evaluations clearly to the entire organization.
Lead and facilitate the creation of governing principles to guide information, technology, and solution decision-making across the enterprise.