Principal AI Security Architect

Northern Trust • Chicago, IL

1d • $137,400 - $233,600

About The Position

Northern Trust is establishing an AI Security organization to enable the safe adoption of AI across the enterprise. The Principal AI Security Architect will help define and operationalize security architecture, governance patterns, and technology guardrails for enterprise AI platforms, agentic systems, digital coworkers, and emerging technologies.

This is a highly hands-on architecture role, not a governance-only or management position. The architect will create architecture artifacts, design patterns, diagrams, reference architectures, security requirements, and reusable guidance. They will work directly with technical teams, evaluate complex designs, solve architecture problems, and establish security foundations for AI adoption at scale, while partnering with engineering, enterprise architecture, identity, data, application security, infrastructure, and risk teams.

The role includes serving as a lead security architect for AI and related technology initiatives; conducting design reviews and threat modeling; developing AI security patterns and implementation guidance; maintaining reusable reference architectures and standards; collaborating across enterprise teams; and assessing emerging technologies. Success includes becoming a trusted technical advisor, producing artifacts that accelerate project delivery, creating reusable patterns, driving complex architecture discussions, and helping establish the security foundation for enterprise AI adoption.

The stated base salary range is $137,400–$233,600 USD. Northern Trust offers a comprehensive benefits package and a discretionary bonus program that may include an equity component. Applicants must be authorized to work in the U.S. without current or future employment-based visa sponsorship.

Requirements

• At least 8 years of experience in security architecture, enterprise architecture, cloud architecture, engineering, or related disciplines.
• Experience designing and reviewing complex enterprise technology solutions.
• Strong understanding of identity and access management, authentication and authorization, cloud security, application security, network security, API security, data protection, logging and monitoring, and secrets management.
• Experience with Microsoft Azure or comparable cloud platforms.
• Ability to produce architecture diagrams and technical design documentation.
• Experience facilitating architecture reviews and working across multiple stakeholder groups.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
• Must be authorized to work in the U.S. without the need for employment-based visa sponsorship now or in the future.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with generative AI, LLM applications, AI agents, or agentic AI architectures.
• Familiarity with RAG architectures, MCP, AI gateways, AI observability, model governance, agent identity and delegated authorization, prompt security, and AI threat modeling.
• Experience developing enterprise standards, architecture patterns, or reference architectures.
• Experience within a regulated financial services environment.
• Relevant cloud, security, or architecture certifications.

Responsibilities

• Serve as lead security architect for AI, agentic AI, cloud, SaaS, and emerging technology initiatives.
• Review and challenge solution designs to identify security requirements, architectural risks, and opportunities for improvement.
• Create solution diagrams, data-flow diagrams, trust-boundary diagrams, reference architectures, security patterns, design standards, and control requirements.
• Conduct threat modeling and security design reviews for AI systems and supporting technology platforms.
• Translate security policies and control objectives into practical engineering requirements.
• Define security patterns for AI agents and digital coworkers; AI platforms and orchestration frameworks; RAG architectures; MCP integrations; AI identities and delegated authorization models; model access control and governance; and AI observability and monitoring.
• Work with delivery teams to accelerate security reviews through reusable patterns and pre-approved architectures.
• Create practical implementation guidance for engineering teams building AI capabilities.
• Build and maintain a library of reusable AI security reference architectures, architectural decision records, and security patterns.
• Develop architecture standards and guardrails for enterprise AI adoption.
• Identify recurring design decisions and convert them into reusable reference material.
• Contribute to enterprise-wide AI security strategy and architecture direction.
• Partner with Enterprise Architecture, Security Engineering, Identity & Access Management, Application Security, Security Operations, Data Protection, Cloud Engineering, and Emerging Technology teams.
• Facilitate architecture workshops, design sessions, and technical working groups.
• Influence security and technology decisions across multiple organizations.
• Research emerging AI technologies and security capabilities.
• Evaluate new platforms, architectures, frameworks, and third-party solutions.
• Provide technical recommendations that balance innovation, security, operational complexity, and business value.

Benefits

• Retirement benefits, including 401(k) and pension.
• Health and welfare benefits, including medical, dental, vision, spending accounts, and disability coverage.
• Paid time off.
• Parental and caregiver leave.
• Life and accident insurance.
• Other voluntary and well-being benefits.
• Discretionary bonus program that may include an equity component.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Principal
• Education Level: No Education Listed