Sr. Lead, Network Engineer

Northern Trust • Chicago, IL

14d

About The Position

About Northern Trust: Northern Trust, a Fortune 500 company, is a globally recognized, award-winning financial institution that has been in continuous operation since 1889. Northern Trust is proud to provide innovative financial services and guidance to the world’s most successful individuals, families, and institutions by remaining true to our enduring principles of service, expertise, and integrity. With more than 130 years of financial experience and over 22,000 partners, we serve the world’s most sophisticated clients using leading technology and exceptional service. Title: Sr Lead – Network Engineer The Role: The Sr. Lead Network Engineer is a seasoned techno-functional leader with deep expertise in Network Engineering, Office Network Services, Colocation Services, and Private Data Centers. This role demands proven experience in managing engineering functions and driving initiatives from strategic planning through to execution. As a key contributor, the Engineer will lead the design, implementation, and support of network infrastructure and services across Northern Trust’s global private data centers, public cloud environments, and colocation facilities. This position plays a critical role in global transformation and modernization efforts and offering expert guidance to operations teams. Success in this role requires a strong product-ownership mindset and an unwavering commitment to customer service excellence.

Requirements

• Expertise in Networking Technologies Demonstrated mastery in Routing, Switching, Load-Balancing, Firewalling, SD-WAN, and DNS across complex enterprise environments.
• Extensive Industry Experience Over 10 years of hands-on experience architecting, deploying, and managing network solutions in on-premises and colocation settings.
• Cloud Networking Exposure Some experience designing and operating network infrastructures in public cloud platforms such as Azure, AWS, and Google Cloud.
• Automation & Orchestration Leadership Proven ability to implement and scale automation practices using tools like Terraform, Ansible, Python, GitHub, and GitHub Actions.
• Network Observability & Performance Optimization Deep understanding of observability tools to extract actionable insights, drive performance improvements, and accelerate issue resolution.
• Global Collaboration & Teamwork Exceptional time management and collaboration skills within cross-functional teams spanning three global regions.
• Problem Solving Expert-level analytical skills for diagnosing and resolving complex network issues across hybrid environments including on-prem, office sites, and cloud.
• Security-First Mindset Strong grasp of security best practices for deploying network services across hybrid cloud ecosystems (on-prem, private, and public cloud).
• Strategic Communication & Influence Excellent verbal, written, and interpersonal communication skills to facilitate decision-making and alignment across teams supporting mission-critical applications.
• Product Ownership & Iterative Delivery Experience as a product owner with a track record of evolving services through customer-driven feedback and agile iteration.
• Agile Methodology Experience Solid background in Agile environments, including the use of Agile tools for managing daily tasks, feature development, and infrastructure initiatives.
• Continuous Improvement & Self-Motivation Self-starter with a passion for ongoing learning and identifying opportunities to continually enhance network products and services.

Nice To Haves

• CCIE certification or multiple CCNPs strongly preferred.
• Relevant certifications are a plus.
• Experience with additional orchestration platforms is highly preferred.
• Familiarity with Azure DevOps (ADO) is preferred.

Responsibilities

• The Sr. Lead Network Engineer will be responsible for establishing and maintaining well-architected standards and solution patterns across the network infrastructure landscape.
• This role will drive modernization and transformation initiatives, oversee the full lifecycle of network products and services, and ensure a seamless transition to Network Operations for ongoing support and management.
• Partner with the Network Architecture Council to define and drive modernization strategies and technology roadmaps for both on-prem and cloud networking services.
• Lead vendor evaluations and manage third-party technology partnerships.
• Design and enforce comprehensive security frameworks for hybrid cloud network services, including system hardening and secure configuration management.
• Ensure all network solutions align with industry standards (CIS, NIST, SOC 2).
• Lead engagements with internal and external auditors to maintain compliance and operational integrity.
• Collaborate with Engineering and Operations teams to monitor and scale network services, ensuring seamless connectivity for business applications and office locations.
• Lead and coordinate network infrastructure deployments across data centers, cloud environments, and mission-critical office sites.
• Champion network automation initiatives by identifying opportunities for efficiency and implementing IaC and GitOps practices.
• Maintain comprehensive documentation for network designs, solutions, and infrastructure states—past, present, and future.
• Serve as the highest-level escalation point for Network Engineering and Operations, providing expert guidance and resolution.

Benefits

• Northern Trust provides a comprehensive benefits package including retirement benefits (401k and pension), health and welfare benefits (medical, dental, vision, spending accounts and disability), paid time off, parental and caregiver leave, life & accident insurance, and other voluntary and well-being benefits.
• Northern Trust also provides a discretionary bonus program that may include an equity component.

What This Job Offers

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