Sr Principal AI Security Architect

Northern Trust•Naperville, IL

38d

About The Position

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. As artificial intelligence transforms the financial services sector, the need for robust and forward-looking security architecture has never been more critical. We are seeking a Principal AI Security Architect to lead the secure design, integration, and governance of AI systems across the enterprise. This role is responsible for defining AI security strategies that span internal LLM deployments, Microsoft Copilot, and managed third-party AI platforms provided by SaaS providers and other counterparties. You will drive architecture, risk governance, and security enforcement for AI adoption across the organization-balancing innovation with regulatory, operational, and reputational risk. The successful candidate will serve as a trusted advisor to Security & Technology Leadership, internal governance boards, and senior business stakeholders to ensure AI is adopted securely, accountably, and in alignment with industry-leading standards.

Requirements

10+ years in enterprise security architecture or engineering
Expertise in Microsoft security ecosystem
Strong scripting and query experience with PowerShell, KQL
Experience securing AI pipelines and plugin-based architectures
Proven leadership in AI-specific threat modeling and risk treatment
Familiarity with model lifecycle governance
Regulatory alignment: CRI v2.1, NIST AI RMF, OWASP LLM Top 10, FFIEC, GDPR, Basel III

Nice To Haves

Experience with a Global Systemically Important Bank (G-SIB)
Experience with Solytics, Snowflake integrations, or other third-party platforms
Knowledge of shadow principal, token abuse, and adversary tactics
Recognition as an industry expert

Responsibilities

Define and enforce enterprise-wide AI security architecture patterns across: First-party AI/LLM deployments
Microsoft Copilot and GitHub Copilot
Azure OpenAI and plugin architectures
Third-party managed AI platforms (e.g., Workday, ServiceNow, Solytics, and other integrated AI services)
Ensure AI systems and plugins are securely integrated with Microsoft 365, Entra ID, Defender suite, Purview, and Azure services.
Architect Model Context Protocol (MCP) patterns for safe containerized deployments: Secure pod-to-pod communication via microsegmentation
API gateway authentication and rate limiting
Container image integrity validation
Grounding data access policy enforcement
Centralized monitoring and logging for auditability
Develop and maintain enterprise-wide AI security policy frameworks
Partner with Data Protection, Legal, Procurement, and Business Units
Design and implement policy-as-code and workflow-based governance controls
Build and maintain AI-specific threat models
Design AI-aware detection and response strategies
Support red teaming, abuse case development, and adversarial testing
Enable seamless and secure integration of Microsoft and third-party AI platforms
Ensure data classification and DLP enforcement using Microsoft Purview
Ensure AI interactions respect network boundaries
Map AI-specific controls to CRI v2.1, NIST AI RMF, and OWASP Top 10 for LLMs
Enforce end-to-end controls across the AI lifecycle
Implement controls to protect confidentiality, integrity, and availability
Act as a recognized authority on AI security
Advise Security Leadership, Technology Leadership, and governance boards
Present AI security strategy and posture to stakeholders
Mentor security architects, engineers, and data scientists

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.

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