Vice President, Network Architect

About CLS: CLS is the trusted party at the centre of the global FX ecosystem. Utilized by thousands of counterparties, CLS makes FX safer, smoother and more cost effective. Trillions of dollars’ worth of currency flows through our systems each day. Created by the market for the market, our unrivalled global settlement infrastructure reduces systemic risk and provides standardization for participants in many of the world’s most actively traded currencies. We deliver huge efficiencies and savings for our clients: in fact, our approach to multilateral netting shrinks funding requirements by over 96% on average, so clients can put their capital and resources to better use. CLS products are designed to enable clients to manage risk most effectively across the full FX lifecycle – whether through more efficient processing tools or market intelligence derived from the largest single source of FX executed data available to the market. Our ambition to make a positive difference starts with our people. Our values – Protect, Improve, Grow – underpin everything that we do at CLS and define and shape a supportive and inclusive working environment in which everyone is encouraged to be open and forward-thinking.

Job Purpose: The Network Architect plays a key role in CLS’s architecture / technology division. The role involves producing designs and overseeing the implementation of solutions encompassing hardware, software, and security to ensure performance, scalability, and reliability, bridging business needs with solutions for LANs, WANs, cloud and hybrid environments. This role involves collaborating with cross-functional teams to understand business requirements, providing technical leadership, and ensuring designs meet CLS architectural principles and security standards. The architect should be a strong technologist that is very aware of current developments in the technology spectrum.

Key Responsibilities:

• Author High Level Solution Design, Solutions Overviews and Conceptual Architectures.
• Design and architect solutions based on technical and business requirements.
• Develop and document architecture blueprints and best practices.
• Provide technical leadership on network architecture including integration and management to ensure best practices are supported and implemented effectively.
• Act as a lead Architect on projects.
• Contribute to the development and management of the Network Strategy.
• Contribute to the continuous improvement of Architecture within CLS.
• Contribute to product roadmaps and reference architectures.

Required Skills and Experience:

• Proficient in enterprise, data centre and cloud network architecture with a strong track record of successful projects and in-depth knowledge of industry best practices.
• Experience developing and delivering solutions leveraging on-premises and cloud components.
• Good knowledge of cloud networking (AWS and Azure) components, including VPC design and hybrid connectivity.
• Familiarity with SaaS-based security and SASE architecture, Zero Trust principles.
• Familiarity with monitoring tools like SolarWinds and Dynatrace.
• Ability to communicate solutions to other stakeholders.
• Ability to assess and recommend third-party tools and services to complement existing offerings.
• Stakeholder management.
• Knowledge of security design.
• Good knowledge of Risk management.
• Work closely with other architecture disciplines including Enterprise, Infrastructure and Security, as well Engineering and Operations.
• Provide technical guidance to team members and stakeholders.
• Identify and recommend opportunities for efficiency.
• Stay updated on new features and capabilities and best practices.
• Ability to deal with ambiguity and manage diversity.
• Share knowledge with the team and contribute to the organization's learning culture.

Specialized Skills and Knowledge:

• Enterprise Infrastructure – Routing and Switching, including routing protocols, PBR, MPLS, VPN, SD-WAN, STP, ACL, L2/L3 switching technologies and QoS.
• Data Centre Infrastructure – Spine and leaf architecture, VxLAN fabric, Cisco NX-OS, RSA and NetScaler.
• Wi-Fi – Centralised and cloud-based WLAN solutions (Meraki preferred).
• Cloud Integration – Connectivity into cloud providers e.g. AWS Direct Connect, DX Gateway, NAT Gateway, Transit Gateway and VPN, management using security groups.
• Security and Firewall Management – Multi-vendor knowledge (Firepower, ASA and Checkpoint), network segmentation using multi-context / multi-zone environment, IPS, encryption (IPSEC, MACsec), VPN, NAC (Cisco ISE), and RSA.
• Monitoring – SolarWinds and Dynatrace.

Education and Certification:

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field (or equivalent work experience).
• Industry recognized certifications such as TOGAF, Cisco CCNA/CCNP/CCIE, AWS Advanced Networking, Fortinet NSE, Checkpoint CCSA/CCSE.

Our commitment to employees:

We are a small company with a big mandate, so every person is essential to our success. We are also committed to employing and retaining the most talented and dedicated people. What makes us interesting goes beyond our competitive salaries and great benefits. Our work environment is designed around quality outcomes, not output. The FX market would cease to function without our services, and we take pride in being responsible for keeping it running smoothly. We are different from other financial institutions in that we have a flatter and more transparent structure with accessible leadership. You will be seen, heard and empowered to develop your career. We are a purpose-driven organization, with an inclusive culture that focuses on doing what is right. The well-being of our people is as important to us as the resilience of our systems. In addition to encouraging our people to ‘locate for their day,’ we run a range of initiatives that support employees’ sense of belonging and physical, emotional and mental well-being.

Our extensive benefits for employees typically include:

• Vacation/annual leave: 25 days in UK/Asia + 3 life days, 23 in US + 3 life days.
• Private medical and dental cover and life insurance.
• Generous pension contributions in the UK and Asia; matching 401(k) in the US.
• Paid volunteer days.
• ‘Locate for your day’ hybrid working – 2 days a week in office.
• Access to Discover – our learning platform with 1000+ courses from LinkedIn Learning.
• Paid parental leave / Coaching and support services.
• Career development / LinkedIn Learning.
• ‘Heads down days’ with no meetings on the last Friday of every month.
• Wellbeing / Mental health support.
• Diversity Council / Affinity groups (Women’s Forum, Black Employee Network, Pride Network, Parents).