Network Operations Team Leader - EMEA

Pico; Greater London; On-site; GBP 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Shiftwork: 1 in 4 Saturdays

Hybrid in-office/remote

Job summary

Pico is seeking an EMEA Network Operations Team Leader to oversee a mission-critical global trading network. This hybrid role leads a regional team responsible for the availability, performance and resiliency of ultra-low-latency infrastructure and corporate connectivity worldwide.

You will drive 24x7 incident response, mentor staff, and collaborate with engineering, security and vendors to deliver improvements while ensuring regulatory compliance such as SOC 2 and MiFID II.

Qualifications

• Minimum 3 years directly leading a network ops/NOC team.
• 10+ years networking experience with half in operations.
• Leadership in global low-latency financial trading networks.
• Strong mentoring and teaching ability.
• Experience managing incidents in 24x7 environments.
• Excellent runbook and playbook documentation.

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage the EMEA Network Operations team.
• Ensure availability and performance of trading network infrastructure.
• Oversee 24x7 incident response and escalation.
• Triage issues and quarterback events.
• Coordinate tasks with AMRS and APAC counterparts.
• Escalation lead during high-severity incidents.
• Partner with engineering to deliver new services.
• Maintain SOC 2, ISO, MiFID II compliance.
• Mentor the Network Operations team for continuous improvement.
• Collaborate with vendors and exchanges to ensure SLA adherence.
• Participate in Follow-the-Sun weekend support and be on-call.

Skills

Leadership

Troubleshooting

Documentation

High-performance networking

Trading venue connectivity

Packet capture & analysis

Automation & monitoring

Stakeholder communication

People management

On-call escalation

Tools

Corvil Analytics

Arista

Cisco

Fortinet

Job description

Network Operations Team Lead – EMEA

We are seeking a EMEA Network Operations Team Leader to oversee our mission‑critical global trading network. This role will lead a regional team responsible for the availability, performance, and resiliency of our ultra‑low‑latency infrastructure and corporate network, ensuring flawless connectivity to exchanges, clients, internal corporate systems and market data providers worldwide.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead and manage the EMEA Network Operations team
• Ensure high availability and performance of trading network infrastructure across exchanges, colocation sites, and data centers, also supporting the internal corporate network
• Oversee proactive monitoring, incident response, and escalation management in a 24×7 trading environment
• Strong ability to triage multiple issues, delegating tasks and quarterbacking events
• Manage ticket queues and liaise with counterparts in AMRS and APAC to coordinate required tasks
• Act as the escalation lead during high‑severity incidents, minimizing downtime and client impact
• Partner with engineering, implementation, and automation teams to deliver new services and operational improvements
• Maintain compliance with regulatory and security standards (SOC 2, ISO, MiFID II)
• Develop and mentor the Network Operations team, driving operational excellence and continuous improvement
• Collaborate with vendors, carriers, and exchanges to ensure service quality and SLA adherence
• Participate in Follow‑the‑Sun weekend support rota as part of Network Operations Team
• Act as point of escalation for network issues out‑of‑hours during weekend support rota

Qualifications

• Proven leadership experience in network operations within a global low‑latency financial trading environment and corporate networks
• Exceptional troubleshooting skills and creative problem‑solving ability, with a talent for teaching and mentoring junior members
• Strong documentation skills: runbook and playbook creation, knowledge sharing
• Deep knowledge of trading venue connectivity, colocation ecosystems, and market data feeds
• Expertise in high‑performance networking technologies (routing, switching, optical transport, monitoring tools); CCIE level experience desired
• Experience managing critical incidents and leading teams in a high‑pressure environment
• Hands‑on experience with packet capture and analysis, including use of Corvil Analytics (or equivalent) to monitor, troubleshoot, and optimize low‑latency trading flows
• Familiarity with Arista, Cisco & Fortinet platforms
• Familiarity with automation, scripting, and modern monitoring practices
• Excellent communication skills for engagement with internal stakeholders, executives, and external partners
• Minimum: 3 years of directly leading a network operations/NOC team (people management, escalation handling, on‑call ownership)
• Preferred: 5+ years in leadership or senior operational roles within financial services or another mission‑critical 24×7 industry (e.g., trading, telecom, cloud providers)
• Total career experience: 10+ years overall in networking, with at least half spent on operations

Other

• Shift work – 1 in 4 Saturdays – time given back
• The Team Leader is expected to be escalation point for any unforeseen escalations/emergencies

Working Arrangements

This is a hybrid position with weekly time in the office, balanced with the flexibility to work from home. While occasional travel may be required, it is not expected to be regular or frequent. The role holder will be expected to work whatever hours are necessary for the performance of this role, recognizing that it involves multiple jurisdictions/geographies including but not limited to EMEA, USA and APAC.

Pico is an equal‑opportunity employer. Pico does not discriminate on the basis of a candidate's age, race, gender, color, religion, sexual orientation, physical or mental disability, or other non‑merit factors. All employment decisions at Pico are based on business needs, job requirements and qualifications. If you require any assistance or accommodations to be made for the recruitment process, please inform us when you submit your online application.