Principal Network Engineer

Harvey Nash; New York (NY); On-site; USD 200,000 - 250,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

401k match

Paid Time Off

Job summary

Harvey Nash Inc. seeks a Principal Network Engineer to be the technical anchor for a global, latency-sensitive trading network, spanning on-prem and cloud.

The role demands deep expertise in deterministic forwarding, advanced routing, and observable architectures, with leadership across cross-functional teams. You will design scalable networks for high-frequency trading environments, mentor engineers, and drive projects end-to-end, including pre-implementation validation and best-practice

Qualifications

• 10+ years of hands-on network engineering in low-latency environments.
• Deep expertise in deterministic network design and end-to-end latency analysis.
• Experience with global, hybrid data center and cloud connectivity.

Responsibilities

• Design and evolve low-latency, highly resilient network architecture globally.
• Lead advanced routing design across BGP, OSPF, MPLS, and multicast.
• Conduct lab validation and pre-implementation testing for major initiatives.
• Prepare migration runbooks, capacity plans, and implementation guidance.
• Develop Python-based network automation for configuration management and validation.
• Collaborate with infrastructure, security, application, and business teams.

Skills

Low-latency networking

Deterministic routing

Python scripting

Mentorship

Cross-functional collaboration

Observability knowledge

Education

CCIE certification

AWS Advanced Networking Specialty

Arista/Juniper certifications

Tools

Prometheus

Grafana

Python

SSH automation

Job description

Job Title: Principal Network Engineer

Location: Chicago IL 60605/ New York City, NY -- 4 daysonsite, 1 day remote

Perm/FTE role

Job Description

Job Summary

Onsite 4x a week in Chicago or NYC

Our challenge is finding folks with direct HFTexperience. THIS IS A MUST HAVE

• Therole requires experience with financial services, exchange orhigh-frequency trading environments, including low-latency networking,multicast, FPGA-based switches, high-precision timing and troubleshootingproduction issues. -
• Theprincipal engineer must be able to work across architecture, networkengineering, technical project management and detailed troubleshootingsystems. ownership, accountability and driving work through to completion.
• Fintechor high-frequency trading experience, Layer 1 switching, latencymonitoring, ASICs, buffer utilization, multicast table sizes, and vendorequipment testing. -

Job Description

Role Overview

Seeking a Principal Network Engineer to serve as a deep technical anchor for our global network infrastructure.

• Thisrole is responsible for shaping the design, scalability, and long-termevolution of highly distributed, latency-sensitive trading networks acrosson-prem and cloud environments.
• ThePrincipal Engineer brings expert-level knowledge of deterministic packetforwarding, advanced routing design, and ultra-low latency architecture,combined with the ability to operate independently and own complexproblems end-to-end.
• Thisindividual partners closely with Network Engineering leadership andcross-functional architecture teams to lead high-complexity initiatives,conduct rigorous pre-implementation testing and validation, and establishbest practices that drive consistency and reliability across theenvironment.
• Theyfunction as a technical leader without formal authority—mentoring seniorengineers, influencing design decisions, and raising the overallengineering bar across the organization.
• Successin this role requires both deep technical expertise and strongcommunication skills.
• ThePrincipal Engineer must be able to translate complex architecturaldecisions, trade-offs, and risks into clear, actionable insights for bothengineering teams and senior leadership.
• Theideal candidate holds (or is actively pursuing) a CCIE certification,writes production-quality Python, and is comfortable working with modernobservability platforms such as Prometheus and Grafana to drivedata-informed engineering decisions.
  Your responsibilities will be:

1. Design and evolve low-latency, highly resilientnetwork architecture across global data center, co-location, andcloud-connected environments, with a focus on deterministic packetforwarding, scalability, and operational consistency
2. Lead advanced routing design and implementationacross complex global environments, including BGP, OSPF, MPLS, multicast,hybrid cloud connectivity, traffic engineering, and high-availabilitynetwork patterns
3. Conduct deep technical research, lab validation, andpre-implementation testing for major network initiatives, working closelywith engineering and software development teams to evaluate hardwarecapabilities, identify design constraints, and optimize exchangeperformance based on findings
4. Lead high-complexity strategic projects from designthrough execution, producing detailed technical designs, migrationrunbooks, capacity plans, and implementation guidance for large-scalenetwork changes
5. Develop and maintain Python-based network automationto support configuration management, change validation, testing, andoperational efficiency, with direct experience using both API-driven andSSH-based automation approaches
6. Partner across infrastructure, security, application,and business teams to align network design and delivery with technicalrequirements, operational goals, and broader organizational priorities,including support for budgeting and planning related to network hardwareand software investments
7. Serve as a senior technical leader and mentor acrossthe engineering organization, driving architecture reviews, designstandards, knowledge sharing, and technical development for otherengineers
8. Operate effectively in a fast-moving, dynamicenvironment where priorities can shift, balancing long-term architecturaldirection with immediate engineering and operational needs
9. Contribute to monitoring and telemetry strategy byhelping define meaningful visibility requirements and supporting the useof tools such as Prometheus, Grafana, or similar platforms where theyimprove operational insight and troubleshooting
10. Support the development of technical standards,design documentation, and regulatory or audit-facing materials whenneeded, including documentation that may be used to support SEC or otherregulatory review processes

The ideal candidate has

1. 10+ years of hands-on network engineering experiencein mission-critical, low-latency environments, with a strong track recordoperating and evolving high-performance network infrastructure
2. Deep expertise in low-latency and deterministicnetwork design, including practical experience analyzing latency, jitter,and end-to-end traffic behavior in production environments
3. Advanced knowledge of routing protocols at scale,including BGP, OSPF, MPLS, and multicast (PIM-SM/SSM), with provenexperience designing resilient, highly available global networks
4. Strong understanding of network hardware and platformcapabilities across major vendors, with the ability to evaluatelimitations and optimize design decisions through hands-on research andlab validation
5. Experience designing and supporting hybrid cloudconnectivity, including AWS networking constructs such as Direct Connect,Transit Gateway, VPCs, and route integration
6. Proven experience building and maintainingPython-based network automation, including API-driven and SSH-basedapproaches for configuration management, testing, and operationalefficiency
7. Working knowledge of observability and telemetryconcepts, with exposure to platforms such as Prometheus, Grafana, orsimilar tools for network visibility and performance analysis
8. Strong background in leading technical research,proof-of-concept validation, and pre-implementation design for large-scalenetwork initiatives
9. Solid understanding of network security fundamentals,including segmentation, access control, and zero-trust principles as theyapply to network design
10. Experience operating in fast-paced, highly dynamicenvironments, with the ability to adapt to changing priorities whilemaintaining a strong focus on execution and delivery
11. Demonstrated ability to mentor engineers, influencetechnical direction, and contribute to engineering standards and bestpractices across an organization
12. Experience contributing to technical documentation,design standards, or materials supporting regulatory or audit processes isa plus

Preferred certifications:

1. Cisco CCIE (Routing & Switching or Data Center)or near-equivalent experience
2. AWS Advanced Networking Specialty or similar
3. Arista, Juniper, or other advanced vendorcertifications

A reasonable, good faith The anticipated base paycompensation range for this position is$200,000 to$250,000 per year as base

Benefits:

Full time employees are eligibleFor Health Insurance, Paid Time Off, and 401k match

* The pay range listed above reflects the expectedstarting salary /Pay rate for this role. This range may be adjusted based onmarket conditions, location, and other relevant factors. The Company willdetermine the final starting salary/Pay rate in consultation with the selectedcandidate(s), in full compliance with applicable laws