Senior Manager Network Engineering

Request Technology, LLC; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 180,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

Request Technology, LLC is seeking a Senior Network Engineering Manager to lead a global, high-performance team responsible for designing, building, and operating the low-latency trading network infrastructure powering financial exchange platforms. You will balance hands-on depth with strategic execution.

The role requires strong Cisco and multicast expertise, excellent communication with senior leadership, and a track record of delivering reliable, secure connectivity across multi-region

Qualifications

• 10+ years of progressive network engineering experience in low-latency, mission-critical environments with at least 3 years in a leadership or management capacity.
• Deep expertise in low-latency network design and optimization, with understanding of switching behavior, buffering, and deterministic performance at scale.
• Experience with Layer 2/3 protocols (BGP, OSPF, MPLS, VXLAN, multicast), and proven ability to design and operate highly available networks.

Responsibilities

• Lead, mentor, and develop a high-performing network engineering team across a global, multi-region environment.
• Drive strategic network initiatives from concept through deployment with strong execution discipline.
• Own the architecture and long-term evolution of low-latency trading network infrastructure; guide topology, routing, and performance optimization.
• Collaborate with Principal Engineers to raise the technical bar and ensure alignment across teams.
• Manage project portfolio; reprioritize based on business needs and risk.
• Partner with infrastructure, security, cloud, and application teams to deliver integrated solutions.

Skills

Leadership

Team management

Strategic thinking

Communication

Mentoring

Vendor management

Network design

Problem solving

Tools

Python scripting

Network automation

API tooling

Job description

We are unable to sponsor for this permanent full-time role

Position is bonus eligible

Prestigious Financial Institution is currently seeking a Senior Network Engineering Manager with strong Cisco and Multicast experience. Candidate will be a senior technical leader responsible for leading a high-performing network engineering team that designs, builds, and operates the low-latency infrastructure supporting financial exchange platforms. This role sits at the intersection of hands-on technical depth and strategic execution, ensuring the network consistently meets the performance, reliability, and determinism required for global markets. The Sr. Manager serves as a technical authority, mentor, and decision-maker—setting direction, establishing best practices, and driving execution across both strategic projects and day-to-day operations. Strong communication skills are critical, including the ability to clearly articulate technical risks, trade-offs, and priorities to senior leadership while maintaining alignment across engineering teams.

Responsibilities:

• Lead, mentor, and develop a high-performing network engineering team, fostering technical excellence, strong accountability, and disciplined engineering practices across a global, multi-region environment
• Drive strategic network initiatives from concept through execution, including pre-implementation research, design validation, vendor evaluation, and production deployment, ensuring high-quality delivery and strong execution discipline
• Own the architecture and long-term evolution of low-latency trading network infrastructure, guiding design decisions around topology, routing, performance optimization, and scalability in environments where latency and determinism are critical
• Partner closely with senior technical contributors, including Principal Engineers, to lead complex design efforts, validate architectural decisions, and raise the overall technical bar of the organization
• Manage a dynamic project portfolio, continuously reprioritizing work based on business needs, market events, and operational risk while maintaining alignment to key strategic initiatives
• Collaborate across infrastructure, security, cloud, and application teams to deliver integrated solutions, ensuring reliable, secure, and high-performance connectivity across all environments
• Establish and enforce strong operational practices, including structured change management, validation procedures, incident response expectations, and post-implementation review processes
• Support and influence network automation strategy, encouraging scalable, maintainable approaches using Python and API-driven tooling to improve efficiency and reduce operational friction
• Oversee vendor relationships and hardware/software evaluation efforts, including participation in RFPs, proof-of-concept testing, and critical design reviews, ensuring informed technology decisions
• Serve as a senior escalation point for complex network issues, leading high-impact troubleshooting efforts and ensuring timely resolution across engineering and operations teams
• Contribute to budgeting and capacity planning for network infrastructure, aligning investments with performance requirements and business growth
• Define and maintain engineering standards, architecture documentation, and technical processes, including contributions to regulatory-facing documentation where required
• Operate effectively in a fast-paced, evolving environment, balancing long-term architectural direction with immediate operational priorities and driving a strong “make it happen” execution mindset

Qualifications:

• 10+ years of progressive network engineering experience in low-latency, mission-critical environments, with at least 3 years in a leadership or management capacity
• Deep expertise in low-latency network design and optimization, with a strong understanding of switching behavior, buffering, and techniques required to achieve deterministic performance at scale
• Advanced knowledge of Layer 2 and Layer 3 protocols, including BGP, OSPF, MPLS, VXLAN, multicast (PIM-SM), and resilient traffic engineering across global networks
• Proven ability to design, scale, and operate complex, highly available network infrastructure in environments where performance and reliability are critical to the business
• Strong track record of leading and developing engineering teams, including mentoring senior engineers, driving technical standards, and building a high-performance, accountable culture
• Experience leading large, complex projects from research and design through implementation, with disciplined execution and strong operational rigor
• Hands-on experience with network automation using Python and API-driven approaches to improve efficiency, consistency, and scalability
• Solid understanding of network security principles, including segmentation, access control, and secure design practices within enterprise and trading network environments
• Experience managing competing priorities in a fast-paced, dynamic environment, with the ability to align engineering work to business needs and drive execution under pressure
• Strong communication and leadership presence, with the ability to clearly articulate technical strategy, risks, and trade-offs to both engineering teams and senior leadership
• Experience working with distributed teams and partnering across infrastructure, security, and application organizations
• Familiarity with contributing to architecture standards, technical documentation, and, where applicable, materials supporting regulatory or audit requirements

Preferred certifications:

• Cisco CCIE (Routing & Switching or Data Center) or equivalent expert-level experience
• Arista, Juniper, or other advanced networking certifications