Description

About Northern Trust

As a global leader in innovative wealth management, asset servicing, asset management and banking services, Northern Trust (Nasdaq: NTRS) is proud to guide the world's most successful individuals, families, corporations and institutions.

Since 1889, we have aligned our efforts with our three guiding Principles That Endure: Service, Expertise, and Integrity. Together, they reflect the three cornerstones of business conduct which we strive to instill in our employees, whom we call partners, and to provide to our clients and the communities we serve worldwide.

With more than 135 years of financial experience and over 24,000 partners, we serve the world's most sophisticated clients using leading technology and exceptional service.

Senior Lead Network Automation Engineer - Itential Platform

Position Summary

The Senior Lead Network Automation Engineer is a senior technical leader responsible for designing, developing, and scaling network automation capabilities across Northern Trust's global hybrid infrastructure, spanning on-premises datacenters, colocation facilities, and public cloud environments.

This role serves as the primary engineering lead for the Itential Automation Platform, driving the automation of network operations, provisioning, compliance validation, lifecycle management, and operational support processes. The individual will partner closely with Network Engineering, Cloud Engineering, Security Engineering, Architecture, Operations, and Enterprise Automation teams to deliver scalable, secure, and resilient automation solutions.

The ideal candidate combines deep networking expertise with strong software development and automation skills to eliminate manual processes, improve operational efficiency, reduce risk, and accelerate infrastructure delivery across the enterprise.

Primary Technology Focus

Network Automation & Orchestration

• Itential Automation Platform (IAP)
• Itential Automation Gateway (IAG)
• API-driven infrastructure automation
• Workflow and service orchestration
• Event-driven automation
• Self-Service Network Operations

Network Infrastructure

• Enterprise Routing & Switching
• Data Center Networking
• SD-WAN
• WAN and Internet Connectivity
• Network Monitoring & Telemetry

Network Security Platforms

• Check Point Firewalls
• Palo Alto Firewalls
• Zscaler Internet Access (ZIA)
• Zscaler Private Access (ZPA)
• Proxy Infrastructure
• Secure Connectivity Services

Application Delivery & DNS

• F5 BIG-IP (LTM/APM/ASM)
• DNS/DHCP/IPAM Platforms
• Infoblox
• SSL Certificate Management

Cloud Networking

• Microsoft Azure
• AWS
• Google Cloud Platform (GCP)
• Hybrid Cloud Connectivity
• VPN and Zero Trust Connectivity

Automation Toolset

• Python
• REST APIs
• JSON/YAML
• Ansible
• Terraform
• GitHub
• GitHub Actions
• CI/CD Pipelines

Key Responsibilities

Automation Strategy & Engineering Leadership

• Lead the enterprise roadmap for Network Automation and Itential platform maturity.
• Define automation standards, development frameworks, coding standards, and governance models.
• Identify automation opportunities across Network Engineering, Security, Cloud, and Operations functions.
• Drive adoption of automation-first principles throughout the Network organization.
• Serve as the technical authority for network orchestration and workflow automation.

Itential Platform Ownership

• Own the engineering, architecture, lifecycle management, and platform governance for Itential.
• Design reusable automation services, APIs, workflows, and operational runbooks.
• Develop self-service automation capabilities for engineering and operational teams.
• Integrate Itential with enterprise systems including ServiceNow, CMDB, Monitoring, Cloud, Security, and Configuration Management platforms.
• Maintain platform reliability, scalability, and performance.

Network Automation Development

Design and deliver automation for:

• Network provisioning and deprovisioning
• Firewall policy deployment and validation
• Cloud network deployment
• VPN configuration management
• Routing and switching configuration management
• F5 virtual server and certificate automation
• DNS/IPAM automation
• Compliance assessment and remediation
• Device onboarding and lifecycle management
• Configuration backup and comparison
• Pre-change and post-change validation
• Network health assessments
• Operational troubleshooting workflows

Cloud Automation

• Partner with Cloud Engineering teams to automate Azure, AWS, and GCP network services.
• Develop Infrastructure-as-Code and orchestration solutions for hybrid cloud environments.
• Automate cloud connectivity, firewalls, DNS services, load balancing, and networking services.
• Enable secure and compliant cloud networking deployments.

Operational Excellence

• Reduce manual network changes through automation and orchestration.
• Improve change success rates and operational stability.
• Enhance network reliability through automated validation and compliance controls.
• Establish key automation metrics and operational dashboards.
• Lead root cause analysis and automation remediation initiatives.

Security & Compliance

• Ensure automation solutions comply with enterprise security standards.
• Implement automated policy validation and compliance assessment.
• Support audit and regulatory requirements through automated evidence collection.
• Integrate security controls into automation workflows.

Leadership & Collaboration

• Mentor automation engineers and network engineers.
• Lead technical design reviews and automation architecture discussions.
• Partner with Infrastructure, Security, Cloud, Application, and Operations teams.
• Influence enterprise automation strategy and technology direction.
• Act as a senior technical advisor to leadership.

Required Qualifications

Education

• Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or related discipline.
• Equivalent industry experience may be considered.

Experience

• 10+ years of Network Engineering experience.
• 5+ years of Network Automation development experience.
• 3+ years of hands-on Itential platform experience.
• Strong experience operating large-scale enterprise network environments.
• Demonstrated success delivering automation solutions in regulated enterprise environments.

Technical Skills

• Expert understanding of routing and switching technologies.
• Strong knowledge of network security platforms.
• Experience with cloud networking architectures.
• Advanced Python programming skills.
• Experience consuming and developing REST APIs.
• Infrastructure-as-Code expertise.
• GitOps and CI/CD implementation experience.
• Strong understanding of enterprise operational processes and change management.

Preferred Qualifications

Certifications

• Itential Certified Automation Engineer
• CCNP Enterprise
• CCIE Enterprise Infrastructure
• CCNP Security
• Azure Network Engineer Associate
• Azure Solutions Architect Expert
• AWS Advanced Networking Specialty
• Terraform Associate
• DevNet Professional

Additional Experience

• ServiceNow integration experience.
• Event-driven automation architectures.
• Enterprise observability and telemetry platforms.
• AI-assisted operations and automation.
• Large-scale hybrid cloud networking environments.

Core Competencies

• Automation-First Mindset
• Technical Leadership
• Systems Thinking
• Engineering Excellence
• Customer Focus
• Strategic Problem Solving
• Innovation and Continuous Improvement
• Ownership and Accountability
• Cross-Functional Collaboration
• Communication and Influence
• Risk and Compliance Awareness

Success Measures

Success in this role will be measured through:

• Growth of automated network workflows
• Reduction in manual operational activities
• Improvements in change success rates
• Reduced Mean Time to Resolution (MTTR)
• Automation adoption across engineering teams
• Cloud automation maturity
• Compliance and audit readiness
• Platform availability and reliability
• Operational efficiency gains
• Successful mentorship and development of engineering talent

Working with Us

As a Northern Trust partner, you will be part of a flexible and collaborative work culture, which has a strong history of financial strength and stability. Movement within the organization is encouraged, senior leaders are accessible, and you can take pride in working for a company committed to an inclusive workplace and assisting the communities we serve.

Philanthropy is deeply rooted in Northern Trust's history and is an essential element of our culture. Employees around the world give their time and talent to work for the greater good of their communities.

Reasonable Accommodation

Northern Trust is committed to working with and providing adjustments to individuals with health conditions and disabilities. If you need a reasonable accommodation for any part of the employment process, please email our HR Service Center at [email protected] , or alternatively you can discuss your individual requirements with the recruiter you are working with.

About Our Pune Office

The Northern Trust Pune office, established in 2016, is now home to over 3,000 employees. The office handles various functions, including Operations for Asset Servicing and Wealth Management, as well as delivering critical technology solutions that support business operations across the globe.

Our Pune team takes our commitment to service to heart. In 2024, they volunteered more than 10,000+ hours into the communities where they live and work. Learn more.