Distinguished Architect, Trading Platforms and Technology

About the role

As a Distinguished Architect – Trading & Investment Management Technology at LPL Financial, you will define and advance the target-state architecture across the firm’s trading and investment management platforms. This senior individual contributor role partners closely with executive leadership to align business strategy with modern, scalable, and secure technology solutions. You will blend strategic influence with technical depth, guiding architecture standards, modernization initiatives, and innovation efforts across high-volume, mission-critical trading systems.

This hands-on role requires deep expertise in designing low-latency, high-throughput trading systems, including real-time event streaming, order routing, and market data infrastructure at enterprise scale. The position may be based hybrid from LPL’s hubs in NYC (Midtown), Fort Mill SC, San Diego CA, or Austin TX.

Responsibilities

• Own the architecture for enterprise-scale trading platforms supporting $1T+ in assets.
• Partner with business, product, and technology leadership to align architecture strategy with enterprise priorities and investments.
• Build at the intersection of AI-driven trading, real-time data systems, and digital assets.
• Define target-state architecture for trading platforms across Broker Dealer, Advisory, and Models domains.
• Lead modernization initiatives including cloud adoption (AWS), API-first design, and transformation to microservices and event-driven architectures.
• Establish and evolve enterprise architecture standards, frameworks, and reusable assets that drive scalability, performance, and security.
• Influence enterprise standards across domains and drive adoption of emerging technologies including AI/ML, real-time data platforms, and blockchain-based capabilities.
• Guide and influence domain architects to ensure architectural consistency and quality across the trading ecosystem.
• Champion Architecture as Code (AaC) to enable scalable governance, compliance, and continuous delivery.
• Provide strategic guidance on build vs. buy decisions and industry best practices to executive stakeholders.

Requirements

• 8 or more years of experience designing enterprise-scale architectures, including microservices and event-driven systems.
• 5 or more years of experience in trading technology domains (e.g., equities, ETFs, options, or wealth platforms).
• Experience in trading systems including OMS/EMS platforms, FIX protocol, and market data infrastructure.
• Experience leading cloud transformation initiatives (AWS preferred) and modernizing legacy platforms.
• Experience in defining and executing long-term architecture strategies and roadmaps.

Core Competencies

• Strategic systems thinking with the ability to translate business goals into scalable technical solutions.
• Strong executive communication and influence skills.
• Hands-on technical leadership with a focus on innovation and modernization.

Preferences

• Experience in financial services, wealth management, or broker-dealer environments.
• Familiarity with AI/ML platforms or use cases within trading environments.
• Exposure to blockchain or distributed ledger technologies and digital asset platforms.

Pay

$197,966.00 – $329,909.00. Actual base salary varies based on factors including relevant skill, prior experience, education, internal peer base salary, demonstrated performance, and geographic location.