Distinguished Architect, Trading Platforms and Technology

About the role

This role serves as a senior individual-contributor architecture leader within Trading & Investment Management Technology. The Distinguished Architect partners directly with the EVP/CIO and executive leadership to define target-state architecture across LPL's trading platforms while contributing to the broader enterprise architecture strategy.

Responsibilities

• Architecture Leadership: Define and steward target-state architecture for mission-critical trading platforms, including Broker Dealer, Advisory, and Models capabilities, along with all upstream and downstream dependencies.

• Partner with business, product, and technology leaders to align architectural strategy with enterprise priorities and funding decisions.

• Guide and influence domain-aligned solution and data architects to maintain architectural coherence and quality across the trading domain.

• Lead the effective application of enterprise architecture principles through a deep understanding of the architecture discipline, processes, concepts, and best practices.

• Standards, Frameworks & Innovation: Establish and evolve architectural standards, principles, reusable assets, and frameworks that drive scalability, availability, security, performance, and quality across the enterprise.

• Research, develop, and implement innovative solutions across the architecture to enable strategic objectives; serve as an expert for enterprise architecture tools, technology, and standards.

• Monitor and apply emerging technologies — including AI/ML for predictive analytics, intelligent order routing, and anomaly detection; blockchain and distributed ledger technology for tokenized securities and on-chain settlement; and modern event-driven data platforms — to transform trading operations and advisor experiences.

• Drive the adoption of AI-powered capabilities across trading workflows, including algorithmic trading assistance, real-time risk monitoring, portfolio rebalancing optimization, and natural language interfaces for advisors and clients.

• Identify opportunities for enterprise reuse, efficiency, and improved business outcomes through architectural alignment and shared platform foundations.

• Modernization & Strategy: Lead modernization initiatives including cloud adoption on AWS, API-first transformation, and migration from legacy monolithic trading systems to microservices and event-driven architectures.

• Define architectural blueprints and best practices for mission-critical trading portfolios; lead continuous evolution of the supporting technology platform, including strategic technology decisions and integration strategies.

• Champion Architecture as Code (AaC) practices — defining, versioning, and governing architecture models as code artifacts integrated into CI/CD pipelines — to enable automated compliance checks, drift detection, and living documentation across the trading technology estate.

• Contribute to and drive common architectural standards across the enterprise that emphasize scalability, availability, security, performance, and quality.

• Stakeholder Engagement: Interface with key business and IT leaders to understand priorities and deliver modern product architecture strategies and solutions that enable the company's vision and growth.

• Proactively engage executive leadership to influence funding, priorities, and architecture change while engaging deep in the technology organization to communicate strategies and collaborate hands-on with solutioning.

• Provide architectural and strategic consulting in the areas of external trends, best practices, and adherence to standards; present build-versus-buy evaluations clearly to the entire organization.

• Lead and facilitate the creation of governing principles to guide information, technology, and solution decision-making across the enterprise.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or a related field.
• 5 or more years of experience in trading technology domains, resulting in both trading business and technology expertise — including knowledge of retail, self-directed, and private wealth trading across equities, mutual funds, ETFs, options, annuities, and structured products.
• Hands-on experience with major trading platforms and order management systems (OMS), execution management systems (EMS), and trading venue connectivity, including FIX protocol and market data infrastructure.
• Experience designing and integrating AI/ML capabilities into trading platforms, including use cases such as intelligent order routing, predictive risk models, anomaly detection, and AI-assisted advisor tools.
• 8 or more years of experience designing enterprise-class solution and data architectures, including microservices, event-driven systems, and high-volume, mission-critical trading platforms.
• Demonstrated experience designing and implementing strategic roadmaps along with the governance mechanisms to achieve them.
• Hands-on experience developing architecture blueprints, systems diagrams, data models, process flows, data flows, and other key architecture deliverables.
• Experience with Architecture as Code (AaC) practices and tooling — including defining, versioning, and validating architecture models programmatically using tools such as Structurizr, Backstage, ArchiMate, or equivalent DSL-based frameworks — to ensure architecture is treated as a living, auditable artifact alongside code.

Preferences

• Master's degree in computer science, Engineering, or a related technical field.
• Expertise in pricing, market data, and order management systems across equities, mutual funds, ETFs, options, annuities, and structured products.
• Experience with retail and self-directed trading platforms, including architecture patterns for high-throughput, low-latency order routing and execution.
• Experience with blockchain platforms (e.g., Ethereum, Hyperledger, Solana) and their application to financial services use cases such as digital asset custody, tokenization, and on-chain settlement.
• Familiarity with AI/ML frameworks and platforms (e.g., Amazon SageMaker, Bedrock, or equivalent) and experience embedding AI capabilities into financial services workflows.
• Financial services experience, particularly in wealth management or broker-dealer environments.
• AWS Solutions Architect certification.
• Familiarity with regulatory standards relevant to trading and broker-dealer operations.

Pay

$188,902.00 - $314,768.00

Schedule

N/A

Benefits

N/A