Head of Network Reliability Engineering

Job Summary

We are seeking a highly skilled and proactive Head of Network Reliability Engineering to ensure the reliability and performance of our network infrastructure. This role focuses on designing and implementing systems that improve network reliability, reduce downtime, and support continuous operations across all business-critical services. This position is hand on delivery and requires a deep understanding of network principles, security best practices, and compliance requirements specific to the financial services industry. The ideal candidate will be a highly skilled problem-solver with a proven track record of managing complex network environments and ensuring high availability and data integrity.

Job Responsibilities

• Design, implement, manage and maintain reliable and scalable mission-critical network infrastructure, including low latency trading networks, data centre fabrics, branch connectivity, and secure remote access solutions.
• Monitor network performance and troubleshooting issues to ensure high availability and minimal latency.
• Experience with overseeing and developing a team of engineers dedicated to maintaining and enhancing system reliability.
• Collaborate with various departments to design and implement robust infrastructure solutions, monitor system performance, and address any issues that arise promptly.
• Manage performance and goals for NRE Team.
• High degree of attention to details in implementations.
• Strong system design and distributed systems experience.
• Deep experience operationalizing and troubleshooting Linux/BSD at scale.
• Conduct root cause analysis of network failures and implement preventive measures.
• Ensure the security and integrity of the network infrastructure by implementing and maintaining robust security controls, including firewalls, intrusion detection/prevention systems (IDS/IPS), network segmentation, and access control lists (ACLs).
• Troubleshoot complex network and security issues with minimal downtime, adhering to strict incident management and resolution SLAs.
• Develop and maintain comprehensive network documentation, including network diagrams, configuration standards, security policies, and disaster recovery procedures.
• Plan and execute network upgrades, patching, Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures (CVE) and non-compliance remediations, migrations, and expansions in a controlled and change-managed manner, minimizing disruption to critical financial systems.
• Implement, manage and enhance network infrastructure monitoring and alerting systems via Central Observability Platform (COP) to proactively identify and resolve potential issues before they impact business or operations.
• Collaborate closely with cybersecurity teams to implement and enforce security policies and ensure network compliance with relevant financial regulations (e.g. MAS Technology Risk Management Guidelines).
• Evaluate, conduct proof-of-concept (POC) and recommend new network and security technologies on a regular basis that enhance performance, operations, resiliency, security, and scalability while adhering to budgetary constraints.
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to support infrastructure needs and resolve network-related issues.
• Participate in the development and testing of disaster recovery and business continuity plans specifically for network infrastructure, ensuring rapid recovery in the event of an outage.
• Automate network configuration and management tasks using scripting languages and automation tools to improve efficiency and reduce the risk of human error.
• Develop and maintain automation tools for network configuration, monitoring, and incident response.
• Manage relationships with network and security vendors, ensuring service level agreements (SLAs) are met and issues are resolved effectively.
• Perform regular network security assessments and vulnerability testing, implementing remediation plans as necessary.
• Participate in audit processes and provide necessary documentation and support to demonstrate network compliance.
• Stay abreast of the latest threats and vulnerabilities in the financial services sector and implement proactive measures to mitigate risks

Job Requirements

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or a related field.
• Minimum of 10 years of progressive experience in network engineering roles, with significant experience in a financial institution or other highly regulated industries.
• Expert-level knowledge of networking protocols and technologies, including TCP/IP, BGP, OSPF, MPLS, VRF, OSI model, SDN, ACLs and multicast.
• Extensive hands-on experience configuring and managing network hardware from major vendors such as Cisco, Arista, and/or Juniper in complex, high-availability environments.
• Deep understanding of network security principles, architectures, and best practices relevant to financial services.
• Proven experience managing and configuring enterprise-class firewalls (e.g. Palo Alto Networks, Check Point, Fortinet), intrusion detection/prevention systems (IDS/IPS), VPNs, and other security appliances.
• Experience with network monitoring and management tools (e.g. SolarWinds, Nagios, Splunk).
• Extensive hands-on with cloud networking concepts and cloud platforms (e.g. Google Cloud, AWS, Azure) in a financial context.
• Proficiency in scripting languages (e.g. Python, Ansible, Terraform) for network automation and Infrastructure-As-Code (IaC).
• Proficient in designing and integrating RESTful APIs to enable seamless communication between network systems and automation tools, with a solid understanding of HTTP methods, endpoint structuring, authentication mechanisms, and best practices for scalable and secure API development.
• Solid understanding of Kubernetes networking components such as CNI plugins, ingress controllers, and service mesh, along with Docker networking modes for container communication and isolation.
• Strong analytical, troubleshooting, and problem-solving skills with the ability to diagnose and resolve complex network and security issues under pressure.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to articulate technical concepts to both technical and non-technical audiences.
• Ability to work independently, manage multiple priorities, and collaborate effectively within a team.
• Relevant industry certifications such as CCNP, CCIE (routing and switching or security), CISSP, or other security-focused certifications are highly preferred.

Preferred Skillsets

• Experience with specific financial industry technologies and protocols (e.g. FIX protocol).
• Experience with SDN (Software Defined Networking) and NFV (Network Functions Virtualization).
• Knowledge of DevOps practices and CI/CD pipelines.
• Knowledge of market data feeds and their network requirements.
• Experience with low-latency networking environments.
• Familiarity with compliance and regulatory frameworks relevant to financial institutions in Singapore (e.g. MAS Notices and Guidelines).
• Experience with network forensics and security incident response.
• Strong communication skills to work with DevOps, SRE, and application teams in a fast-paced environment.