MetLife

The Team You Will Join

The SHIELD function is a cornerstone of the enterprise’s experience protection strategy.  This team is responsible for designing and implementing the protection layer that safeguards applications, data pipelines, infrastructure, and security domains. By partnering with domain architects, SMEs, and cross-functional teams, the SHIELD group ensures operational risks are converted into engineered patterns, enabling proactive detection and containment of drift before it impacts customers or employees. 

The Opportunity 

As the SHIELD Architect, you will serve as the senior technical authority for the enterprise’s experience protection layer. You will define guardrails, early-warning logic, cross-domain stabilization patterns, and automated controls that span Application, Data, Infrastructure, and Security. Your work will empower SHIELD Engineers and the broader organization to sense and contain operational drift, drive safe automation boundaries, and uplift the maturity of RUN ->  PROTECT -> EVOLVE capabilities. You will collaborate across the enterprise to deliver services that are resilient, adaptive, and aligned with business outcomes. 

How You’ll Help Us Build a Confident Future (Key Responsibilities) 

• Architect end-to-end protection patterns across app, data, infra, and security layers. 
• Design early-detection logic for drift, latency creep, SLO/SLA degradation, data freshness issues, schema changes, batch/reporting failures, authentication friction, and infrastructure saturation. 
• Define control-as-code patterns embedded within ServiceNow workflows for Change, Incident, Problem, Release, and Access Management. 
• Create stabilization logic such as autoscale, route shifts, job controls, controlled rollbacks, and safety limits. 
• Partner with domain architects and L3 SMEs to align safe automation boundaries and system-level design constraints. 
• Develop diagnostic correlation logic to accelerate triage and root-cause identification for SHIELD Engineers. 
• Govern the quality of production findings, ensuring high-fidelity evidence, cross-domain correlation, severity scoring, and actionable recommendations. 
• Own SHIELD’s engineering standards, domain integration patterns, and protection roadmap. 
• Collaborate with cross-functional teams to uplift operational maturity and resilience. 

Required Skills: 

• 7 - 10+ years in engineering across Application, Data, Infrastructure, or Security domains. 
• Deep familiarity with observability (logs, metrics, traces), SLO design, automation patterns, and distributed systems. 
• Experience with cloud platforms, Kubernetes, CI/CD, messaging systems, and ServiceNow or equivalent tooling. 
• Strong diagnostic, analytical, and pattern-recognition capabilities. 
• Ability to operate calmly under pressure in critical moments. 

Preferred Skills

• Advanced degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related discipline. 
• Prior experience in leading protection or automation programs within large, regulated, global enterprises. 
• Exposure to SRE, MLOps, or AI-driven operational analytics. 
• Certifications in relevant infrastructure domains (e.g., AWS/Azure Architect, ITIL). 
• Strategic thinker with the ability to translate complex technical initiatives into measurable business outcomes. 

Success Indicators 

• Early detection of issues before impact. 
• Reduced MTTR and volume of high-severity events. 
• High-quality, actionable findings & backlog items for engineering teams. 
• Automated controls that improve change safety, stability, and resilience.