Solution Architect – Payments (Contract)

Solution Architect – Payments Migration (Contract)

We’re working with a leading consulting firm who are supporting a tier one financial services firm on a major payments programme and are looking for a contract Solution Architect with strong, hands-on payments experience.

This isn’t a role for a generalist. You’ll need to have worked directly on payments schemes and migration activity, with a clear understanding of how things operate in live environments.

Experience required:

• Leading or playing a key role in payments migration programmes
• Strong knowledge of UK schemes (BACS, Faster Payments)
• Experience with SWIFT and/or SEPA
• Hands-on architecture or design within core payments systems

You’ll need to be able to clearly explain:

• Which schemes you’ve worked on
• Your role in the architecture/design
• The part of the payment flow you owned

(e.g. gateway/connectivity, clearing & settlement, core engine, messaging, reconciliation)

Environment:

• Complex, legacy-heavy landscapes
• Mainframe-integrated systems (MQ, MT/MX messaging beneficial)
• Programmes where documentation doesn’t always match reality

What matters:

• Strong understanding of end-to-end payment flows
• Experience delivering scheme integration, migration or transformation
• Ability to work within live environments without impacting processing
• Comfortable managing risk, controls and regulatory considerations (CASS/CISA)

Approach:

• Pragmatic, delivery-focused
• Able to spot issues early and escalate where needed
• Comfortable working with engineers, SMEs and delivery teams
• Clear and concise in documenting risks, assumptions and decisions

If you’ve worked hands-on in payments migration and understand how these systems behave in the real world, this is worth a conversation.