Solution Architect - Cards & Payments

Job Title: Solution Architect - Cards & Payments
Location: Northampton/hybrid
Salary/Rate: Up to £525 per day inside IR35
Start Date: 07/07/2025
Job Type: Contract

Company Introduction
We have an exciting opportunity now available with one of our sector-leading financial services clients! They are currently looking for a skilled Solution Architect to join their team for a contract until the end of the year.

Job Responsibilities/Objectives

1. Produce and Own the technology strategy and architecture for one or more domain areas in Consumer Banking & Payments e.g. Cards, Payment Gateways
2. Defining the technology strategy, roadmaps and vision consistent with wider Group standards. Using enterprise architecture techniques, focusing on business outcomes, in conjunction with respective CIO, Business Architects and business stakeholders, to translate strategic business and technological goals.
3. Ensuring that technology services are highly customer and client-centric in both providing innovative and progressive products and services, and in partnering with the Business Units to ensure their client and customer strategies are successfully achieved;
4. Leading the evaluation of technology industry and market trends to determine their potential impact on the architecture for the domain
5. Investigating specific technologies, conducting technical briefings and recommend next steps to Operations & Technology stakeholders at all levels. Researching relevant technologies and demonstrate their benefits by developing proof of concepts where necessary.
6. Partnering with Engineers, Architects and broadly colleagues within O&T and Business community to coordinate strategies and technology investment recommendations
7. Maintaining and tracking technical debt as a result of any changes to target state solutions to accommodate project
8. Maintaining knowledge of relevant technologies at the core/internals levels in order to perform in Subject Matter Expert role

Required Skills/Experience
The ideal candidate will have the following:

1. Detailed knowledge of the Cards & Payments industry and the wider competitive environment (including history, trends, future development) to support formation of technology strategies that exploit innovation in this field
2. Experience in architecting and delivering commercially proven, end to end solutions achieving complex business goals, including integration projects/programmes across disparate technologies, application/infrastructure integration within one or more areas of the CB&P domains capabilities is a pre-requisite
3. Ability to provide an excellent customer/client experience, underpinned by a lean cost base, strong controls and a culture of collaboration, innovation and high performance. Very strong strategic vision.
4. Real world architecture experience in banking / financial services is essential with significant practical experience of defining and implementing enterprise wide technical solutions
5. Strong Technical and Engineering skills with hands-on experience in the design and implementation of complex, distributed technologies, cloud (AWS &/or Azure), micro-services, messaging, APIs, Data transformation, ETL, Monitoring tools, Infrastructure and Security solutions.
6. The ability to analyse and distil complex information quickly, presenting to non-Technology colleagues in a clear and succinct manner.
7. Understanding of key considerations in Secure systems & software design, Resilience and High-Availability patterns for mission-critical applications, including multi-data-centre deployments
8. Exposure and experience of complex, distributed technologies, cloud, micro-services, messaging, APIs, Data transformation, ETL, Monitoring tools
9. Hands on capability to work with the LA, Solution Architects, Designers and developers in supporting resolution of any critical issues.

If you are interested in this opportunity, please apply now with your updated CV in Microsoft Word/PDF format.

Disclaimer
Notwithstanding any guidelines given to level of experience sought, we will consider candidates from outside this range if they can demonstrate the necessary competencies.

Square One is acting as both an employment agency and an employment business, and is an equal opportunities recruitment business. Square One embraces diversity and will treat everyone equally. Please see our website for our full diversity statement.