Chief Architect

We are working with a fast-growing payments organisation that is revolutionising the financial technology space. As the company scales, they are looking for an experienced Interim Chief Architect to take the lead in driving the architectural vision of their platform. This is an exciting opportunity to join a dynamic, innovative team and contribute to the future of payments infrastructure. The ideal candidate will bring a blend of leadership, hands-on technical expertise, and a proven track record in the payments or fintech industry.

Position Overview :

As Interim Chief Architect, you will be responsible for defining and driving the architectural direction of the organisation’s platform. You’ll play a key role in ensuring that the technical architecture is scalable, secure, and future-proof, all while leading and mentoring a talented team of architects. The role requires a blend of high-level strategic thinking and hands-on technical expertise, with the ability to make critical architectural decisions while maintaining a focus on execution.

Key Responsibilities :

• Lead and mentor a team of architects, cultivating a collaborative and high-performance culture.
• Develop and execute the technical vision and architectural strategy to ensure alignment with business objectives.
• Design and implement scalable, secure, and high-performance architecture solutions for payment systems.
• Provide hands-on leadership in making key architectural decisions, while maintaining a balance between strategic vision and practical execution.
• Work closely with senior leadership, product teams, and engineering teams to ensure alignment between architecture, product development, and business goals.
• Oversee the successful delivery of large-scale projects, ensuring they meet both technical and business requirements.
• Establish and maintain architectural best practices, promoting continuous improvement and consistency across the organization.
• Keep up-to-date with the latest industry trends and technologies, integrating innovative solutions where appropriate.
• Communicate complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
• Collaborate with security, compliance, and operations teams to ensure the architecture meets industry standards and regulatory requirements.

Requirements :

• Minimum of 5 years of experience as a Chief Architect, ideally within the payments, fintech, or a related domain.
• Proven experience in leading and mentoring a team of architects and fostering a culture of innovation and excellence.
• Hands-on experience in designing and implementing complex, scalable systems.
• Deep understanding of modern software architecture patterns (e.g., microservices, event-driven architecture, cloud-native).
• Expertise in designing high-performance payment systems, with a focus on transaction processing, security, and scalability.
• Strong experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) and their application to payment systems.
• In-depth knowledge of data management, integration strategies, and APIs, especially in the context of payments or financial services.
• Ability to balance strategic vision with hands-on execution to deliver both technical and business outcomes.
• Exceptional communication, leadership, and problem-solving skills.
• Relevant certifications or qualifications (e.g., TOGAF, AWS Certified Solutions Architect) are a plus.

Desired Skills :

• Experience working in Agile development environments.
• Familiarity with payment industry regulatory standards (e.g., PCI DSS, GDPR).
• Strong background in high-availability architectures, performance tuning, and disaster recovery.

If you are an experienced Chief Architect looking for an interim leadership role in the payments industry, we would love to hear from you. This is an excellent opportunity to shape the technical future of a rapidly scaling organisation.

Seniority level

Mid-Senior level

Employment type

Contract

Job function

Design and Information Technology

Industries

Business Consulting and Services and Financial Services

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