Find a job 
Featured Companies 
Featured Universities 
For Companies At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead the design of innovative card processing solutions in a dynamic environment.
- Company: Join a leading financial services firm with a focus on cutting-edge technology.
- Benefits: Competitive contract rate, flexible working arrangements, and opportunities for professional growth.
- Why this job: Make a significant impact in the banking sector while working with advanced technologies.
- Qualifications: 15+ years in software engineering and deep expertise in card processing systems required.
- Other info: Collaborate with global teams and drive best practices in a fast-paced setting.
The predicted salary is between 72000 - 108000 £ per year.
We are seeking two highly experienced Senior Solution Architects with deep expertise in card processing platforms to drive architecture and design across a large-scale commercial cards ecosystem.
Key Responsibilities
- Own and deliver end-to-end solution architecture for card-based systems, ensuring alignment with enterprise architecture principles and platform roadmaps.
- Translate business requirements (BRDs) into solution designs, decomposing into MVPs, epics, and detailed technical stories.
- Design and implement scalable, resilient, and secure architectures across distributed systems.
- Define integration patterns (REST APIs, messaging, event-driven architecture) across internal platforms and external partners.
- Provide hands-on architectural leadership to engineering teams, ensuring design consistency and adherence to standards.
- Govern solutions through architecture review boards, ensuring compliance with security, data, and infrastructure standards.
- Identify and mitigate technical risks, including performance, scalability, and security concerns.
- Collaborate with vendors and third parties to define interoperability models and integration contracts.
- Contribute to technology strategy, including cloud adoption, modernization, and legacy transformation initiatives.
- Promote adoption of modern engineering practices including microservices, API-first design, and domain-driven design.
Required Experience
- 15+ years of experience in software engineering and solution architecture, with a strong focus on banking and payments systems.
- Deep domain knowledge of card processing systems (e.g., authorization, clearing, settlement, dispute management).
- Proven experience designing high-throughput, low-latency transactional systems.
- Experience operating within large-scale, matrixed enterprise environments.
- Strong background in cloud-native architecture (AWS, Azure, or GCP), including relevant certifications.
- Demonstrated ability to handle complex, ambiguous technical problems and translate them into structured solutions.
- Strong stakeholder engagement across business, engineering, and infrastructure teams.
Technical Skills
- Architecture & Design: Microservices, event-driven architecture, domain-driven design (DDD), layered architecture.
- Integration: RESTful APIs, OpenAPI specs, messaging systems (Kafka, MQ), asynchronous processing.
- Cloud & Infrastructure: Cloud-native design, containerisation (Docker, Kubernetes), CI/CD pipelines.
- Data: Distributed data systems, RDBMS/NoSQL, data modelling, data consistency patterns.
- Security: Secure-by-design principles, IAM, encryption, threat modelling, regulatory compliance.
- Resilience: High availability, fault tolerance, disaster recovery, observability (logging, monitoring, tracing).
- Channels: Experience designing across web, mobile, API gateways, and backend orchestration layers.
- Legacy Integration: Exposure to mainframe systems (desirable but not essential).
Additional Capabilities
- Strong focus on cybersecurity and secure architecture practices.
- Experience designing mission-critical systems with strict uptime and performance SLAs.
- Ability to mentor engineers and architects, driving technical best practices and governance.
- Comfortable working across global teams with distributed stakeholders.
Card Solutions Architects - Contract role - Sheffield - Immediate employer: StrategicsIQ Ltd
Contact Detail:
StrategicsIQ Ltd Recruiting Team
StudySmarter Expert Advice 🤫
We think this is how you could land Card Solutions Architects - Contract role - Sheffield - Immediate
✨Tip Number 1
Network like a pro! Get out there and connect with folks in the industry. Attend meetups, webinars, or even local tech events. You never know who might have the inside scoop on job openings or can refer you directly to hiring managers.
✨Tip Number 2
Show off your skills! Create a portfolio or GitHub repository showcasing your projects, especially those related to card processing systems. This gives potential employers a tangible look at what you can do and sets you apart from the crowd.
✨Tip Number 3
Prepare for interviews by practising common questions and scenarios specific to solution architecture. Think about how you would tackle real-world problems in card processing and be ready to discuss your thought process and solutions.
✨Tip Number 4
Don’t forget to apply through our website! We’ve got some fantastic roles waiting for talented individuals like you. Plus, it’s a great way to ensure your application gets seen by the right people.
We think you need these skills to ace Card Solutions Architects - Contract role - Sheffield - Immediate
Some tips for your application 🫡
Tailor Your CV: Make sure your CV is tailored to the role of Card Solutions Architect. Highlight your experience with card processing platforms and any relevant projects you've worked on. We want to see how your skills align with our needs!
Craft a Compelling Cover Letter: Your cover letter is your chance to shine! Use it to explain why you're the perfect fit for this contract role. Share specific examples of your past work that demonstrate your expertise in architecture and design.
Showcase Your Technical Skills: Don’t forget to highlight your technical skills in your application. Mention your experience with cloud-native architecture, microservices, and integration patterns. We love seeing candidates who are up-to-date with modern engineering practices!
Apply Through Our Website: We encourage you to apply through our website for a smoother process. It helps us keep track of your application and ensures you don’t miss out on any important updates from us!
How to prepare for a job interview at StrategicsIQ Ltd
✨Know Your Stuff
Make sure you brush up on your knowledge of card processing platforms and architecture principles. Be ready to discuss specific projects where you've designed scalable and secure systems, as well as how you've tackled complex technical challenges in the past.
✨Speak Their Language
Familiarise yourself with the terminology used in the job description, like MVPs, epics, and integration patterns. Use these terms during the interview to show that you understand the role and can communicate effectively with stakeholders across business and engineering teams.
✨Showcase Your Leadership Skills
Prepare examples of how you've provided architectural leadership in previous roles. Highlight instances where you've guided engineering teams, ensured design consistency, and contributed to technology strategy, especially in cloud-native environments.
✨Ask Insightful Questions
Come prepared with questions that demonstrate your interest in the company's architecture and technology strategy. Inquire about their current challenges with card processing systems or how they approach security and compliance, showing that you're not just interested in the role but also in their mission.