Full job descriptionPayments Solutions Architect - Payments & Treasury - London
Rate: £700 - £1000 per day
Location: London or Brussels
Contract: 12 months
Working Model: Hybrid - approximately 8 days per month onsite
Travel: Occasional travel between London and Brussels, approximately once every 6 weeks
The Opportunity
We are looking for a Senior Cash & Banking Architect to join a major financial services organisation and support the modernisation of its Cash & Banking technology landscape.
This is a senior architecture role sitting at the intersection of payments, cash management, treasury and technology architecture. You will help shape the future architecture of business-critical banking platforms while working across both modern and legacy technology environments.
We are particularly interested in candidates with strong experience in payments and cross-border payments, who understand the end-to-end payment lifecycle and can translate complex business requirements into scalable technology solutions.
You do not need previous experience within this organisation or detailed knowledge of its existing cash platforms. A strong foundation in payments, banking and architecture is the priority.
Key Responsibilities
*Define and shape architecture across cash, payments and treasury platforms.
*Support the modernisation of existing banking and payment systems.
*Provide architecture expertise across the end-to-end payment lifecycle, including payment initiation, processing, clearing and settlement.
*Design solutions using event-driven architectures, APIs and microservices.
*Define integration patterns across multiple platforms and technology environments.
*Work with both modern platforms and established/legacy banking systems.
*Support the evolution from legacy messaging and integration approaches towards modern standards and architectures.
*Lead architecture workshops and working sessions with business and technology stakeholders.
*Evaluate solution options, architectural trade-offs, dependencies and risks.
*Present and defend architecture recommendations to senior stakeholders.
*Work collaboratively with engineering teams, business teams, product owners and other architects.
What We’re Looking For
Payments & Banking
*Strong experience within the payments domain.
*Good understanding of cross-border/international payments.
*Understanding of the complete payment lifecycle through to clearing and settlement.
*Experience with SWIFT messaging.
*Knowledge of ISO 20022 and modern payment messaging standards.
*Familiarity with legacy SWIFT MT messaging alongside newer MX/ISO 20022 standards.
*Knowledge of cash management and/or treasury concepts.
*Experience gained within banking, financial-market infrastructure, clearing, settlement or a relevant financial-services consultancy.
Architecture
*Significant experience as a Solution Architect, Domain Architect, Enterprise Architect or Payments Architect.
*Strong understanding of event-driven architecture.
*Experience designing API and microservices-based architectures.
*Strong enterprise integration knowledge.
*Experience working across complex, highly integrated technology landscapes.
*Understanding of integration between mainframe and open-system environments would be advantageous but is not essential.
*Experience modernising legacy banking or payments platforms would be highly desirable.
Leadership & Stakeholder Management
This is not simply a technical design position. We are looking for an architect who is comfortable operating at a senior level and influencing important technology decisions.
You should be able to:
*Lead architecture and solution-design workshops.
*Facilitate discussions between business and technology teams.
*Clearly explain complex architecture decisions.
*Challenge existing approaches constructively.
*Respond confidently when your proposed architecture is challenged.
*Explain the assumptions, risks and trade-offs behind your recommendations.
*Adapt your approach as new information becomes available.
Ideal Background
Relevant candidates may currently be working within:
*Corporate or Transaction Banking
*Payments
*Cash Management
*Treasury Technology
*Financial Market Infrastructure
*Clearing & Settlement
*Post-Trade Technology
*Banking / Payments Transformation
*Financial Services Consulting
Previous experience within a CSD or financial-market infrastructure organisation would be valuable, but is not a prerequisite.
Please do send across to me the most up to date CV to
*Rates depend on experience and client requirements