Chief Architect

ZipRecruiter; London; On-site; GBP 90,000 - 130,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading company in the banking sector is seeking a Chief Architect to develop solutions and guide engineering teams. This role involves significant technical expertise in banking and payments, with a focus on solution architecture and effective communication to drive initiatives. The ideal candidate will work closely with various teams to understand and solve business challenges, ensuring successful delivery in a fast-paced environment.

Qualifications

• Experience in banking, especially with payments ecosystems.
• Broad technological experience, designing comprehensive solutions.

Responsibilities

• Communicating effectively across the bank and with clients.
• Providing technical direction to internal and external teams.

Skills

Communication

Leadership

Organizational Skills

Problem Solving

Tools

SQL

AWS

Job description

Job Description

Bank of London is seeking a Chief Architect to develop solutions for our key challenges and guide our engineering teams. This is an individual contributor role reporting directly to the Chief Technology Officer. Our technology team comprises approximately 30 colleagues, along with third-party suppliers. While leadership is expected from the successful candidate, this role does not initially include line management responsibilities. However, it is expected to deputise for the CTO and serve as a stepping stone towards a CTO position in the future.

We are a small, dynamic company where architecture work has traditionally been carried out by engineering teams. Given the significant investments in new business capabilities planned, this role has been created to provide the capacity to shape major initiatives and deliver designs for both internal and third-party engineering teams.

The role will be based in our London office near Bank, with occasional travel to Belfast and Vilnius, our other strategic locations.

Critical experience areas include banking domain knowledge, particularly around payments, core banking, and channels. Technical expertise is also required, with a strong understanding of software, data, infrastructure, and security architecture. The primary skill set is solution architecture, creating end-to-end solutions considering all design aspects. Our technology is cloud-based, with internally developed channel applications hosted on AWS and third-party hosted core banking and payments engines.

This senior role is for a detail-oriented, hands-on practitioner. 'Hands-on' means you should be capable of creating documentation, diagrams, mapping fields, building prototypes, writing SQL, calling APIs, and solving problems pragmatically—without necessarily being a ninja software engineer.

Excellent communication skills and a focus on delivery are essential. The environment is fast-paced, with a flat structure promoting rapid decision-making and delivery. You will work closely with colleagues in Product and Technology and interact with various bank functions and clients to understand their requirements and challenges.

Responsibilities include:

• Communicating effectively across the bank and with clients to understand business problems and design solutions.
• Providing technical direction to internal and external teams.
• Applying banking and payment scheme knowledge, understanding client, colleague, and regulator expectations.

Minimum requirements:

• A positive self-starter with excellent communication skills and strong organizational abilities, capable of establishing relationships with diverse stakeholders in a fast-paced environment.
• Leadership skills and credibility to drive decisions and build consensus.
• A calm demeanor with the motivation to perform well under pressure.
• Experience in banking, especially with payments ecosystems.
• Broad technological experience, including designing comprehensive solutions across multiple applications and vendors.

Work location:

London (5 days per week in the office). Travel to other locations may occasionally be required.

Bank of London is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversity and inclusion. All qualified applicants will receive consideration without regard to race, gender, age, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, expression, veteran status, or other protected characteristics.