Lead Solutions Architect

Samaha Consulting; Johannesburg; On-site; ZAR 600 000 - 900 000; Full time

Job summary

A leading consulting firm based in Johannesburg seeks an experienced architect for payment services design, requiring over 5 years in payment solution architecture within the banking sector. You will be responsible for developing innovative payment methods and engaging with technical teams to ensure design effectiveness while advocating for best practices. This role involves direct collaboration with fraud management teams to mitigate risks and enhance operational efficiency.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of experience in Payment Solution / End-to-end Architecture, ideally in the South African Banking industry.
• Experience in system analysis & design.
• Certification in TOGAF or similar framework preferred.

Responsibilities

• Design, build and deploy payment services projects.
• Deliver recognized and innovative payment methods.
• Coordinate development activities to ensure design consistency.
• Engage with technical stakeholders for solution design approval.

Skills

End-to-end Payment Architecture

System Analysis

Fraud Management

Cross-Functional Collaboration

Continuous Improvement Methodologies

Education

Degree in Business Science, Engineering, or Computer Science

Tools

iServerIT

Job description

Duties & Responsibilities

Design, build and deploy payment services projects as per the roadmap of our business units; Deliver the most recognized payment methods in each market & innovative payment methods working closely with technology providers; Analyse different technical options to deliver the payment architecture, in alignment with the global / local payments roadmap, functional constraints and the e-commerce solutions landscape defined as part of the company strategy; Perform workload estimation and prototype development together with the development teams; Coordinate in some projects the development activities to ensure consistency between as‑built solutions and their design; Delivery of Solution Designs taking into account timeline and budget constraints; Engage and collaborate with technical stakeholders (Architecture, Security, Infrastructure) to get the solution design approved and in line with IT strategy; When applicable, assist the development manager in the coordination of development activities to get a solution in line with technical design documentation; Provide appropriate documentation and coaching to the project team and provide assistance during installation / deployment phase; Ensure efficient knowledge transfer and ramp up time for new on‑ and off‑shore developers; Industrialization is integrated in the design of the solution when possible to be easily rolled out in other context without major developments; Work to assure Online and Offline international payment acceptance for all brands and markets; Use continuous improvement methodologies to grow revenue, reduce costs and mitigate risk; Work to mitigate risk when it comes to payments acceptance.

Assure PCI and ISO principles.

Work with Fraud / Risk business teams and prepare plans for data breach response plans and DRP related to payments acceptance. Advocate the adoption of "best practices" to ensure standardization across the organization in processes and solutions and collaborate with cross functional business units and other functional teams to drive end‑to‑end process consistency, maturity & effectiveness.

Desired Experience & Qualifications

A Degree in Business Science, Engineering, Computer Science and / or IT. Preference would be given to a candidate certified in TOGAF or a similar Framework. The Candidate needs to have : 5 years + experience in Payment Solution / End‑to‑end Architecture (ideally in the South African Banking industry). Experience in the bank or finance related industry 3-5 years experience in System analysis & design TOGAF 9 or 10 Modelling experience in EA tools, like iServerIT & Internet.