Principal Enterprise Architect

Tower Group; Gauteng; On-site; ZAR 900,000 - 1,500,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading company in the fintech sector is seeking an Enterprise Architect to develop and guide the architectural strategy to align with business objectives. The role includes governance, oversight of architecture compliance, and collaboration with various stakeholders to create scalable, secure technology ecosystems.

Qualifications

• 8+ years in software architecture, design, and development in large enterprise environments.
• Domain experience in Financial Services and FinTech is advantageous.

Responsibilities

• Develop and evolve enterprise architecture blueprint and frameworks.
• Lead multi-year roadmap development across technology domains.
• Ensure ongoing architecture governance and compliance.

Skills

Enterprise architecture frameworks

Digital business models

Architecture transformations

DevSecOps

Agile methodologies

Data modeling

Cloud architecture

Payments technologies

Education

Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering

TOGAF, Zachman, or similar EA certification

Job description

Develop and evolve the enterprise architecture blueprint, frameworks, and target-state architecture, ensuring alignment with long-term business objectives and future-state technology vision.

Define and maintain architectural principles, domain strategies, and standardized reference models that support scalable, interoperable, and secure technology ecosystems.

Translate corporate strategy, regulatory mandates, and digital transformation goals into clear architectural initiatives and target-state designs.

Lead multi-year roadmap development across technology domains including applications, data, integration, infrastructure, and security in collaboration with domain architects and delivery teams.

Continuously assess technology trends and emerging innovations to guide modernization and strategic platform selection.

Governance & Oversight

Chair Architecture & Design Review Boards (ARBs) to review, guide, and approve solution designs, ensuring consistency with enterprise standards and strategic objectives.

Define governance processes for architectural compliance, exception management, and deviation tracking across business portfolios and technical teams.

Perform architecture assurance and gap assessments to identify technical risks, misalignments, and opportunities for consolidation or optimization.

Ensure ongoing enforcement and evolution of architecture policies, design standards, and lifecycle documentation for all enterprise assets.

Support audit readiness and regulatory compliance by embedding architecture governance in change delivery.

Collaboration & Stakeholder Engagement

Act as a strategic advisor to the Head of Architecture, shaping investment decisions and prioritizing technology initiatives based on architectural insights.

Work closely with product managers, domain architects, engineers, and business analysts to co-create architectural solutions that meet functional and non-functional requirements.

Build alignment across multiple delivery streams and business units to ensure architecture decisions enable reusability, resilience, and cost-effectiveness.

Facilitate cross-functional design workshops, architecture forums, and technical deep-dives to enable shared understanding and decision-making.

Represent the enterprise architecture function in vendor evaluations, technology partnerships, and RFP / RFI processes.

Architecture Delivery

Lead the design and evolution of enterprise-scale platforms, including cloud-native systems, Payment Systems, API gateways, service orchestration layers, event-driven architectures, and data lakes.

Guide the definition of architecture enablers and technical epics within agile planning cycles.

Ensure timely delivery of architecture artifacts and technical blueprints to support sprint-level execution and platform runway readiness.

Monitor implementation of architectural designs to ensure conformance with standards and provide hands-on support in resolving complex design challenges.

Foster DevSecOps and platform engineering practices by integrating architecture with CI / CD pipelines, security automation, and observability frameworks.

Technical Experience: Essential

• Proven track record in defining and evolving enterprise-wide architecture strategies, reference models, and technology roadmaps.
• Deep understanding of enterprise architecture frameworks such as TOGAF, Zachman, or FEAF, and experience applying them in complex organizations.
• Experience driving architecture transformations aligned to digital business models (e.g., omnichannel, platform as a service, composable architectures).
• Hands-on experience architecting across multiple domains, including applications (monolith to microservices, lifecycle management), data (MDM, data lakes, streaming pipelines), integration (API-led design, event-driven architecture), and infrastructure & cloud (AWS, Azure, GCP, Kubernetes, IaaS/PaaS).
• Deep understanding of regulatory compliance frameworks (PCI-DSS, GDPR, ISO) and integrating security protocols like Zero Trust, OAuth2, SAML.
• Experience with architectural risk assessments, threat modelling, secure-by-design principles, and software engineering practices.
• Strong experience in designing scalable, reliable, and secure systems, with knowledge of architectural styles (Microservices, SOA, MVC, Event-driven).
• Understanding of cloud architecture, data modeling, data warehousing, and data integration.
• Experience in Mobile App Development, Mini-app Frameworks, and architectural modeling tools (ArchiMate, Sparx EA).
• Leading or supporting large-scale modernization or transformation programs.
• Experience with continuous delivery, release automation, Blockchain, AI/ML, edge computing, orchestration patterns, and Payments technologies.
• Ability to translate policies into detailed technical designs and conduct vendor assessments and due diligence.

Educational Qualifications:

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, Engineering, or related field, or equivalent work experience.
• TOGAF, Zachman, or similar EA certification preferred.
• 8+ years in software architecture, design, and development in large enterprise environments.
• Domain experience in Financial Services and FinTech is advantageous.
• Experience with Agile and Waterfall methodologies.