Technical Architect – Payments Domain

Impronics Technologies; Johannesburg; On-site; ZAR 950,000 - 1,700,000; Full time

Job summary

Impronics Technologies in Johannesburg seeks an experienced Technical Architect - Payments to define architecture for payment platforms, FX, SWIFT and domestic payments, ensuring scalable, secure, and compliant solutions.

You will lead design decisions, mentor engineers, and collaborate with product, security, and infrastructure teams to modernize payment platforms. Experience in cloud, microservices, API-led integration, and cross-border/domestic payments is essential.

Qualifications

• 10-15+ years in software engineering/architecture, preferably Banking/Payments/FinTech.
• 5+ years in payment systems or financial transaction processing.
• Bachelor's or Master's degree in a relevant field.
• Strong stakeholder management and communication skills.
• Ability to explain complex technical concepts to diverse audiences.

Responsibilities

• Define technical architecture and solution design for payment platforms and banking apps.
• Design scalable, secure, highly available payment processing solutions.
• Translate business needs into architecture, designs, and integration patterns.
• Provide technical leadership across the full SDLC.
• Guide integrations with gateways, core banking, FX platforms, and external institutions.
• Collaborate with business, product, security, and infrastructure teams.
• Define standards, data flows, APIs, and integration mechanisms.
• Ensure security, regulatory, audit, and performance compliance.
• Mentor senior developers, tech leads, and architects.

Skills

Leadership

Stakeholder management

Communication

Problem solving

Architecture thinking

Security & regulatory awareness

Technical leadership

Cloud & distributed systems

High availability & resiliency

Cross-functional collaboration

Education

Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science / IT / Engineering

Tools

Java

Spring Boot

.NET

Microservices

REST APIs

Kafka

MQ

API Gateway

SQL/NoSQL Databases

Cloud (AWS/Azure/GCP)

Docker

Kubernetes

Security concepts (encryption, auth)

CI/CD / DevOps

Observability & monitoring

Job description

Role Overview

We are looking for an experienced Technical Architect - Payments with strong expertise in the Banking and Payments domain. The ideal candidate will have hands‑on experience designing and architecting highly scalable, secure, and resilient payment solutions, with strong knowledge of Foreign Exchange (FX), SWIFT messaging, and/or Domestic Payments.

The candidate will be responsible for defining technical architecture, translating business requirements into scalable solutions, driving architectural decisions, and collaborating with engineering, product, business, security, and infrastructure teams.

Key Responsibilities

• Define and own the technical architecture and solution design for payment platforms and banking applications.
• Design scalable, highly available, secure, and resilient payment processing solutions.
• Translate business and functional requirements into technical architecture, solution designs, and integration patterns.
• Provide technical leadership across the complete software development lifecycle.
• Design integrations with payment gateways, core banking systems, treasury systems, FX platforms, clearing systems, and external financial institutions.
• Work closely with business stakeholders, product managers, engineering teams, and enterprise architects.
• Define architecture standards, design principles, technology choices, APIs, interfaces, data flows, and integration mechanisms.
• Ensure solutions comply with security, regulatory, audit, performance, and operational requirements.
• Review technical designs, conduct architecture reviews, and provide guidance to development teams.
• Identify technical risks, architectural gaps, scalability challenges, and opportunities for modernization.
• Drive cloud adoption, API-led integration, microservices, event-driven architecture, and modernization of legacy payment platforms where applicable.
• Support production-critical payment systems and contribute to troubleshooting complex technical issues.
• Mentor senior developers, technical leads, and architects.

Payments Domain Expertise

The candidate should have strong experience in one or more of the following areas:

Foreign Exchange (FX)

• FX transaction lifecycle and processing.
• Spot, forward, swap, and other FX products.
• FX pricing, rate management, and currency conversion.
• Integration with FX/treasury platforms.
• Trade capture, confirmation, settlement, and reconciliation.
• Multi-currency payment processing.

SWIFT / International Payments

• Strong understanding of SWIFT messaging and payment processing.
• Experience with SWIFT MT and/or ISO 20022 MX messages.
• Knowledge of payment messages such as MT103, MT202, MT202 COV, and corresponding ISO 20022 messages.
• Understanding of cross-border payments, correspondent banking, nostro/vostro accounts, settlement, and reconciliation.
• Knowledge of SWIFT gpi and international payment tracking is desirable.
• Experience with ISO 20022 migration/adoption is highly preferred.

Domestic Payments

Experience With Domestic Payment Systems Such As

• NEFT / RTGS / IMPS / UPI or equivalent domestic payment schemes.
• Payment initiation, validation, routing, processing, clearing, and settlement.
• Payment status and lifecycle management.
• Reconciliation and exception handling.
• Integration with banks, payment processors, clearing houses, and regulatory systems.

Technical Skills

• Strong experience in Java / Spring Boot, .NET, or equivalent enterprise technologies.
• Strong understanding of Microservices and REST APIs.
• Experience with event-driven architecture and messaging platforms such as Kafka, MQ, or equivalent.
• Strong knowledge of API Gateway, integration patterns, and distributed systems.
• Experience with relational and NoSQL databases.
• Knowledge of cloud platforms such as AWS, Azure, or GCP.
• Experience with containerization and orchestration technologies such as Docker and Kubernetes is desirable.
• Strong understanding of security principles, encryption, authentication, authorization, and secure API design.
• Experience with CI/CD, DevOps, observability, logging, and monitoring.
• Strong understanding of high availability, disaster recovery, fault tolerance, and performance engineering.

Architecture & Design Skills

• Strong knowledge of Solution Architecture, Enterprise Architecture, and Integration Architecture.
• Experience creating:
  • High-Level Design (HLD)
  • Low-Level Design (LLD)
  • Architecture Decision Records (ADRs)
  • Sequence diagrams
  • Data flow diagrams
  • Integration/API specifications
• Strong understanding of domain-driven design, design patterns, distributed systems, and scalable architecture.
• Ability to evaluate build-vs-buy decisions and recommend appropriate technology solutions.

Regulatory & Security Knowledge

Good understanding of banking and payment security and regulatory requirements, including:

• PCI DSS
• AML / KYC concepts
• Payment fraud and risk controls
• Data privacy and protection
• Secure payment processing
• Audit and regulatory compliance
• Strong authentication and encryption mechanisms

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering, or a related field.
• 10-15+ years of experience in software engineering/architecture, preferably within Banking, Financial Services, Payments, or FinTech.
• At least 5+ years of experience working in payment systems or financial transaction processing.
• Proven experience in designing and implementing large-scale, mission-critical systems.
• Strong stakeholder management and communication skills.
• Ability to explain complex technical concepts to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Preferred Experience

Candidates with experience in any of the following will be highly preferred:

• SWIFT / ISO 20022
• Foreign Exchange / Treasury
• Cross-border payments
• Domestic payment systems
• Payment orchestration
• Core banking integration
• Clearing and settlement
• Payment gateways
• Real-time payments
• Payment modernization
• Cloud-native payment platforms

Key Competencies

• Payment Domain Expertise
• Solution & Technical Architecture
• System Integration
• Distributed Systems
• API & Event-Driven Architecture
• Cloud Architecture
• Security & Resilience
• Technical Leadership
• Stakeholder Management
• Problem Solving