Lead Architect, Payments Transformation - Manchester/Edinburgh

A Tier 1 UK bank, with a newly appointed Head of Payments Architecture, is seeking a Lead Architect to help define and deliver the future of payments technology. This is a high-impact role for someone who is passionate about data architecture and skilled in designing enterprise-level systems where data underpins every decision and service. You will lead architectural direction, guide a high-calibre team, and remain close to the technology, ensuring solutions are both strategically sound and technically excellent.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead architecture strategy for the payments domain, ensuring data-centric design is embedded at the core.
• Drive the enterprise architecture vision, aligning technology and business outcomes.
• Provide technical leadership and mentoring to other architects and engineers.
• Design and deliver service-oriented, cloud-native technology services.
• Architect and oversee the implementation of real-time, event-driven systems using Kafka.
• Model systems and design solutions that are scalable, secure, and resilient.
• Collaborate closely with engineering teams, remaining hands-on with technical implementation.
• Champion modern architectural approaches such as data mesh for scalable data management.

Desired Skills & Experience

• Enterprise & Data Architecture Leadership: Proven track record leading cross-functional architecture teams in large-scale, data-driven environments, with experience applying data mesh principles and influencing senior stakeholders.
• Hands-On Technical Delivery: Strong engineering background across the full SDLC, comfortable engaging at code level, and experienced delivering real-time financial services platforms (e.g., payments, open banking, faster payments).
• Cloud-Native & Scalable Design: Expertise in architecting and deploying resilient, scalable solutions in cloud environments (AWS preferred), with exposure to Snowflake and other modern data platforms.
• Event-Driven & Service-Oriented Systems: Proven experience with event-driven architectures (Kafka) and microservices/service-oriented design, including system modelling, solution design, and governance.

This is a permanent role based in Manchester or Edinburgh with hybrid working.