Senior Payment and Cards Solution Architect - Contract

Role Overview We are looking for a highly experienced Senior Payment & Cards Solution Architect with deep expertise across the Cards and Payments ecosystem , including Issuing, Acquiring, ATM/POS Switching, ISO 8583 and ISO 20022 . The successful candidate will be responsible for defining end-to-end solution architecture for complex Cards and Payments initiatives, working closely with business, technology, product, infrastructure, security and delivery teams. Key Responsibilities • Define and own end-to-end solution architecture for Cards and Payments platforms and transformation initiatives. • Design scalable, secure and resilient solutions across Card Issuing, Acquiring, ATM and POS environments . • Architect solutions involving payment switches, card management systems, payment gateways and banking platforms . • Design and review transaction flows covering authorisation, routing, clearing and settlement . • Provide architecture leadership for ISO 8583 and ISO 20022 messaging, mapping, transformation and system integration. • Define integration architecture between payment platforms, core banking systems, digital channels and external payment networks. • Develop solution architecture documents, integration designs, interface specifications, system interaction diagrams and technical roadmaps . • Evaluate existing payment architecture and recommend modernisation, migration and optimisation approaches. • Ensure architecture meets requirements for high availability, scalability, performance, security and resiliency . • Work closely with engineering and delivery teams throughout design, development, testing, certification, migration and production implementation. • Conduct architecture and technical design reviews and provide guidance to development and integration teams. • Collaborate with business stakeholders, product teams, vendors, payment networks and technology teams to translate requirements into appropriate technical solutions. • Identify architecture risks, dependencies and technical constraints and recommend appropriate solutions. • Provide technical leadership for complex Cards and Payments transformation programs. Mandatory Experience & Skills • Overall Delivery Experience: 10+ years in complex banking/payment technology environments. • Cards Domain: 10+ years of strong Cards and Payments experience. • ATM/POS Switching: 10+ years of deep experience in ATM/POS switching and transaction processing. • Issuing & Acquiring: 10+ years of extensive experience across card Issuing and Acquiring platforms. • Strong knowledge of the end-to-end card transaction lifecycle , including authorisation, clearing, settlement, reconciliation and exception handling. • Proven experience designing enterprise-scale payment solutions and integration architectures . • Strong understanding of real-time transaction processing and payment routing. • Experience working with high-volume, highly available and mission-critical payment platforms. • Strong knowledge of API, middleware and system integration concepts. • Strong stakeholder management and communication skills, with the ability to engage both technical teams and senior business stakeholders. Preferred Experience • Experience with leading Card Management Systems and Payment Switching platforms . • Experience integrating with major card schemes and payment networks. • Knowledge of EMV, tokenisation, payment security and PCI DSS . • Experience with payment platform modernisation and legacy-to-modern architecture transformation. • Exposure to API/microservices, event-driven architecture and cloud/hybrid architectures within banking environments. • Experience managing complex payment platform migrations and cutovers. • Strong experience with payment messaging standards and transaction flows -ISO 8583 / ISO 20022:. Qualifications • Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, Engineering or a related discipline. • Architecture, cloud, payments or relevant professional certifications would be advantageous. Employment Type Contract