Solution Architect

Role Overview

This position centres on translating business needs into sound technical blueprints for banking technology initiatives. Day to day, you will analyse requirements, shape solution options, and document architectural designs that balance security, scalability, cost, and compliance. Your work directly influences how systems are built and integrated, ensuring each change aligns with the bank’s long-term technology direction and regulatory obligations.

Key Responsibilities

• Develop complete solution designs for technology projects and system changes, covering all components from user interfaces and application logic to data flows and infrastructure needs.
• Create and maintain architecture documentation, including high-level designs, low-level designs, decision logs, integration schemas, and diagrams that clearly communicate the proposed solution.
• Assess multiple technical approaches and recommend the most suitable option based on business value, implementation effort, operational risk, and alignment with existing enterprise standards.
• Validate that all designs comply with the organisation's enterprise architecture framework; escalate exceptions or deviations for review and approval.
• Work closely with business analysts to convert functional and non-functional requirements into concrete architectural structures that developers and testers can follow.
• Guide implementation teams throughout the build phase, clarifying design intent, resolving technical ambiguities, and participating in code-level reviews where architecture integrity is at stake.
• Perform architecture-level impact assessments for proposed technology changes and present findings to governance bodies and change approval boards.
• Incorporate security controls, data privacy measures, and regulatory requirements into every design, coordinating with information security specialists for formal architecture reviews.

Requirements & Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, information technology, software engineering, or a related discipline.
• A minimum of 3–5 years of practical experience in solution architecture, systems design, or software development, with demonstrable involvement in full project lifecycles.
• Proven experience architecting technology solutions in banking or financial services, including awareness of regulatory standards such as CBK guidelines.
• Hands-on familiarity with integration design, API development, messaging patterns, and connecting disparate enterprise systems.
• Exposure to cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP) and hybrid deployment models, including when to use cloud-native services versus on-premises components.
• Strong ability to produce clear, well-structured architecture documents such as high-level and low-level designs, data flow diagrams, and integration specifications.
• Excellent stakeholder communication skills, with the capacity to present technical concepts to both technical teams and non-technical governance forums.
• Certifications such as TOGAF, cloud architecture credentials (Associate or Professional level), or ITIL are advantageous but not mandatory.