Job Description

The Senior Architect has a direct reporting line to the Head of Architecture but is also accountable (dotted reporting line) to the Delivery Head & Lead (aka Matrix Manager) in the business/functional domain that is being served. The Senior Architect is expected to possess deep technical expertise, potential leadership qualities & be solution oriented with a core focus on contributing to build products that balance Functional Requirements, Customer/User Experience, Performance, Reliability, Resiliency & Security.
1. Domain Competencies:
1. Functional Domain - Strong experience in banking, accounting, payments, or settlements. Prior exposure to the wealth domain--such as capital markets, funds, ETFs, or equities is preferred. The ideal candidate should demonstrate a strong will to learn and adapt to new domain.
2. Must have participated and/or led at least 3 projects designing and architecting resilient, reliable & secure applications (including mobile apps) in conjunction with a microservices & API based ecosystem for the specific functional domain
3. Develop and maintain architecture standards, guidelines, and best practices
4. Experience working with Agile Methodologies and in Agile teams, that incorporate - Agile Team concepts such as Tribes & Squads - Agile Ceremonies such as Quarterly Planning, Sprint Planning, Sprint Refinement & Sprint Retrospective - Agile Deliverables such as Features, Epics, Stories & Acceptance Criteria All Essential
2. Technical Competencies
1. 5+ years of experience building end-end design patterns, high level designs & solutions for applications (backend and frontend, including mobile apps), APIs, message brokers, eventstreams, microservices on container-based / cloud-native infrastructure and its associated ecosystem in consultation with involved internal departments and subsidiaries.
2. Deep knowledge and experience in proposing architectural design principles & patterns and 1-4: Essential 5-6: Preferred justifying the benefits and drawbacks of each
3. Adequate knowledge & experience of baking cyber and information security controls into products via methods such as Data Classification, Regulatory Requirements considerations (e.g. PCI-DSS, UAE Central Bank, GDPR), Threat Modelling & Security Requirements (Govern, Identify, Protect, Detect, Respond, Recover)
4. Adequate knowledge of and experience in implementing cyber security controls such as Authentication, Authorization, Encryption Algorithms & Keys, Data Security, Security Events Logging & Alerting
5. Some knowledge and experience of attacking and defending systems from a cyber security perspective
6. Knowledge of Artificial Intelligence concepts & technologies including but not limited to Machine Learning, Generative AI, Large Language Models, Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG), Embedding Models, Vector Databases, Model Context Protocol (MCP), AI Agents, Agentic AI, Git Hub Co-Pilot, Claude code or similar
3. Behavioural Competencies

• Thinking Related

• People Related

• Self Related

1.Delivery focused while ensuring the right balance of Customer Experience, meeting Functional Requirements, Performance, Reliability, Resiliency & Security
2. High energy, enthusiasm & passion
3. Excellent analytical & critical thinking skills.
4. Excellent stakeholder, time management & expectation management skills
5. Autonomous decision-making ability with minimal guidance
6. High learning & upskilling potential
7. Ability to coach & mentor associate/junior architects and developers (where required and necessary) 1-6: Essential 7: Preferred
4. Core Objectives & Key Results (OKRs)

• Business Delivery Enablement

• Chapter Enablement

• Personal Development

Business Delivery Enablement Dimension (How Am I Helping My Team/Tribe)
1. Deliver complete and self-sufficient end-end solutions and/or design documents within agreed timelines.
2. Improve efficiency of the architecture design workflow or via automation
3. Contribute to building Reliable, Resilient & Secure Platforms
Chapter Enablement Dimension (How Am I Helping My Chapter)
4. Deliver education workshops to Chapter & Tribe members.
5. Conduct Peer Review Sessions
6.New solutions follow or define re-usable blueprints/reference architecture.
Personal Development Dimension (How Am I Helping 1-7: Essential Myself)
7. Invest time in improving personal and professional skills for self via completion of technical & soft skill programs, stretch assignments & coaching/mentoring

Skills Required