Payments Solution Architect

About Icon Solutions:

Icon Solutions is an international award-winning payment and specialist technology provider serving global financial institutions. From IT strategy, architecture and design to software development, Icon enables clients to rapidly capitalise on the latest technology. The critical value Icon offers its clients, is the combination of deep subject matter expertise in instant payments, a proven track record in delivering bank critical systems, and a FinTech approach to the use of technology.

About the Role:

Payments Architects are part of the Icon Payments Centre of Excellence and work predominately onsite with clients and help them achieve their business aims by providing domain, architectural, and delivery expertise. The Payment Architect role builds from a Solution Architect’s base skills with a particular expertise and experience in the Payments field, either within a financial institution, a scheme or a dedicated fintech.

Payments Architects will contribute payments expertise into the development of the client’s Enterprise Architecture or Business/IT strategy, and will often be expected to take ownership for (and sometimes deliver) the architecture that underpins their client’s solutions.

Main responsibilities:

• Consulting or Advisory engagements, working directly with clients to support the development of payments strategies, roadmaps, business cases and transformation programmes
• Translating business requirements into technical solution designs, which may include contextual, conceptual, logical and physical views of the architecture. Payments Architects should be able to lead or contribute significantly to the overall technical architecture 
• Developing target state solution architectures to meet requirements, both functional and non-functional, using packaged Commercial Off The Shelf (COTS) components and bespoke solutions development as appropriate, in projects from £1m upwards in size
• Conducting solution architecture reviews of existing systems or in-flight projects, and communicating the findings of the review back to stakeholders 
• Working within (or implementing/running) a client’s Design Authority, providing guidance to projects and programmes and helping them deliver Payment solutions that conform to company and industry standards and best practices 
• Representing Icon professionally in customer engagements, using excellent inter-personal skills to develop and realise further opportunities for the company
• Communicating to stakeholders representing business, change and technology at up to “C” level using excellent written and verbal skills
• Liaising with and managing relationships with software and service suppliers, regulators and industry bodies for the client or Icon
• Maintaining industry knowledge in Payments and interpreting impacts to both Icon and its clients in the form of new collateral or service offerings
• Acting in the capacity of coach or mentor to junior staff, enabling them to develop their payments knowledge and solution architecture skills

Skills/Experience:

• Experience of leading the delivery of specific Capital Markets or Banking Payment solutions, in areas such as Faster / Instant Payments, SEPA, SWIFT, BACS and mobile payments. It is expected that architects will have deep technical knowledge in at least one of these core areas and are able to articulate the functional and technical differences between e.g. SWIFT, ACH, GIRO, Bacs, CHIPS and CHAPS 
• A detailed knowledge of the Payments Value Chain, able to articulate the functional and technical differences between: Initiation, Order Management, Execution and Clearing & Settlement
• Experience in developing & offering new payment instruments (e.g. Ripple, Alipay)
• Have experience of working in a consultative position either for a consultancy or acting in an advisory role within an organisation
• The ability to communicate efficiently upwards (to business), downwards (to IT teams) and laterally (to peers, vendors, and client side staff) with particular emphasis on presenting Target and Interim architectures to a range of stakeholders in the business and technical communities (up to and including CxO level) 
• Familiarity with technology concepts, roles, and terminology, and the ability to work closely with application architects and modelers
• The ability to serve as a credible and active participant in architecture groups, steering committees, and forums

Additional Information:

• Competitive Salary +20% bonus + 10% pension + benefits
• Travel profile: Candidates should be willing to work at client site (predominantly in Central London, but also in the rest of the UK and Europe) in the interest of meeting with customers and collaborating with colleagues
• Applicants must have the right to live and work in the United Kingdom and will be required to partake in pre-employment background checking