Solution Architect – Finance & Digital Banking

Join a leading banking transformation initiative supporting one of the UAE's largest financial institutions in Abu Dhabi. This engagement focuses on the evolution of the bank's Woven digital banking platform and Open Finance ecosystem
, delivering secure, scalable, and regulator-compliant banking services under the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE) Open Finance framework.

We are looking for an experienced Solution Architect to own the end-to-end solution architecture across digital banking platforms, Open Finance APIs, and partner integration capabilities. The successful consultant will work across Retail, SME, and Corporate Banking, collaborating with product owners, engineering teams, enterprise architecture, risk, compliance, and executive stakeholders to deliver strategic architecture decisions and enterprise-grade banking solutions.

This role requires a hands-on architecture leader with strong experience delivering regulated banking platforms, API ecosystems, cloud-native solutions, and enterprise integration within tier-1 banking environments. The ideal candidate will also embrace modern AI-assisted architecture practices, leveraging AI tools to improve architecture documentation, design decisions, governance, and software delivery processes.

This is a 6-month contract / freelance engagement with strong potential for extension.

• Own the end-to-end solution architecture for the Woven digital banking platform and Open Finance ecosystem.
• Design scalable, secure, and resilient solution architectures supporting Retail, SME, and Corporate Banking.
• Define architecture standards, integration patterns, and technology roadmaps aligned with enterprise objectives.
• Produce Architecture Decision Records (ADRs), solution documentation, interface specifications, and technical design artefacts.
• Lead architecture governance and participate in architecture review boards and executive design discussions.

• Design and evolve Open Finance and Open Banking platforms aligned with the CBUAE Open Finance framework.
• Architect secure API ecosystems supporting both regulated Open Finance APIs and commercial partner APIs.
• Design API management strategies, developer portals, partner onboarding capabilities, API lifecycle management, and integration standards.
• Define identity, consent management, entitlement, authentication, authorization, and API security models.
• Support fintech integrations, third-party provider (TPP) connectivity, and API ecosystem expansion.
• Design cloud-native banking solutions primarily on AWS, following enterprise architecture and regulatory requirements.
• Architect microservices, event-driven architectures, containerized platforms, and enterprise integration solutions.
• Define API gateway, messaging, and integration patterns using modern enterprise technologies.
• Support platform scalability, resiliency, disaster recovery, observability, and operational readiness.
• Collaborate with engineering teams throughout architecture implementation and delivery.

• Ensure solution architectures comply with banking security, risk, and regulatory requirements.
• Incorporate security-by-design principles across digital banking and API platforms.
• Support compliance with Open Finance regulations, identity standards, API security, data protection, and operational resilience requirements.
• Collaborate closely with Risk, Compliance, Internal Audit, and Information Security teams throughout solution delivery.
• Leverage AI tools to improve architecture activities including solution design, documentation, Architecture Decision Records (ADRs), interface specifications, threat modelling, and technical reviews.
• Promote AI-assisted software delivery practices across architecture and engineering teams.
• Evaluate emerging AI technologies, architecture tooling, and AI-enabled development practices.
• Identify opportunities where AI can improve architecture governance, documentation quality, and engineering productivity while maintaining appropriate human oversight.

• Work closely with Product Owners, Engineering Teams, Enterprise Architects, Technology Leadership, and Business Stakeholders.
• Translate business requirements into scalable technical architectures.
• Present architecture strategies and technical recommendations to senior management and executive stakeholders.
• Provide technical leadership throughout the project lifecycle from solution design through implementation and production readiness.
• Mentor engineering teams and promote architecture best practices across delivery teams.

• Approximately 10+ years of experience in Solution Architecture, Enterprise Architecture, or Digital Banking Architecture.
• Strong experience designing enterprise-scale digital banking, Open Banking, Open Finance, or regulated API platforms.
• Experience working within tier-1 banks, financial institutions, or highly regulated environments.
• Strong…