Solution Architect

Job Title: Payments Solution Architect
Location: Northampton/Manchester area
Salary/Rate: £465 INSIDE IR35
Start Date: 05/01/2026
Job Type: Contract

We have an exciting new contract opportunity with one of our leading financial services clients. They are looking for a Payments Solution Architect with experience in Current account journeys, including loans, account switching and is experienced with managing responsibilities for designing, developing, and implementing technology solutions for complex core banking & current account business problems, ensuring that systems are scalable, resilient, and secure.

Solution Architect with domain expertise & experience in designing the solutions involving various payments/core/cards systems.

• Collaborating with stakeholders across business and technology
• Owning the delivery of architecture for core banking programs
• Guiding the integration strategies- often balancing cloud adoption, automation and compliance.

The ideal candidate will have the following:

• Need associate with prior exp in Cards and Payments domain knowledge of cards issuance and authorisation journeys
• Leading design and technical architecture for loans, savings/current accounts, current account switching & payments, along with operational platforms with focus on scalability, resiliency, security, and regulatory compliance
• Collaborating with project managers, product owners, and business analysts to align solutions with business requirements and risk controls for current accounts
• Managing architectural governance: producing design artefacts for privacy, records management, and risk
• Advising business and product teams, supporting technical delivery and innovation in the banking landscape
• Evaluating and integrating vendor products, supporting systems strategy, and automating operational processes to reduce manual intervention Essential expertise:
• Broad knowledge of the current account & core banking landscape, payment schemes, and architecture paradigms (cloud, APls, Dev Ops, security.
• Experience with workforce planning tools, reporting platforms (Excel, PowerPoint, JIRA, Tableau, Confluence), and project delivery best practices
• Strong stakeholder management, business acumen, and ability to influence strategy across multiple teams and business functions.

If you are interested in this opportunity, please apply now with your updated CV in Microsoft Word/PDF format.

Disclaimer: Notwithstanding any guidelines given to level of experience sought, we will consider candidates from outside this range if they can demonstrate the necessary competencies.

Square One is acting as both an employment agency and an employment business, and is an equal opportunities recruitment business. Square One embraces diversity and will treat everyone equally. Please see our website for our full diversity statement.