Principal Solutions Architect - Digital (Director Level)

Job Opportunity At CirrusLabs

We are CirrusLabs. Our vision is to become the world's most sought-after niche digital transformation company that helps customers realize value through innovation. Our mission is to co-create success with our customers, partners, and community. Our goal is to enable employees to dream, grow, and make things happen. We are committed to excellence. We are a dependable partner organization that delivers on commitments. We strive to maintain integrity with our employees and customers. Every action we take is driven by value. The core of who we are is through our well-knit teams and employees. You are the core of a values-driven organization. You have an entrepreneurial spirit. You enjoy working as a part of well-knit teams. You value the team over the individual. You welcome diversity at work and within the greater community. You aren't afraid to take risks. You appreciate a growth path with your leadership team that journeys how you can grow inside and outside of the organization. You thrive upon continuing education programs that your company sponsors to strengthen your skills and for you to become a thought leader ahead of the industry curve. You are excited about creating change because your skills can help the greater good of every customer, industry, and community.

Job Summary

• Leads the design and implementation of complex solutions. Analyzes current systems and architectures to identify strengths, weaknesses, and areas for improvement.
• Collaborates with business, product, operations, and other technical stakeholders to facilitate architecture and design discussions, to understand business requirements, and to identify and scope the opportunities, quantify costs, outline potential value and ROI, identify risks, benefits, and constraints.
• Translates business requirements into technical solutions. Recommends technology solutions for the overall ecosystem and application programming and integration solutions through research on alternative options.
• Investigates emerging technologies and trends, proposing strategic updates and advancements. Finds the right balance between innovation, technical feasibility, and long-term sustainability.
• Develops, presents, and explains the value and vision of proposed architectures and solutions to a wide range of audiences. Evaluates and selects appropriate technologies and platforms for the solution.
• Designs high-level solutions, integrating modern and emerging fintech technologies with traditional banking systems for robust, seamless payment operations. Develops and maintains architecture documentation. Ensures solutions are scalable, secure, and aligned with best practices.
• Articulates technology solutions and explains the competitive advantages of various technology alternatives. Develops and enforces architecture standards and guidelines. Conducts performance tuning and optimization. Supports product discovery and solution proposals. Evaluates and recommends new tools and technologies. Conducts technical reviews and provides feedback.
• Participates in strategic planning and technology road mapping. Acts as a trusted advisor on strategies and approaches for overall integration of technology components. Works with external partners and vendors to integrate third-party solutions.
• Stays up-to-date with emerging technologies and industry trends. Ensures compliance with regulatory and security standards and manages technical risks and issues.
• Provides technical leadership and guidance to project teams. Mentors and guides junior architects and engineers. Fosters a culture of innovation and continuous improvement.
• Completes all required timesheets, compliance, and security trainings as assigned.
• Each team member is expected to be aware of risk within their functional area. This includes observing all policies, procedures, laws, regulations, and risk limits specific to their role. Additionally, they should raise and report known or suspected violations to the appropriate Company authority in a timely fashion.
• Performs other related duties as required.

The information on this description has been designed to indicate the general nature and level of work performed by employees within this classification. It is not designed to contain or be interpreted as a comprehensive inventory of all duties, responsibilities, and qualifications required of employees assigned to this job.

Minimum Education

• Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or other related field or an equivalent combination of education and experience.

Minimum Experience

• 12 years of IT work experience in multiple IT areas in a multi-tier environment working as a SME to link technology with business values whilst guiding stakeholders through the right technology choices suitable to their core short- and long-term needs.

Required Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities

• Knowledge of all components of holistic enterprise architecture
• Knowledge of business re-engineering principles and processes
• Knowledge of network architecture, client/server processing, and object-oriented analysis and design
• Strong analytical and technical skills
• Ability to balance the long-term and short-term implications of individual decisions
• Ability to translate business needs into solution architecture requirements
• Ability to apply multiple solutions to business problems
• Ability to comprehend rapidly the function and capabilities of new technologies
• Strong leadership skills
• Presents persuasively and authoritatively to peers and senior leadership, while facilitating collaborative conversation
• Ability to communicate effectively across multiple audiences, including firm-wide business units, senior leaders, associates, and external vendors
• Exceptional interpersonal skills, including teamwork, facilitation, and negotiation
• Strong planning and organizational skills

Preferred Knowledge, Skills, & Abilities

• 12 years of IT work experience as an Architect in a multi-tier environment acting as hands-on Lead Solution Architect with a strong foundation in Software Engineering.
• 7+ years of Digital Banking experience with architecting/building omni-channel solutions for both Web & Mobile.
• Extensive experience with digital banking platforms & functionalities including account management, transaction processing, real-time versus batch processing, deposits, lending, and customer relationship management.
• Experience in developing and implementing technology solutions in a complex organization.
• Experience in digital transformation (Strategy as well as implementation).
• Experience in evaluating emerging technologies and trends to identify opportunities for the organization.
• Experience with system integration concepts, data modeling, DevOps, domain-driven design, DevSecOps, and architecture frameworks (TOGAF or Zachman).
• Experience with risk, regulatory, and compliance requirements associated with digital banking, transaction processing, and security across various layers (OAuth2/3, encryption, SSL).
• Familiarity with microservice-based architecture, designing enterprise services or integration capabilities using REST APIs and event-driven technology, and leveraging native cloud services (Azure & AWS).
• Strong background in Scrum development methodologies, with a focus on continuous improvement of Agile practices, including branch strategies, CI/CD automation, test automation, and the implementation of supporting software tools.
• Strong background in cloud computing (AWS, Azure, Google Cloud)
• Understanding of banking architecture, core banking products & new age mobility stacks.
• Excellent relationship management skills with the ability to engage, negotiate, and manage client stakeholders and suppliers
• Proven track record of delivering successful projects.