AI Solution Architect

About

We are seeking a highly experienced AI Solution Architect to play a pivotal role in shaping the future of intelligent, scalable, and secure technology solutions within a banking and financial services environment.

This role is ideally suited to a senior technologist who thrives at the intersection of enterprise architecture, AI engineering, and modern delivery practices. You will collaborate with multidisciplinary teams of developers, architects, business analysts, and product leaders to design, govern, and embed cutting-edge solutions across the organisation.

Operating at Principal level, you will define architectural direction, influence adoption of emerging technologies, and ensure delivery aligns with the highest standards of quality, security, and regulatory compliance. You will engage confidently at all levels — from executive leadership to hands-on engineering teams — and act as a trusted authority on both architecture and AI-driven innovation.

Strategic Context

Financial services is undergoing a fundamental shift — evolving from AI as a static tool to AI as an autonomous, trusted teammate. This organisation is building a dedicated AI engineering capability to lead that transition, deploying intelligent, agentic solutions across core banking functions.

These AI-enabled systems will help teams process complex data more efficiently, strengthen proactive risk management, and scale institutional knowledge across every customer touchpoint.

You will own the architectural vision for how agentic, LLM-powered systems and developer tooling (such as Claude Code, BMAD, and related platforms) can accelerate software delivery and operational excellence. Importantly, this role is not limited to building a standalone AI team — you will be responsible for embedding AI-assisted delivery practices into existing engineering teams across the organisation, ensuring adoption is scalable, secure, and fit for a highly regulated banking environment.

Key Responsibilities

• Architecture & Solution Design
• AI & Modern Engineering Enablement
• Governance, Quality & Security
• Enterprise Integration & Platforms
• Leadership, Mentorship & Capability Building

Qualifications

Required Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Systems, or a related technical discipline
• Formal training or certification in software architecture or enterprise architecture (or equivalent practical experience)

Preferred / Advantageous Qualifications

• Postgraduate qualification (e.g. Honours or Master’s degree) in a relevant technical or business discipline
• Cloud certifications such as AWS Certified Solutions Architect, Microsoft Azure Solutions Architect, or equivalent
• Agile and DevOps-related certifications (e.g. SAFe, Scrum, DevOps certifications)
• Architecture framework exposure (e.g. TOGAF) — advantageous but not mandatory

Experience & Expertise

Essential Experience

• Minimum 10 years’ experience in software development, with at least 3 years in a senior architectural or technical leadership role
• Strong hands-on experience in software architecture, distributed systems, and enterprise-scale application design
• Proven delivery experience on large, cross-functional, and interdependent programmes
• Extensive experience in Agile/Scrum delivery environments
• Ability to communicate complex technical concepts clearly to engineers, senior business stakeholders, and executives

Technical Expertise

• Strong experience across back-end, front-end, and integration development
• Cloud-native architecture and delivery experience (AWS and/or Azure)
• Microservices design using Docker and Kubernetes (e.g. Red Hat OpenShift)
• Strong DevOps experience, including Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery
• Deep experience in DevOps-driven environments requiring frequent code changes, deployments, and automated testing
• Programming experience with technologies such as Java, GoLang, Angular, or similar
• Practical experience in application modernisation, including legacy platforms (e.g. Visual Basic, Cobol, JCL)
• Strong understanding and application of software design patterns (DDD, TDD, Repository, Factory, Mediator, Command patterns)
• Relational database expertise (SQL Server, Postgres, Oracle, MySQL, AWS RDS)
• Exposure to NoSQL databases such as MongoDB, Cosmos DB, or DynamoDB
• Experience expressing architecture using UML or equivalent modelling standards
• Experience with ALM tools covering requirements traceability, version control, automated build/deployment, and testing

Industry Experience

• Proven experience designing and delivering solutions within highly regulated environments
• Strong understanding of compliance, risk management, and audit requirements
• Banking or broader financial services experience is essential

What Success Looks Like

• AI-assisted delivery practices are embedded across engineering teams in a controlled, compliant, and scalable manner
• Architecture standards enable faster delivery without compromising quality or governance
• Engineering teams are supported, mentored, and empowered to deliver complex solutions
• Executives trust the architectural direction, and engineers trust the technical leadership