Head of Architecture

Head of Architecture | International Payments & FX Business | London (Hybrid)

About Our Client

Our client is a regulated financial services firm specialising in international payments and FX, operating across complex and fast-growing markets. The business is investing in a multi-year technology transformation to modernise how it operates as it expands into new regions.

The Opportunity

We're looking for a visionary Head of Architecture to lead the organisation's architectural strategy and play a pivotal role in a multi-year transformation toward a next-generation, AI-enabled operating model. You'll own end-to-end enterprise architecture, modernise design principles, and guide a talented team of architects through this evolution.

The Team

You'll lead a small team of enterprise and domain architects and report directly to the CTO, working within a collaborative Technology Leadership Team. Architecture sits at the centre of this transformation - re-platforming the organisation for an intelligent future rather than replicating legacy systems.

What You'll Do

• Define and own the current-state, transitional, and target-state architectures across business, data, applications, and technology domains.
• Design and implement the architecture needed to support a next-generation, AI-enabled operating model - including autonomy layers, orchestration patterns, and human-in-the-loop principles.
• Develop enterprise architecture models, reference architectures, and standards aligned to that operating model, and translate roadmaps into modular work packages for iterative, continuous delivery.
• Champion event-driven, microservices-based, cloud-native architectures and their associated patterns.
• Lead, mentor and develop a high-performing architecture team, building modern engineering practices and capability maturity.
• Shape strategic technology roadmaps in partnership with senior stakeholders across Payments, FX, Data, AI, and Platform domains.
• Lead complex, multi-disciplinary change across legacy and modern systems, driving architectural simplification and scalable patterns.
• Govern architectural decisions pragmatically - balancing innovation, technical debt, and regulatory expectations.
• Act as a trusted advisor to senior executives on strategic technology decisions.

What We're Looking For

• Proven experience leading architecture functions in high-change, transformation-heavy environments.
• Deep expertise in Payments, FX, or high-scale transaction-processing platforms.
• Hands-on experience architecting distributed, event-driven, microservices-oriented systems.
• Strong communication and stakeholder-influencing skills with senior leadership.
• Experience working across modern and legacy technologies, including pathways for modernisation.
• Comfortable operating in regulated environments with strong cross-functional engagement.
• Familiarity with TOGAF, ArchiMate, or similar architecture frameworks.

Nice to Have

• Experience with AI, agentic architectures, intelligent orchestration, or autonomous workflows.
• Cross-border FX and payments background.
• Systems engineering, data architecture, or platform engineering experience.
• Technical degree.

Salary & Benefits

• Basic salary £150,000+, plus discretionary bonus
• Hybrid working — 4 days on-site
• Employer pension contribution up to 10% (matched in increments)
• Life Assurance — 4x annual salary
• Group Income Protection
• Private Medical Insurance, including optical, dental and audiology cover (may extend to partner/children)
• Competitive annual leave, plus 2 volunteering days a year