Lead Enterprise Architect

Job description / Role

Role purpose

The Lead Enterprise Architect role will help in developing innovative banking solutions through cutting-edge technology and strategic initiatives in collaboration with business leaders, subject matter experts, and IT leadership. This role will help build and optimize a holistic vision of the organization's strategy and development roadmaps that enhance customer experience, operational efficiency, and ensure sustainable growth while creating the necessary artifacts to properly communicate and implement this vision. The candidate possesses in-depth knowledge of enterprise architecture best practices within banks and has a broad understanding of business areas within the banking ecosystem.

Key accountabilities of the role

• Strategic planning: Develop and execute comprehensive banking strategies that align with the bank's vision and goals.
• Innovation leadership: Lead the identification, evaluation, and implementation of innovative banking solutions and technologies.
• Market analysis: Conduct thorough market research to identify trends, opportunities, and competitive threats.
• Stakeholder collaboration: Work closely with business, senior management, product development, and Group IT to drive strategic initiatives.
• Performance monitoring: Establish key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure the success of strategic initiatives and innovations.
• Regulatory compliance: Ensure all strategies and innovations comply with relevant regulations and industry standards.
• Define the current and future state architectures based on the strategy and business needs.
• Lead decision-making on strategic technology choices for key functional capabilities and establish the architectural definitions which enable planning, directing, and implementing change.
• Develop enterprise architecture artifacts, including domain and business unit roadmaps which will be used as input for defining target architecture for IT projects.
• Advise on the set of services that enterprise architecture provides to the organization.
• Design enterprise architecture department processes in line with TOGAF and other architecture frameworks.

Specialist skills / technical knowledge required for this role

• Strong analytical and strategic thinking skills.
• Exceptional communication and interpersonal skills.
• Excellent leadership and team management abilities.
• In-depth knowledge of banking regulations and industry trends.
• In-depth understanding of banking architecture frameworks, e.g., Zachman, BIAN, OAGiS, etc.
• In-depth understanding of the TOGAF framework and all services that the enterprise architecture team provides to the bank.
• In-depth understanding of main banking business areas including:
  Digital banking channels
  Wholesale banking and global transaction banking business
  Retail banking products and operations
  Payments business processes and IT systems
  Core banking systems
  Payment cards and transaction acquiring business
• Knowledge of cloud concepts (IaaS, SaaS, PaaS, etc.) and architecture-level knowledge of cloud platforms and cloud-native/micro-services solutions.
• Knowledge of DevOps and Agile development concepts and their application to banking IT environments.