Senior Technology Architect - Payments

As a Senior Payments Architect, you will be working in a multi-disciplinary team, informing the technical vision, nurturing technology roadmaps, and defining the transition states to move from the current to the target architecture for the Payments systems used by our members and colleagues. You will collaborate with a wide variety of stakeholders, vendors, and partners from across technology, delivery, and product. You will also be responsible for supporting key initiatives and outcomes where you will provide oversight, direction, and expertise, while maintaining alignment to our IT Strategy.

This role sits within the Payments Architecture team within the Member Technology Delivery (COO), and reports directly into the Payments Principal Architect.  The team is responsible for defining the Payments technical roadmap and ensuring that all the Payments sub-portfolio deliveries align to that roadmap.

Payments within Nationwide is entering a period of significant change as we look to address “end of service life” challenges within the existing estate whilst preparing for further industry change.  We have a lot of work to do!

We have an ambitious strategy to transform and simplify our Payments estate to support our members for the future, with our core focus being:

• Electronic Payments:  Continuing our Payments Modernisation (“Paymod”) journey and simplifying our application estate
• Cards:  Upgrading our infrastructure and legacy applications to deliver enhanced capabilities and capacity
• ATM:  Upgrading our ATM network to enable new functionality and support our members’ continued access to cash

This is a fantastic opportunity to join the Payments Architecture team at a time of real change, where you will be at the heart of driving this agenda and able to make a real impact.  The successful candidate will have a broad range of senior architecture experience together with a sound understanding of the Payments world.

At Nationwide we offer hybrid working wherever possible.  More rewarding relationships are supported through our hybrid approach, bringing colleagues together across our UK wide estate, whilst also supporting generous access to home working.  We value our time in the office to solve problems, to learn, and to feel connected.

For this job you'll spend at least two days per week, or if part time you'll spend 40% of your working time, at one of our offices.  If your application is successful, your hiring manager will provide further details on how this works.  You can also find out more about our approach to hybrid working here.

If we receive a high volume of relevant applications, we may close the advert earlier than the advertised date, so please apply as soon as you can.

What you’ll be doing

You will be a key part of the Payments Architecture leadership team.  You will play a pivotal role in connecting and facilitating alignment of the Payments CIO to Business and IT Strategies from across the society through working with colleagues from Enterprise Architecture alongside Senior Technology Architects and Engineers from our other functions.  You will have one or more Solution Architect line reports and will be responsible for mentoring and developing junior members of the team.

You will be accountable for the end-to-end Technology Architecture ensuring solution completeness and integrity.  You will both develop local and ensure alignment to enterprise: patterns; standards; and guardrails.

You will lead on the development of our 18-month technical roadmaps for the Payments sub-portfolio, working closely with the Payments Principal Architect and colleagues in Enterprise Architecture and other sub-portfolios to inform the longer-term vision and 3-5 year roadmaps.

You will provide the point of expertise/consultancy for key strategic technology issues – responding with structured, sound, and informed options to enable change initiatives and their sponsors to make informed decisions.

About you

We need someone with applied experience of:

• Senior/Lead Payments Architecture in a Tier 1 UK financial services organisation (or similar regulated environment), covering some or all of Electronic Payments (Faster Payments, Bacs, ICS, CHAPS & International), Card Payments (debit and credit, as merchant and/or issuer), ATMs and Confirmation of Payee
• Developing and implementing target state architectures and technology roadmaps
• Leading market reviews and supplier/product selection processes
• Integrating bespoke software, commercial off-the-shelf packages, and 3^rd party services (including SaaS/PaaS)
• Excellent verbal and written communication with a proven track record of stakeholder engagement and influencing both business and technical stakeholders

Ideally you will also have:

• Experience of delivering major Payments transformation programmes
• Experience working as an architect within agile methodologies
• Exposure to industry initiatives within Payments, such as RTGS Renewal, New Payments Architecture, SWIFT CBPR+, Enhanced Fraud Data, Open Finance and ISO 20022

Our Customer First behaviours are all about putting customers and members at the heart of how we work together.  You can strengthen your application by showing the behaviours that resonate with you, and how you might have already demonstrated these.

• Say it straight – This is about being honest and direct with good intent and saying what needs to be said in the room.  It’s also about being clear, precise, and using language that we and, importantly, our customers and members can understand.
• Push for better – This is about aiming high and constantly looking for better in how we work together and serve our customers and members.
• Get it done – This is about prioritising what will have the greatest impact, being decisive and taking accountability for delivering on the end-to-end outcome.

We know applying for jobs can sometimes feel like you’re sending an application into a black hole.  We review each application individually.  So, it’s a good idea to call out your most relevant experience on your application to give yourself the best chance.

The extras you’ll get

There are all sorts of employee benefits available at Nationwide, including:

• A personal pension – if you put in 7% of your salary, we’ll top up by a further 16%
• Up to 2 days of paid volunteering a year
• Life assurance worth 8x your salary
• A great selection of additional benefits through our salary sacrifice scheme
• Gympass – access to a range of free and paid options for health and wellness
• Access to an annual performance related bonus
• Access to training to help you develop and progress your career
• 30 days holiday, pro rata
• Individual healthcare cover

What makes us different

Nationwide is the world’s largest building society.  With over 15 million customers, we have a relationship with almost a quarter of the UK’s population.  We’ve got the scale to compete with the big banks, but we’re not a bank.

As a building society, we’re owned by our members – that’s our customers who have their current account, mortgage or savings with us.  It means we can do things differently to deliver our Purpose – Banking – but fairer, more rewarding, and for the good of society.

When you work at Nationwide, you can experience that difference for yourself.  You’ll be part of a high-performing, purpose-driven organisation that offers rewarding career experiences and a highly competitive range of benefits to match.  You’ll also be joining us at an important time as we seek to reach more and more people in the UK.  We want everyone in the UK to know that they don’t have to bank with a bank.  They can choose a modern mutual instead.

What to do next

If this role is for you, please click the ‘Apply Now’ button.  You’ll need to attach your up-to-date CV and answer a few quick questions for us.

We respond to everyone, so we will be in contact shortly after the closing date to let you know the outcome of your application.

#LI-POST