Solution Architect – Limits Management (Banking)

London (Canary Wharf) – 2 days per week onsite.

6 Months

£675 PER DAY – Outside IR35

Background

A programme of work to deliver business and operational efficiencies to become a leaner and more effective organisation. Ongoing programmes of work include improvements to business processes, generating staff capacity creation, IT transformation and embedding agile delivery methodologies. A key strategic focus of the IT modernisation is to replace outdated technology and introduce new technology in the Treasury and Operations capability. The Bank is seeking consultant services to contribute to this programme hybrid located out of our London headquarters building with a requirement for a Solution Architect to join our team, working within the strategic Finance Group Transformation Project.

Deliverables

The Consultant will be accountable for the following deliverables and will work collaboratively across project teams, architecture functions, and business stakeholders to ensure all activities are executed on time, to scope, and in line with the Bank’s quality and governance standards:

Architecture, Design & Solution Development:

• Lead the end-to-end solution design for the Limits Management platform, covering application architecture, integration patterns, security architecture, data flows, and the underlying technology stack. Ensure all designs align with the strategic vision and architectural principles set by the Capability Lead Architect.
• Own the solution architecture for the Limits Management domain, ensuring full alignment with the Bank’s enterprise architecture, business requirements, and future-state roadmap.
• Produce the High-Level Design (HLD) detailing logical architecture, solution domains, functional modules, and end-to-end workflows, including limit configuration, approval, monitoring, aggregation, and breach management.
• Collaborate with Data Analysts and Business Analysts to develop conceptual and logical data models, ensuring the data architecture supports exposure aggregation, credit concentration, reporting, and governance requirements.
• Contribute to the definition of as-is and to-be business process maps, including limit assignment, amendment, approval, exception handling, utilisation, monitoring, and reporting processes.
• Define and document non-functional requirements (NFRs) covering performance, security, availability, scalability, auditability, recoverability, and operational support needs.

Stakeholder Engagement, Governance & Alignment:

• Work closely with internal and external stakeholders (consultancies, vendors, delivery partners, IT and business teams) to assess solution options and provide authoritative technical steer for both project delivery and BAU stakeholders.
• Ensure solutions reflect the optimal balance between immediate delivery requirements and longer-term strategic objectives, with all deviations from agreed roadmaps clearly identified, justified, and governed through formal architecture processes.
• Develop, maintain, and submit solution architecture artefacts throughout the delivery lifecycle, securing approval via the Bank’s architecture governance forums and ensuring traceability to requirements.

Cross-Programme Consistency & Architectural Integrity:

• Ensure cross-programme alignment of architectures, application components, integration patterns, and data structures to maintain consistency, interoperability, and reusability across the enterprise ecosystem.
• Develop and maintain architecture models at appropriate levels of abstraction, ensuring they remain accurate, current, and consumable by technical and non-technical audiences.

Risk, Issue & Technology Leadership:

• Identify, escalate, and drive the resolution of design-related risks, issues, dependencies, or architectural gaps that could affect delivery or quality.
• Propose and evaluate appropriate technologies, tools, and techniques to meet evolving business and technical needs, ensuring alignment with enterprise standards.
• Present and articulate architectural decisions and design considerations in governance forums, steering committees, and other relevant meetings, ensuring stakeholders clearly understand risks, trade-offs, and rationale.

1.     Experience

·       Domain Expertise:

o  Extensive experience designing and delivering enterprise-grade Limits Management, Exposure Management, or Credit Risk solutions within a financial institution, IFI, MDB, or large commercial bank.

o  Strong understanding of credit risk concepts, including obligor hierarchy, group exposure, PD/LGD/EAD, concentration risk, country/sector limits, counterparty limits, and exposure aggregation methodologies.

o  Demonstrated experience working with credit approval workflows, limit lifecycle processes, utilisation monitoring, and breach/exception handling.

·       Solution Architecture & Design

o  Proven track record of delivering end-to-end solution architectures covering application, data, integration, and security architecture domains.

o  Hands-on experience producing High-Level Designs (HLDs), Detailed Designs (LLDs), data models, and interface specifications.

o  Strong knowledge of architecture frameworks (TOGAF, Zachman, or equivalent) and modelling languages (UML, BPMN, ArchiMate).

·       Data & Integration Expertise

o  Deep experience with enterprise data models for credit, counterparty, and exposure reporting.

o  Strong understanding of integration design patterns (REST APIs, message queues, event-driven integration, ETL, batch processing).

o  Experience working with master data domains (Party, Facility, Instrument, Product, Country, Sector, Ratings).

o  Experience integrating limit systems with exposure engines, credit approval systems, and real-time/near-real-time exposure feeds.

·       Technology & Platform Knowledge

o  Experience with industry-standard credit or limits platforms (e.g., Moody’s RiskAuthority, Algorithmics, Wolters Kluwer, Temenos Infinity/Transact credit modules, Finastra credit systems, or custom solutions).

o  Solid understanding of cloud-based architectures, especially Azure or AWS, including API gateways, security services, hosting models, DevOps, and infrastructure-as-code.

o  Experience designing for non-functional requirements, including scalability, resilience, auditability, and high-performance aggregation.

·       Governance & Delivery Experience

o  Proven experience working within formal architecture governance structures, presenting solutions in Design Authority, Architecture Review Board, etc.

o  Strong track record of managing architecture risks, dependencies, trade-offs and ensuring alignment with enterprise roadmaps and technology strategies.

·       Stakeholder Leadership

o  Demonstrated ability to engage confidently with senior business stakeholders, including Risk, Treasury, Finance, and IT leadership.

o  Strong communication skills with the ability to translate complex technical concepts into business language and influence decision-making.

1.1             Desired

·       Experience in trade lifecycle management technical transformation, including experience with Finastra Summit (Treasury and/or Commercial Lending), integration of treasury systems with finance systems (e.g. S/4HANA), ActiveViam Atoti Business Solutions and solutions built on QuantLib

·       Programming skills in one or more languages e.g. Python, Java, SQL

·       Ability to work across various technologies within the specific domain

·       Understanding of different project delivery lifecycle frameworks

·       Strong analytical and problem-solving skills

·       Ability to develop deep business knowledge and offer advice that spans across IT and business domains.

·       Experience of large IT and Business Change programmes

·       Able to work effectively across multiple cross-functional teams and contexts, responding to their differing needs and levels of expertise, in an Agile delivery model

·       Experience in documenting and presenting architectural artefacts to the senior stakeholders, both IT and the business, and architectural governance process

·       Experience operating in mid-sized corporate environment with technological legacy

·       Experience in shaping the architecture in agile environment

·       Proven experience in working collaboratively with the challenging stakeholders

·       Demonstrable evidence of facilitation, situational awareness, conflict resolution, continual improvement, empowerment, and increasing transparency.

·       Ability to make decisions in the environment of uncertainty with clear articulation of assumptions and risks.