Senior Architect: Wallet & Core Banking Architecture and Strategy

Senior Architect: Wallet & Core Banking Architecture and Strategy

Recruiter

A 1L Realization (Pty) Ltd

Job Ref

JHB000982/Tshid

Date posted

Monday, June 29, 2026

Location

Johannesburg, South Africa

SUMMARY

Our client in the Telco sector is looking for a Senior Architect: Wallet & Core Banking Architecture and Strategy on a contract duration of 6 months.

The key objective of this role is to lead the adaptation, standardisation, and governance of wallet platform across multiple markets. This includes ensuring that wallet capabilities are consistently implemented, scalable, secure, and aligned with group architecture, regulatory requirements, and business strategy.

The role is responsible for defining wallet adaptation frameworks that enable rapid localisation while maintaining a unified core platform. It ensures governance across wallet implementations, driving compliance, interoperability, and reuse of shared services across all operating companies (Opcos). This role acts as the central authority for wallet platform governance, ensuring alignment between product, technology, and market-specific requirements while accelerating time-to-market for new wallet features and services

POSITION INFO

Education: Bachelor's or Master's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or related field. Relevant certification/accreditation/membership with professional body as required Certifications (preferred): Banking system certifications (e.g., Temenos, Finacle), PCI DSS knowledge. TOGAF or equivalent enterprise architecture certification, SAFe Architect, Azure /AWS/GCP Architect, or Mobile App Architect certifications. Vendor certifications (e.g., Apigee, Kong, MuleSoft, AWS API Gateway). Experience: 10+ years in architecture roles, with at least 5 years in digital wallets, core banking, or fintech platforms. Developing Wallet & Core Banking platform roadmaps, reference architecture, and aligning architecture to business capabilities Experience with TOGAF or similar EA frameworks Architecture governance, capability maturity assessments, and standardization efforts Strong experience in platform governance, standardisation, and operating model design Experience in mobile money / wallet ecosystems (P2P, P2M, remittances, airtime, bill payments) Experience leading cross-functional teams (product, engineering, architecture) Proven experience managing multi-market or multi-country platform implementations Competencies: Functional Knowledge: Deep understanding of mobile money and wallet platforms Payments ecosystem (switches, processors, banks, schemes, remittances) API-first and event-driven architecture principles Compliance with PSD2, GDPR, PCI DSS, Open Banking standards Business continuity planning Structuring of contracts and Service Level Agreements (SLAs) Understanding of Open API standards, protocols and methods for modern payment and financial systems Understanding of the Agile software delivery processes (SCRUM, Kanban preferable)