Principle Architect

Who are we?

At Finastra, we’re a global leader in financial services software, dedicated to expanding access to financial services and shaping what’s next for the industry. Our technology powers mission-critical solutions across Lending, Payments and Universal Banking, supporting over 7,000 customers, including 80% of the world’s top 50 banks, in more than 110 countries.

What will you contribute?

Reporting to the VP, Product Engineering - Trade Innovation & Channels , the Principal Architect / Director - Architecture - Trade Innovation , develops, analyzes, and maintains high-quality software product applications. This position is located in [Bangalore].

Architecture strategy and roadmap

• Define and own the target-state architecture. Establish the north-star architecture for Trade Innovation covering domain decomposition, modularity, microservices, APIs, events, data, workflow, security, observability, deployment topology and migration sequencing.

• Translate strategy into execution. Convert the architecture vision into a practical roadmap with transition states, sequencing principles, decision gates, architecture runway and measurable delivery outcomes.

• Drive enterprise alignment. Ensure Trade Innovation architecture aligns with enterprise architecture standards, cloud and security principles, API governance, platform golden paths and broader product strategy.

• Lead architectural governance. Run architecture reviews, maintain architectural decision records, establish reference patterns, and ensure designs meet non-functional requirements before implementation.

AI-enabled engineering and product architecture

• Embed AI into the engineering lifecycle. Champion responsible use of AI and agentic tooling for architecture discovery, code understanding, test generation, migration assistance, technical debt analysis, documentation and developer productivity.

• Shape AI-ready product capabilities. Identify product and platform areas where AI can improve user experience, operational intelligence, automation, exception handling, supportability, and implementation efficiency.

• Establish AI governance guardrails. Define patterns for secure AI usage, data privacy, explainability, human-in-the-loop controls, prompt / model governance and traceability for regulated financial software.

• Measure AI adoption outcomes. Partner with engineering leadership to track productivity, quality, cycle-time and maintainability improvements resulting from AI adoption.

Application modernization and platform transformation

• Lead legacy-to-modern transformation. Lead the migration from monolithic and proprietary components toward modular, service-oriented and cloud-ready architecture while protecting functional continuity, customer commitments and delivery predictability.

• Decompose domains responsibly. Apply domain-driven design, bounded contexts, anti-corruption layers and strangler-pattern migration to reduce risk and avoid uncontrolled service sprawl.

• Modernize the technology stack. Lead architecture direction across Angular, Java, Spring Boot, microservices, Kubernetes / containers, service mesh, API gateways, message brokers, distributed caching and modern data persistence patterns.

• Create reusable accelerators. Define reference architectures, frameworks, architecture playbooks, reusable libraries, common behaviors and migration accelerators that scale across teams.

API, integration and event-driven architecture

• Champion API-first design. Ensure REST and event APIs are designed contract-first using OpenAPI / AsyncAPI, versioning, schema governance, backward compatibility, idempotency and clear ownership.

• Architect integration patterns. Define integration patterns across internal APIs, partner APIs, batch, events, workflow engines, external gateways, customer implementation extensions and domain adapters.

• Own event strategy. Guide Kafka / RabbitMQ / JMS / MQ patterns, event taxonomy, schema registry, outbox, saga / orchestration choices, replay, ordering, deduplication, DLQ handling and operational observability.

• Enable extension without custom code forks. Promote extensibility via APIs, webhooks, configuration, plug-ins, domain events and governed SDK patterns rather than intrusive product branching.

• Translate architecture into commercial leverage. Design platform patterns that reduce implementation effort, improve upgradeability, support SaaS and hybrid deployment models, and enable differentiated customer value without increasing product complexity.

Security, resilience and non-functional excellence

• Design secure-by-default platforms. Embed Zero Trust, OAuth2 / OIDC, JWT, mTLS, RBAC / ABAC, tenant isolation, secrets management, encryption, secure coding and supply-chain controls into architecture decisions.

• Own architecture-level NFRs. Define performance, scalability, availability, reliability, auditability, observability, cost, recovery and operational requirements for critical product domains.

• Drive DevSecOps and quality gates. Ensure designs are supported by CI/CD, automated test strategies, SAST, DAST, SCA, container scanning, SBOM, telemetry and release-governance controls.

• Architect for regulated financial services. Ensure platform decisions are appropriate for banking-grade security, audit, data protection, compliance evidence and controlled customer deployment models.

Architecture leadership and people influence

• Lead the architecture community. Lead, coach and develop solution architects, application architects and senior engineers; establish architecture guild practices and decision forums.

• Influence without ambiguity. Provide clear direction across engineering teams and help resolve complex trade-offs across speed, quality, cost, security, maintainability and customer impact.

• Partner with senior stakeholders. Communicate architecture strategy and risk in plain business language to Product, Engineering, Security, Cloud, Operations, Sales / Solution Consulting and executive stakeholders.

• Build engineering culture. Promote craftsmanship, modernization discipline, design ownership, documentation hygiene, operational accountability and measurable architecture outcomes.

Responsibilities & Deliverables:

Your deliverables as a Principal Architect will include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Lead the modernization of Trade Innovation product to modern technologies, architecture and principles including but not limited to AI, Cloud and Microservices.
• Run and participate software design meetings and analyzes business, product and customer needs to determine technical requirements.
• Designs and develops high-quality architecture, artifacts and code.
• Define and drive Design startegies used to build a high available, reliable, resilient and scale products. Build and scale MVP's to enterprise products and features.
• Test , debugs, analyzes and fixes application problems/issues. Works closely with stakeholders to fix issues in a timely fashion.
• Follows the software development lifecycle process.
• Interacts with internal stakeholders to support product releases and/or resolve program problems.
• Other duties and projects as assigned.

Required Experience:

• 15+ years’ of software development experience with 5+ years design and architecture.
• Application modernisation exprience to Modern Technolgy stack
• Deep experience with Java, Springboot, C#, JavaScript, Angular and Azure PaaS preferred.
• Expertise with RESTful APIs, HTML, CSS, SQL and related technologies.
• Financial industry experience preferred.
• Thorough knowledge of software development methodologies and the software development lifecycle.
• Ability to provide solutions to a variety of technical problems of moderate scope and complexity independently.
• Strong technical, analytical, and development skills.
• Intermediate knowledge of required programming languages.
• Effective verbal and written communication skills; effective customer service skills.
• Ability to work independently or within a team environment and handle multiple projects simultaneously.
• Leverage AI-driven insights and trusted data to enhance productivity, optimise workflows, and enable faster, higher-quality business decisions while applying sound human judgement and adapting to evolving capabilities.

Preferred qualifications

• Bachelor's or master's degree in computer science, Engineering or equivalent practical experience.

• Experience leading architecture for enterprise SaaS, hybrid, containerized or regulated financial services product platforms.

• Experience with trade finance, corporate banking, lending, payment rails, customer implementation models or enterprise product extensibility is highly desirable.

• Relevant architecture, cloud, security or AI certifications are useful but secondary to demonstrated architecture leadership and product modernization impact.

We are proud to offer a range of incentives to our employees worldwide. These benefits are available to everyone, regardless of grade, and reflect the values we stand for:

Flexibility: Enjoy unlimited vacation, subject to local regulations and business priorities. Benefit from hybrid working arrangements and inclusive policies such as paid time off for voting, bereavement, and sick leave.

Well-being: Access confidential one-to-one support through our Employee Assistance Program, connect with our network of Wellbeing Champions and Gather Groups, and take part in monthly events and initiatives designed to help you thrive-inside and outside of work.

Health & Financial Security: Medical, life and disability insurance, retirement plans, lifestyle, and other benefits.*

Sustainability: Paid time off for volunteering and donation-matching opportunities to support causes that matter to you.

Inclusion: Get involved in our inclusion communities, such as Count Me In, Culture@Finastra, Proud@Finastra, Disabilities@Finastra, and Women@Finastra-open to everyone who wants to participate and contribute.

Career Development: Access online learning and accredited courses through our Skills & Career Navigator tool.

Recognition: Take part in our global recognition program, Finastra Celebrates, and share your voice through regular employee surveys that help shape our culture and ways of working.

*Specific benefits may vary by location.

At Finastra, each individual is unique-bringing their own ideas, perspectives, cultural backgrounds, and experiences. We learn from one another, value what makes us different, and create an environment where everyone feels included, supported, and able to be their authentic selves.

Be unique. Be exceptional. Help us make a difference at Finastra.