Head of Solution Architecture - Digital Payments | Virginia

Lead the future of digital payment solutions.

We're partnering with a global technology leader that is transforming the payments industry through innovative digital payment platforms used by some of the world's largest financial institutions.

This is a rare opportunity for an experienced Head of Solution Architecture to build and lead a high-performing team responsible for shaping customer solutions, influencing product strategy, and acting as the technical bridge between customers, Product Management and Engineering.

The Opportunity

As Head of Solution Architecture, you'll own the technical customer engagement model across the entire solution lifecycle—from solution design and implementation through to production support and continuous product improvement.

You'll lead a team of Solution Architects, ensuring customers receive exceptional technical guidance while driving architectural consistency, operational excellence and product innovation.

This is a highly visible leadership role where you'll work closely with executive stakeholders, customers and engineering leadership to deliver world-class digital payment solutions.

What You'll Be Doing

• Lead, mentor and develop a team of Solution Architects supporting an enterprise digital payments portfolio.
• Own the technical customer engagement model across pre-sales, implementation and post-production support.
• Act as the key technical interface between customers, Product Management and Engineering.
• Drive solution quality, architectural governance and best practice across multiple customer programmes.
• Translate customer requirements, operational challenges and enhancement requests into actionable product improvements.
• Lead technical discussions during major customer escalations and critical incidents.
• Champion standardisation, solution reuse and continuous improvement across the product portfolio.
• Define and monitor KPIs relating to solution quality, customer satisfaction and implementation success.

What We're Looking For

• Proven experience leading Solution Architecture or Technical Consulting teams.
• Strong background delivering complex enterprise software or SaaS solutions.
• Experience working closely with Product Management and Engineering organisations.
• Excellent stakeholder management skills with the ability to engage both executive customers and technical teams.
• Strong understanding of enterprise architecture, solution design and software delivery lifecycles.
• A collaborative leader who enjoys developing people and building high-performing technical teams.
• Experience within payments, financial services, fintech or another highly regulated technology environment would be highly advantageous.

Why Join?

• Executive-level leadership opportunity with significant strategic influence.
• Work on market-leading digital payment technologies used globally.
• Lead a talented technical organisation with real ownership and autonomy.
• Collaborate with senior executives, major enterprise customers and product leaders.
• Competitive compensation package including bonus and comprehensive benefits.

If you're passionate about leading technical teams, shaping product direction and delivering exceptional customer outcomes, we'd love to hear from you.

Apply today or contact us for a confidential conversation.

Rust Technical Lead

Location: Pessac, Bordeaux area
Working model: Primarily onsite
Employment: Permanent
Indicative package: Approximately €80,000 total compensation, with some flexibility depending on experience

The opportunity

We are supporting an established global technology organisation seeking a Rust Technical Lead to join a specialist R&D engineering environment.

The organisation develops complex, security-sensitive technology used within international and business-critical environments. This position will play an important role in shaping the technical direction of a software programme involving Rust-based development, REST APIs and integration with wider software systems.

This is not a purely managerial position. The successful person will remain close to the code while providing technical direction, supporting other engineers and influencing architectural decisions across the programme.

The role

You will act as a senior technical authority across software development, architecture and system integration.

Working alongside developers, architects, delivery teams and internal stakeholders, you will help define how software is designed, implemented, integrated and evolved. You will also provide guidance to engineers, introduce appropriate technologies and ensure that important technical decisions are communicated clearly.

The role does not depend on formal line-management authority. Success will come from technical credibility, sound judgement and the ability to influence people across multiple teams.

Responsibilities

• Design and develop complex production software using Rust

• Shape software architecture and system-integration decisions

• Design and implement secure, reliable and maintainable REST APIs

• Evaluate Rust libraries, frameworks and development approaches

• Provide technical leadership across engineering and delivery teams

• Contribute to specification analysis, technical studies and technology assessments

• Review software designs and source code

• Promote secure coding, testing and engineering best practices

• Troubleshoot complex software, integration and performance issues

• Improve software performance, reliability and maintainability

• Define and promote technical standards and engineering governance

• Coach developers and support their technical development

• Explain complex technical decisions to internal and external stakeholders

• Identify emerging technologies and propose relevant improvements

• Balance technical quality, security, delivery timescales and business requirements

Essential experience

• Strong commercial software-development experience using Rust

• Deep understanding of the Rust language, ecosystem, strengths and limitations

• Experience applying Rust within production environments

• Strong REST API design and development experience

• Software architecture and system-integration experience

• Recent hands-on coding experience

• Experience designing or delivering complex software components

• Strong understanding of testing, source control, code reviews and secure coding

• Ability to diagnose complex technical and performance problems

• Evidence of technical leadership, mentoring or engineering influence

• Strong communication and stakeholder-management skills

• Ability to make complex technical subjects understandable to different audiences

• Proactive and creative approach to engineering problems

Relevant technical backgrounds

Experience may come from areas including:

• Systems programming

• Distributed systems

• Embedded software

• Performance-sensitive platforms

• Security-sensitive software

• Backend platforms and services

• Complex enterprise integration

Experience with C or Java would be valuable, particularly where Rust components have been integrated into wider multi-language environments.

Working environment

The engineering environment places a strong emphasis on security, confidentiality and structured development processes. Some development activity takes place within restricted systems and closed networks, so candidates must be comfortable working primarily from the office.

This environment will suit someone who combines the technical curiosity often found within start-ups with the discipline required to deliver within a mature, secure and internationally operating organisation.

Candidate profile

You are likely to be a senior Rust engineer, Technical Lead, Principal Engineer or hands-on Software Architect.

You should be capable of taking ownership of difficult technical questions rather than waiting for detailed instructions. You will be expected to challenge assumptions constructively, propose new ideas and help other engineers make stronger technical decisions.

Most importantly, you should combine deep technical capability with the communication skills required to influence teams, architects and stakeholders.

Senior Solution Architect - Authentication & Digital Identity

Location: Paris, France (Hybrid)

Salary: Up to €90,000 + Benefits

We're supporting an international organisation as they continue to invest in their architecture capability. Operating across large-scale enterprise and digital transformation programmes, they deliver secure technology solutions for customers across a range of regulated industries.

This is an excellent opportunity for an experienced Solution Architect who enjoys combining customer engagement with technical leadership. You'll work closely with customers and internal stakeholders to understand business challenges, shape solution designs and provide architectural guidance throughout the delivery lifecycle.

The Role

Working as part of a collaborative architecture team, you'll lead discovery workshops, capture technical and business requirements, and design secure, scalable solutions that align with both customer objectives and industry best practice.

You'll act as a trusted technical advisor, working across engineering, product and delivery teams to ensure successful implementation while supporting technical proposals and customer engagements where required.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead customer workshops and technical discovery sessions.
• Design end-to-end enterprise solutions for complex digital environments.
• Translate business requirements into scalable technical architectures.
• Produce high-level solution designs and technical documentation.
• Work closely with engineering and delivery teams throughout project implementation.
• Support customer presentations, solution definition and bid activities.

Skills & Experience

We're keen to speak with Solution Architects who have experience in several of the following areas:

• Enterprise Solution Architecture.
• Identity & Access Management (IAM) or enterprise security solutions.
• Secure digital platforms, cloud technologies and API-based architectures.
• Modern authentication and access management concepts.
• Enterprise integration and systems architecture.
• Customer-facing consultancy or technical leadership.
• Producing architecture documentation and solution designs.
• Experience with leading identity or access management platforms (such as Microsoft Entra ID, Okta, ForgeRock, Ping Identity or similar) would be advantageous.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills.

What's on Offer

• €85,000-€90,000 basic salary plus benefits.
• Hybrid working based in Paris.
• Exposure to enterprise-scale transformation programmes.
• Collaborative and supportive technical environment.
• Excellent opportunities for career progression and professional development.

If you're an experienced Solution Architect looking for your next challenge, we'd be delighted to discuss the opportunity in confidence.