Principal Architect

Job Description

Purpose of the role

To set direction and design solutions for the banks most complex IT systems and / or platforms, inc. using industry leading approaches in response to the most challenging functional and non-functional requirements. 

Accountabilities

• Set the banks strategic architecture direction for a specialist technology area(s), e.g. development of trading platforms.
• Provision of deep technical expertise in designing and evaluating complex technology architectures to stakeholders, including overseeing and coordinating solution architects, to encourage continuous learning across the architecture community.
• Management of innovative design, engineering initiatives and complex technology projects, through the collaboration with technical experts across the bank to resolve complex problems that support the banks technology strategy.
• Development and promotion of architectural standards, guidelines and governance policies to ensure consistency, quality and compliance to support the mitigation of various risks including breaches, access and regulatory violation.
• Identification of emerging technology trends, patterns and innovations that may impact the bank and implement potential solutions that align with the banks strategic objectives.
• Development and maintenance of advisor relationships with business partners, architects and engineering teams to drive successful design, adoption and engineering outcomes.
• Advocation of optimal solutions that address the banks technological needs through clear and compelling communication to support architectural decisions.
• Support of engineering and architecture community initiatives to mentor team members, streamline operations, share and grow knowledge.

Director Expectations

• To manage a business function, providing significant input to function wide strategic initiatives. Contribute to and influence policy and procedures for the function and plan, manage and consult on multiple complex and critical strategic projects, which may be business wide..
• They manage the direction of a large team or sub-function, leading other people managers and embedding a performance culture aligned to the values of the business. Or for an individual contributor, they lead organisation wide projects and act as deep technical expert and thought leader, identifying new ways of working and collaborating cross functionally. They will train, guide and coach less experienced specialists and provide information affecting long term profits, organisational risks and strategic decisions..
• Provide expert advice to senior functional management and committees to influence decisions made outside of own function, offering significant input to function wide strategic initiatives.
• Manage, coordinate and enable resourcing, budgeting and policy creation for a significant sub-function.
• Escalates breaches of policies / procedure appropriately.
• Foster and guide compliance, ensure regulations are observed that relevant processes in place to facilitate adherence.
• Focus on the external environment, regulators, or advocacy groups to both monitor and influence on behalf of Barclays, when appropriate.
• Demonstrate extensive knowledge of how the function integrates with the business division / Group to achieve the overall business objectives.
• Maintain broad and comprehensive knowledge of industry theories and practices within own discipline alongside up-to-date relevant sector / functional knowledge, and insight into external market developments / initiatives.
• Use interpretative thinking and advanced analytical skills to solve problems and design solutions in often complex/ sensitive situations.
• Exercise management authority to make significant decisions and certain strategic decisions or recommendations within own area.
• Negotiate with and influence stakeholders at a senior level both internally and externally.
• Act as principal contact point for key clients and counterparts in other functions/ businesses divisions.
• Mandated as a spokesperson for the function and business division.

All Senior Leaders are expected to demonstrate a clear set of leadership behaviours to create an environment for colleagues to thrive and deliver to a consistently excellent standard. The four LEAD behaviours are: L – Listen and be authentic, E – Energise and inspire, A – Align across the enterprise, D – Develop others.

All colleagues will be expected to demonstrate the Barclays Values of Respect, Integrity, Service, Excellence and Stewardship – our moral compass, helping us do what we believe is right. They will also be expected to demonstrate the Barclays Mindset – to Empower, Challenge and Drive – the operating manual for how we behave.

Essential Skills / Experience

• Significant experience operating as a senior Solution Architect or equivalent senior architecture or CTO related leadership role is required.
• Experience designing enterprise-scale integration fabrics that expose business capabilities to client, colleague and AI/agentic channels.
• Experience defining architecture patterns for APIs, event streaming, messaging, webhooks and asynchronous processing.
• Experience establishing channel decoupling strategies that separate customer journeys from systems of record.
• Deep understanding of orchestration versus choreography patterns and their appropriate application.
• Experience translating strategic architecture direction and project delivery demands into practical solutions.
• Passion for designing solutions that deliver simplification, reuse, consistency, scalability, security and performance in line with our architecture standards.
• Robust stakeholder management and communication skills, capable of engaging effectively with engineers, architects, technology leaders, risk and business stakeholders at all levels up to CIO/COO
• Experience operating within large, complex and regulated financial services environments.

Team and Buiness Structure

• The successful candidate will be a senior member of the PBWM Architecture team, with additional responsibilities to support the Head of Architecture, often representing the PBWM architecture team at different group level forums.
• There will be some architecture team responsibilities, supporting the PBWM Architecture function around governance process improvement and championing the new architecture standard
• This role will have some accountabilities and responsibilities to support operational processes outside of the Architecture team that require input from Architecture.
• This role will be a senior attendee and key decision maker of the PBWM Architecture Review Board.
• As a senior member of the team, this role will be expected to provide advice, guidance and mentoring across the team, helping the team grow in numbers and maturity.