Technical Architect (Contract)

🔒 Confidential Employer
Posted 24 April 2026
LOCATION
London
TYPE
Contract
LEVEL
Mid-Senior level
CATEGORY
Technology
This employer holds a UK Home Office sponsor license — sponsorship for this specific role is at the employer’s discretion

SKILLS

Technical Architecture Payments Kotlin Rust Next.js React

FULL DESCRIPTION

[Employer hidden — view at passion-project.co.uk] is partnering with a global leader as they embark on a large scale payments trasnformation programme. The role is for a Technical Architect (Contract) to help shape the platform from the ground up. You’ll play a pivotal role in defining architecture, guiding technical direction, and ensuring the solution meets the rigorous demands of modern payments.

Key Responsibilities

  • Define and own the target architecture across services, integrations, and operational components
  • Lead early-stage discovery: evaluate options, identify risks, and shape architectural decisions at pace
  • Design scalable, resilient systems to support payment flows including authorisation, capture, settlement and reconciliation considerations
  • Provide architectural guidance for banking and card scheme integrations, ensuring compliance, security, and operational readiness
  • Collaborate closely with engineering and product stakeholders to translate requirements into pragmatic technical solutions
  • Establish standards and patterns for delivery, including API design, observability, reliability and deployment considerations
  • Support teams working across a modern stack including Kotlin, Rust, Next.js, React and Android

Person Requirements

  • Engineering-first architecture background – You started your career as a software engineer and evolved into a Technical Architect
  • Deep payments expertise – Proven experience designing and building systems within payment processing environments, with a strong understanding of the end-to-end payment lifecycle including authorisation, capture, and settlement.
  • Payments platform integrations – Experience working with payment service providers or acquirers such as Worldpay, Stripe, Adyen, Square, Vocalink, or similar platforms.
  • Payments ecosystem knowledge – Experience integrating with banking partners, card schemes, and payment networks, with a solid grasp of both the technical and operational considerations involved.
  • Modern engineering mindset – Comfortable working in contemporary engineering environments and collaborating with product and engineering teams. Experience with Kotlin and/or Rust, and exposure to web and mobile stacks (Next.js, React, Android) is highly beneficial.
  • Greenfield and early-stage architecture – Experience shaping architecture from the ground up, including discovery phases, new product builds, or initiatives where the technical direction needs to be defined.
  • Strong communication and influence – Able to translate complex technical concepts for product, engineering, and leadership stakeholders, and influence architectural direction across teams.

Next steps

We are shortlisting now with interviews set to take place w/c 9th March. We are looking for someone who can start before the end of March and is able to be onsite in London 2 days per week. Apply now or reach out to [Employer hidden] to discuss asap.

Please note: Outside IR35 - £700/£750 per day

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