Principal Payments Architect

Technology is our how. And people are our why. For over two decades, we have been harnessing technology to drive meaningful change. 
 
By combining world-class engineering, industry expertise and a people-centric mindset, we consult and partner with leading brands from various industries to create dynamic platforms and intelligent digital experiences that drive innovation and transform businesses. 
 
From prototype to real-world impact - be part of a global shift by doing work that matters. 
 
Endava is on an AI Native journey.  As one of OpenAIs global partners we are committed to exploring (and helping our clients explore) the benefits AI can bring to productivity, effectiveness and accuracy.   Our goal is to seize the AI-catalyzed growth moment to navigate this changing landscape and ensure ourselves and our clients thrive. 

We’re looking for a Principal Payments Architect to join our growing team in London. This is a specialised architectural leadership role focused on shaping and delivering enterprise-grade payment platforms - from gateway and authorisation layers through to clearing, settlement, and financial management.

This role is suited to someone who thrives in complex, high-stakes environments and operates confidently at the intersection of business strategy and technical execution. You will engage across the full lifecycle - from early discovery and architectural shaping through to delivery oversight - ensuring that solutions are scalable, secure, commercially viable, and aligned to long-term platform strategy.

You will be responsible for designing robust, maintainable architectures that address real client challenges. You will define target-state platforms, challenge assumptions constructively, and ensure that technology decisions are grounded in strong domain expertise and measurable business outcomes.

What You’ll Be Doing

You will bring deep expertise in merchant acquiring and payment processing across both online and physical acceptance channels. This includes a strong understanding of gateway architecture, authorisation lifecycles, 3DS/SCA, scheme integrations, tokenisation, fraud decisioning, reconciliation, settlement, and financial ledger integration.

You will:

• Design and review scalable, resilient payment architectures capable of supporting high transaction volumes and demanding availability requirements
• Define and govern non-functional requirements including latency, throughput, availability, recoverability, observability, and security
• Shape API strategies, integration models, and event-driven or distributed system designs that support extensibility and regulatory compliance
• Contribute to PCI DSS scoping strategies and secure-by-design approaches within cloud and hybrid environments
• Participate in architectural governance forums, representing Endava with clarity and authority
• Support pre-sales and bid shaping activities by defining credible, commercially grounded target-state solutions
• Translate architectural decisions into clear executive narratives, articulating trade-offs, risks, and investment implications

You will be comfortable speaking the language of enterprise, solution, and data architects, and equally confident engaging in detailed technical discussions with engineering teams or strategic conversations with C-level stakeholders.

Where appropriate, you will explore the application of emerging capabilities - including AI-driven optimisation, intelligent routing, fraud modelling, and AIOps - ensuring innovation is grounded in practical, value-led use cases.

We’re seeking someone with significant experience designing and delivering enterprise-grade payment solutions in regulated environments.

You will:

• Demonstrate deep knowledge of acquiring, gateway processing, and scheme connectivity
• Be fluent in architectural principles and able to apply them pragmatically across APIs, integration layers, distributed systems, and cloud-native services
• Have experience operating in complex, multi-stakeholder environments with formal governance structures
• Be comfortable defining target architectures and guiding delivery teams to implement them effectively
• Have experience with major cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP) and modern engineering and delivery practices
• Bring experience in pre-sales, technical discovery, or executive-level stakeholder engagement

You communicate clearly, think strategically, and approach complex problems with both architectural discipline and collaborative intent.

Discover some of the global benefits that empower our people to become the best version of themselves:

• Finance: Competitive salary package, share plan, company performance bonuses, value-based recognition awards, referral bonus;   
• Career Development: Career coaching, global career opportunities, non-linear career paths, internal development programmes for management and technical leadership;
• Learning Opportunities: Complex projects, rotations, internal tech communities, training, certifications, coaching, online learning platforms subscriptions, pass-it-on sessions, workshops, conferences;
• Work-Life Balance: Hybrid work and flexible working hours, employee assistance programme;
• Health: Global internal wellbeing programme, access to wellbeing apps;
• Community: Global internal tech communities, hobby clubs and interest groups, inclusion and diversity programmes, events and celebrations.

At Endava, we’re committed to creating an open, inclusive, and respectful environment where everyone feels safe, valued, and empowered to be their best. We welcome applications from people of all backgrounds, experiences, and perspectives—because we know that inclusive teams help us deliver smarter, more innovative solutions for our customers. Hiring decisions are based on merit, skills, qualifications, and potential. If you need adjustments or support during the recruitment process, please let us know.