Director, Solution Architect, Digital Assets & Tokenized Payments

Purpose of the role

To design, develop, and implement solutions to complex business problems, collaborating with stakeholders to understand their needs and requirements, and design and implement solutions that meet those needs and create solutions that balance technology risks against business delivery, driving consistency. 

Accountabilities

• Define and lead the end-to-end architecture strategy for Digital Assets and Tokenized Payments, covering business, application, data, integration, control, security, and operational architecture across the broader payments ecosystem.

  • Bring deep domain expertise in payments, including cross-border payments, domestic payments, real-time payments, payment hubs, payment engines, orchestration layers, clearing and settlement models, and associated payment lifecycle controls.

  • Operate at the intersection of traditional payments and digital asset infrastructure, with the ability to design architectures that bridge DLT/blockchain-based ecosystems with existing bank payment platforms, core systems, channels, compliance controls, and client servicing journeys.

  • Demonstrate strong understanding of the broader digital asset ecosystem, including blockchain/DLT concepts, tokenized deposits, stablecoins, wallets, custody, smart contracts, on-chain/off-chain integration patterns, settlement models, and emerging market infrastructure relevant to enterprise banking and payments.

  • Assess and articulate the end-to-end impact of onboarding traditional payment journeys onto tokenized or DLT-based infrastructure, including implications across DDA integration, account servicing, client onboarding, billing, reconciliation, liquidity, compliance, controls, operations, support, and risk management.

  • Shape target-state solution architecture aligned to business outcomes and client experience, ensuring that digital asset and tokenized payment capabilities are designed not as isolated technology components, but as part of an integrated end-to-end client journey and enterprise operating model.

  • Engage credibly with CxO-level stakeholders, senior business leaders, product teams, operations, risk, compliance, legal, and engineering teams to explain complex architecture decisions in clear business language, influence strategic direction, and secure alignment on investment and execution priorities

  • Lead architecture discussions with industry partners, market infrastructures, fintechs, vendors, and internal platform teams, evaluating solution options, integration models, control boundaries, scalability, resiliency, and fit for enterprise adoption.

  • Provide architectural leadership on solution options, trade-offs, and decision-making, balancing innovation, regulatory considerations, security, operational readiness, client needs, cost, time-to-market, and long-term strategic architecture principles.

  • Educate and influence stakeholders across business and technology on the practical implications of digital asset adoption in payments, including how tokenized payment models affect existing processes, control frameworks, operating models, product constructs, and client propositions.

  • Drive enterprise-level architecture governance and roadmap definition, ensuring solutions are scalable, secure, compliant, commercially viable, and aligned to broader modernization priorities across payments, cash management, transaction banking, and digital assets strategy.

  • Act as a strategic thought partner and architecture leader for senior leadership, helping define the bank’s position on tokenized payments, digital asset-enabled payment infrastructure, and future-state cross-border and programmable payment capabilities.

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.

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