Principal Payments Architect

Location: UK - London

Department: Tech & Engineering

Principal Payments Architect

Location: London (Hybrid) | Practice Area: Technology & Engineering | Type: Permanent

Lead innovative payments transformation across financial services.

About Capco

Capco is a global leader in technology and business consulting, dedicated to driving digital innovation and transformation in financial services. We’ve partnered with over 100 clients worldwide - from pioneering fintechs to established global institutions - helping them adapt, compete, and scale in a rapidly evolving industry. With more than 30 offices globally, we combine deep expertise in banking, payments, capital markets, insurance, wealth and asset management, and energy with an agile, inclusive, and entrepreneurial culture.

Role Overview

You will play a central role in shaping and delivering some of our clients’ most critical payments transformation programmes, applying your expertise in enterprise and solution architecture alongside your deep knowledge of payments. You will help modernise core payment platforms and enable new digital payment capabilities while guiding clients through complex regulatory, operational, and technology change. Your work will influence how banks and financial institutions build, operate, and innovate across domestic and international payment ecosystems.

Working closely with engineers, you will design scalable and resilient payment solutions while helping senior stakeholders shape long-term payments strategies and investment decisions. You will also lead high-performing teams, mentor junior technologists, and contribute to the growth of our Technology and Engineering Practice through thought leadership, community engagement, and supporting new client opportunities.

Required Experience

To succeed in this role, you should have proven experience in:

• Designing or modernising payment platforms for domestic, international, real-time, on-us, and card-based flows (e.g., A2A), and working with leading vendors (e.g., Form3).
• Major payment schemes and networks such as Faster Payments, Bacs, CHAPS, SWIFT, SEPA, card schemes, Open Banking services, and Confirmation of Payee.
• Architecting highly available and resilient systems capable of high-volume processing and compliant with modern messaging standards (e.g., ISO 20022).
• Working across other areas of financial services or bank architecture, with an ability to contribute to cross-domain or non-payments initiatives when necessary.
• Applying modern distributed architecture patterns (e.g., microservices, event streaming, containerisation, and zero-trust architectures) across hybrid environments.
• Delivering payments transformation initiatives, including defining technology strategies, roadmaps, migration from legacy formats, with awareness of the regulatory horizon.
• Building trusted, senior relationships and influencing strategic technology and investment decisions.
• Working in agile delivery models with modern delivery practices (e.g., DevOps).
• Applying recognised frameworks and methodologies (e.g., TOGAF and Domain-Driven Design).

While not mandatory, experience in the following areas is highly beneficial:

• Senior consulting experience in payments transformation programmes.
• Leading pre-sales engagements, including shaping proposals, and commercial estimates for large-scale payments initiatives.
• Awareness of emerging technologies, including digital wallets, tokenisation, embedded finance, and AI-driven fraud or risk capabilities.
• Knowledge of financial crime AML controls, payment fraud prevention, and security considerations within payment ecosystems.
• Exposure to international payment ecosystems beyond the UK and Europe (e.g., US ACH, RTP, or FedNow).
• Certifications in relevant technologies, architecture disciplines, or frameworks (e.g., TOGAF or AWS).

Why Join Capco?

At Capco, you’ll be part of a collaborative, entrepreneurial, and inclusive culture working with Tier 1 financial services enterprises on impactful and enriching projects. We offer a competitive, people-first benefits package to support your growth as both a technologist and a consultant.

Our benefits include:

• Core benefits: discretionary bonus, competitive pension, health and dental insurance, life insurance, and critical illness cover.
• Mental health: access to CareFirst, Unmind, Aviva consultations, and in-house first aiders.
• Family-friendly: maternity, adoption, shared parental leave, plus paid leave for sickness, pregnancy loss, fertility treatment, menopause, and bereavement.
• Family care: 8 complimentary backup care sessions for emergency childcare or elder care.
• Holiday flexibility: 5 weeks of annual leave with the option to buy or sell days.
• Continuous learning: minimum 40 hours of annual training, including workshops, certifications, e-learning, and ongoing business coaching.
• Extra perks: Gympass (Wellhub), travel insurance, Tastecard, season ticket loans, and Cycle to Work scheme.

Inclusion at Capco
We’re committed to making our recruitment process accessible and straightforward. If you need adjustments at any stage, please let us know. We value each person’s unique perspective and contribution. At Capco, we believe that being yourself is your greatest strength. Our #BeYourselfAtWork culture encourages individuality and collaboration—a mindset that shapes how we work with clients and each other every day.

We have been informed of recruitment scams targeting the public. Always verify identities before engaging in recruitment communication. All official Capco communication will be conducted via a Capco recruiter.

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