Mobile Digital Payments Architect

Vanguard•Malvern, PA

5d•Hybrid

About The Position

The Mobile Digital Payments Architect defines and drives architecture strategy and product roadmaps for digital payments products and platforms, aligning them with business objectives, enterprise architecture standards, and technology roadmaps. The role designs scalable, secure, and resilient mobile payment solutions, including digital wallets, debit card payment experiences, account funding and transfers, card controls, tokenization services, and push provisioning. Working with product, engineering, UX, security, risk, compliance, operations, business, enterprise architecture, technology, and vendor stakeholders, the architect translates requirements into architecture designs, technical roadmaps, and delivery plans. The role leads integration architecture across payment processors, sponsor banks, card networks, digital wallet providers, and other financial technology partners, and acts as the senior technical authority for assigned products and platforms. The position leads architecture reviews, proofs of concept, feasibility studies, and technology evaluations; establishes mobile architecture standards, design patterns, API strategies, engineering practices, and governance; and tracks emerging technologies and payment industry trends. It also prepares and presents architecture recommendations, product documentation, roadmaps, and business cases to technical stakeholders and executives. The architect provides technical leadership and mentoring across delivery teams and may contribute hands-on to design reviews, prototypes, reference implementations, and special projects.

Requirements

Minimum of eight years of related work experience.
At least three years of technology architect experience.
Undergraduate degree or equivalent combination of training and experience.

Nice To Haves

Graduate degree preferred.
Strong experience designing and delivering mobile applications for iOS and Android platforms.
Deep understanding of digital payments architecture, payment processing, and money movement systems.
Experience with mobile application frameworks such as React Native, Swift, Kotlin, Flutter, or equivalent technologies.
Strong understanding of authentication, authorization, encryption, tokenization, and fraud prevention concepts.
Experience leading architecture governance, solution reviews, and cross-functional technical initiatives.
Hands-on experience with digital wallet integrations, including Apple Pay and Google Pay.
Experience with payment processors, core banking platforms, sponsor bank integrations, or card processing ecosystems such as Marqeta, Fiserv, Visa DPS, or similar platforms.
Experience with AWS cloud services and cloud-native architecture patterns.
Experience developing architecture roadmaps and presenting technology strategies to senior leadership.

Responsibilities

Define and drive architecture strategy and product roadmaps for digital payments products and platforms.
Design scalable, secure, and resilient solutions for mobile payment capabilities, including digital wallets, debit card payments, account funding and transfers, card controls, tokenization, and push provisioning.
Partner with cross-functional stakeholders to translate requirements into architecture designs, technical roadmaps, and delivery plans.
Collaborate with enterprise architects, product teams, technology experts, and vendors to align solutions with enterprise standards, target architectures, and long-term technology strategies.
Lead integration architecture across payment processors, sponsor banks, card networks, digital wallet providers, and other third-party financial technology partners.
Serve as the senior technical authority for assigned products and platforms, assessing risks, resolving complex technical challenges, and guiding architecture and implementation decisions.
Lead architecture reviews, proof-of-concept initiatives, feasibility studies, and technology evaluations to validate solutions, reduce implementation risk, and inform build-versus-buy decisions.
Establish and promote mobile architecture standards, design patterns, API strategies, engineering best practices, and governance processes.
Track emerging technologies, payment innovations, and industry trends to identify opportunities for modernization, innovation, and competitive advantage.
Prepare and present architecture recommendations, product documentation, technology roadmaps, and business cases to technical stakeholders and executive leadership.
Provide technical leadership, mentoring, and architectural guidance across multiple delivery teams.
Contribute hands-on when needed through design reviews, prototype development, reference implementations, special projects, and other assigned duties.