Principal Banking Technology & Solution Architect (Canada only)
About The Position
Aequilibrium is seeking a client-facing Principal Banking Technology & Solution Architect to advise Canadian credit unions on platform decisions, architecture modernization, and complex technology migrations. The consultant will work with credit union CTOs, CIOs, transformation leaders, and delivery teams on initiatives involving digital banking, core banking integrations, enterprise data and analytics, payments, CRM, and cloud platforms, including migrations away from Central 1 Forge. This is a hands-on, independent advisory role requiring strong architecture judgment, banking domain knowledge, vendor evaluation experience, and the ability to turn technical complexity into practical recommendations for executives. The consultant may support multiple client engagements concurrently, providing remote advisory work and occasional stakeholder workshops or on-site sessions. The engagement can be part-time or full-time depending on client demand.
Requirements
- 12+ years of experience in enterprise technology, solution architecture, technical consulting, or banking technology delivery.
- Significant experience in banking, credit unions, or regulated financial services.
- Demonstrated experience leading technology platform evaluations and vendor selections.
- Strong understanding of digital banking architectures, core banking integrations, APIs, data integration, and cloud platforms.
- Experience with enterprise data platforms, including Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Fabric, Snowflake, or comparable technologies.
- Ability to evaluate architecture trade-offs across security, scalability, maintainability, cost, and implementation risk.
- Experience working with multiple technology vendors and complex transformation programs.
- Strong executive communication, stakeholder facilitation, and technical documentation skills.
- Ability to operate independently as a senior advisor across multiple client engagements.
- Based in Canada and available to work with Canadian credit union clients.
Nice To Haves
- Direct experience with Central 1 Forge or Canadian credit union digital banking migrations.
- Familiarity with VeriPark, Intellect Design, Backbase, ebankIT, Plumery, or comparable digital banking platforms.
- Knowledge of Fiserv DNA, RFS360, or other credit union core banking systems.
- Experience with Temenos analytics, Microsoft Fabric, Snowflake, Fiserv analytics, or Finastra platforms.
- Experience with Microsoft Dynamics 365, Salesforce, Power BI, and enterprise data governance.
- Familiarity with Canadian financial services regulatory, security, and privacy requirements.
- Experience with migration readiness, technical assurance, QA strategy, and release governance.
- Previous experience as a CTO, Chief Architect, Principal Architect, or senior technology consultant in a financial institution or consulting organization.
Responsibilities
- Lead structured evaluations of enterprise technology platforms, define evaluation criteria and requirements, facilitate vendor demonstrations and due diligence, assess fit and total cost of ownership, and prepare decision papers, target architectures, and executive recommendations.
- Assess current-state enterprise architectures and design pragmatic future-state architectures, including integration patterns, API strategies, data flows, architectural boundaries, and transition roadmaps.
- Review vendor solution designs, identify architectural gaps, challenge unsupported assumptions, and provide architecture oversight across vendors and implementation partners.
- Advise credit unions transitioning from Central 1 Forge to modern digital banking platforms, including capability and functional parity assessments, integration and migration dependency analysis, technical readiness, and architectural risk management.
- Work with delivery and QA leaders to define technical acceptance criteria and evidence-based go-live readiness.
- Lead assessments of legacy banking analytics and reporting environments and evaluate modern data warehouses, lakehouses, data integration platforms, and banking-specific analytics products.
- Define data migration approaches, data quality controls, governance, security, and reporting continuity requirements, and recommend architectures supporting AI, advanced analytics, and member personalization.
- Build trusted relationships with technology and business leaders and communicate complex architecture decisions in clear business language.
- Collaborate with project managers, delivery directors, business analysts, designers, and QA leads while providing independent technical oversight.
- Identify emerging risks, recommend practical mitigation options, and produce architecture assessments, executive presentations, technical recommendations, and implementation roadmaps.
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What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Principal
Education Level
No Education Listed
