Lead Solution Architect at Absa Group Limited (Absa)

End Date: March 10, 2026

Accountability: Architecture

• Act as the trusted adviser to the business to help define and communicate high-level business architecture requirements, translating these into technical solution architecture designs.
• Leverage deep understanding of organizational strategy to design scalable, testable, reusable technology solutions.
• Collaborate with Product and delivery teams to analyse customer requirements.
• Leverage emotional, social & business acumen to incorporate stakeholder insights.
• Lead design thinking workshops to deliver solution blueprints & roadmaps.
• Use strong engineering background for solution design (DDD, microservices, loosely coupled integration, etc.).
• Own accountability for solution blueprint design & decisions.
• Maintain strong understanding of emerging technology & architecture principles.
• Build architectural capability across delivery teams.
• Contribute to architecture body of knowledge.

People

• Participate in Architecture Forums, peer reviews and knowledge sharing.
• Set & Cascade solution direction across technology delivery teams.
• Build & evolve architectural capability across Delivery teams.
• Support attraction, recruitment, development & retention of strong technology teams.
• Embed agile practices and support high‑performance delivery teams.

Financial & Vendor Management, Risk & Governance

• Carry accountability for risk associated with solution design.
• Apply organizational risk & governance frameworks.
• Ensure alignment to Group guidelines and sustainability.
• Engage chapter & guild leads using enterprise‑wide principles.
• Ensure alignment to regulatory requirements and maintain updated regulatory knowledge.
• Deliver on time & on budget.

Education and Experience Required

• BSc in Engineering or Computer Science
• BBA, MBA advantageous
• 8+ years Solution Architecture experience
• 8+ years hands-on engineering experience
• 5 years senior leadership experience, ability to lead domains, guide teams, and own strategic decisions. Maturity in influencing, coaching, and driving design governance required
• Hands on customer-facing disciplines, ability to translate business problems into architecture with a customer first approach
• Agile delivery disciplines
• T-shaped expertise across delivery & banking business domains
• Proven track record implementing complex architectures with deep engineering background
• Practical understanding & experience in Design Thinking, Jobs to be Done, Customer Journeys, Experience Design, CEM
• Strong interpersonal skills, ability to engage with technologists and senior stakeholders

Education

• Bachelor's Degree: Information Technology