Lead Architect – Enterprise Solutions

About the role

The Lead Architect will join PayFast's IT team in Cape Town, steering the design and integration of enterprise‑wide systems that support the company's strategic objectives. Reporting to the Principal Architect, you will lead a group of domain architects and act as the bridge between business stakeholders, change management and technology delivery.

Key responsibilities

• Manage, mentor and develop a team of IT domain architects.
• Define competency frameworks, training plans and ensure continuous skill growth.
• Maintain the Architecture Repository as a definitive record of current and planned IT assets.
• Govern architecture and technical design for all IT changes, aligning with enterprise strategy.
• Balance standards, risk appetite and financial constraints to deliver cost‑effective solutions.
• Translate business problems into technical designs and guide solution selection.
• Design secure, resilient IT architectures that mitigate security risks.

Required profile

• Proven leadership experience building high‑performing architecture teams.
• Hands‑on experience designing and deploying both cloud and on‑premises solutions.
• Strong knowledge of IT governance, operations and financial‑services architecture.
• Experience with banking switch platforms such as Base24 and Postilion.
• Certified Architect or equivalent qualification.

Required skills

• Cloud architecture
• On‑premises solutions
• Base24
• Postilion
• Enterprise architecture
• IT governance
• Security architecture

What we offer

• Opportunity to shape the technology landscape of a fast‑growing fintech.
• Collaborative environment with senior leadership exposure.
• Professional development and certification support.