Enterprise Architect

About Heirs Technologies

Heirs Technologies is the technology subsidiary of Heirs Holdings, Africa's leading investment holding company. We build world-class digital products and platforms that serve millions of Africans across the continent and diaspora.

About the Engagement

We are building a next-generation digital banking platform for one of Africa's largest financial institutions — a product built to serve 15 million users at launch, scaling to hundreds of millions across the continent and diaspora. This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to set the architectural direction of infrastructure that will define how Africa transacts, saves, and grows.

The Role

The Enterprise Architect is the most senior technical architect on the platform — and this role is defined by genuine depth across every architectural domain, not seniority alone. You are a practitioner-architect: someone who can design the cloud architecture, the data architecture, the network architecture, the security architecture, and the on-premises integration architecture — any of them, hands-on, alone — but who also has the breadth, the judgment, and the executive presence to sit above all of them and hold the whole together.

In lean mode, you are the architecture function. You do the work — translating business requirements, regulatory mandates, and end-user needs into an overarching technical vision, and from that vision into the individual architectures the platform is built on. When domain specialists join — a Sr. Cloud Architect, a Database Architect, others over time — you shift into a governance and direction role: setting the architectural intent, reviewing their outputs, ensuring coherence across domains, and freeing your specialists to go as deep as the platform needs. You can always go back to doing it yourself. You never stop being capable of it.

This is also a role that operates at the highest levels of the organisation. You will engage with the Platform Director, the GCTIO, and the institution's senior technology and business leadership — comfortably, confidently, and with the political intelligence to navigate complex stakeholder environments and earn trust at that level.

What You'll Do

Business & Requirements Translation — Engage directly with business stakeholders, product leadership, and institutional counterparts to understand business objectives, end-user requirements, regulatory constraints, and institutional priorities — and translate them into a clear, coherent architectural vision. This is the foundation of everything else. The architecture must serve the business, not the other way around, and you are the person who ensures that connection is never lost.

Overarching Architectural Vision — Own the platform's end-to-end technical architecture — defining the structural principles, integration patterns, and technology standards that govern how the entire platform is designed across cloud, data, network, security, and on-premises layers. Ensure the architecture is coherent as a whole, not just in its individual parts, and that it is designed to serve hundreds of millions of users without fundamental rework as the platform scales.

Domain Architecture — Design and own the individual domain architectures the platform is built on — cloud infrastructure, data and database architecture, network and security architecture, on-premises integration architecture — either directly in lean team configurations, or by setting architectural direction and reviewing specialist output when domain architects are in place. In either mode, the quality and coherence of every domain architecture is your responsibility.

On-Premises & Core Banking Integration Architecture — Own the architectural design of the platform's integration with on-premises infrastructure and the institution's core banking systems — defining integration patterns, connectivity architecture, data exchange standards, and the security controls that govern how the digital platform and legacy systems interoperate reliably and safely. Understand on-premises network architecture, data centre connectivity, and the unique constraints and risks of integrating a cloud-native digital platform with mission-critical enterprise systems.

Architecture Governance — When leading a team of domain architects, own the architecture governance process — chairing the Architecture Review Board (ARB), ensuring all significant technical decisions are reviewed and documented, and maintaining a living library of architectural decision records (ADRs). Ensure that architectural standards are actively enforced — not aspirational — and that no major technical decision is made without structured review and explicit sign-off.

Platform Standards & Engineering Patterns — Define and own the master set of platform engineering standards and architectural patterns — covering microservices design, API contracts, event-driven messaging, data access, IaC, containerisation, security controls, and observability. Work with the Platform Manager to ensure these standards are communicated clearly, enforced consistently, and evolved as the platform grows. Standards must be specific enough to prevent drift and opinionated enough to be actually useful.

Non-Functional Requirements & Resilience — Define, own, and validate the platform's non-functional requirements — including availability (targeting 99.99%), scalability, performance under load, security, recoverability, and regulatory compliance. Ensure every architectural decision is assessed against these NFRs and that no design trade-off is made without understanding its impact on system quality. Own the platform's resilience architecture — fault isolation, graceful degradation, and recovery at every layer.

Technology Strategy & Governance — Own the platform's technology strategy and approved technology catalogue — making principled build-vs-buy decisions, evaluating new technologies and cloud capabilities, and ensuring that technology choices are deliberate, well-documented, and aligned with the platform's long-term direction. Govern the technical architecture of external technology partners and vendors, reviewing and approving integration designs and technology choices before they enter the platform.

Regulatory & Compliance Architecture — Ensure the platform's architecture meets PCI DSS, CBN guidelines, and all applicable data protection and financial services regulations across every operating market. Design compliance in from the ground up — not retrofitted. Engage with the institution's compliance and legal teams and with regulators where required, and ensure the platform can demonstrate regulatory compliance clearly and confidently at any point in time.

Executive & Stakeholder Engagement — Engage at the highest levels of the organisation — with the Platform Director, GCTIO, and the institution's senior technology, business, and risk leadership — with the confidence, clarity, and political intelligence that these environments demand. Translate complex architectural decisions into clear business terms. Navigate competing stakeholder priorities, build trust across organisational boundaries, and represent the platform's technical direction with credibility at board level.

What We're Looking For

Must Have

10+ years of technology experience, including substantial time in architecture roles — with hands-on expertise across multiple architectural domains, not just strategic oversight. You must be able to design, not just direct.

Genuine depth across cloud infrastructure (AWS and/or Azure), distributed data systems, network architecture, and application architecture — with the ability to produce high-quality architectural outputs in any of these domains independently when required.

Experience with on-premises infrastructure architecture and enterprise integration — including connectivity design between cloud-native platforms and legacy enterprise or core banking systems.

Proven experience translating complex business requirements, regulatory mandates, and end-user needs into coherent, well-documented technical architectures that engineering teams can build from with confidence.

Experience governing architecture across a multi-team engineering organisation — including architecture review processes, ADRs, and standards enforcement — while remaining technically hands-on.

Strong understanding of microservices architecture, event-driven systems, API-first design, and the patterns that govern how cloud-native financial platforms are designed and integrated.

Executive presence and stakeholder management capability — the ability to engage credibly with board members, senior executives, and institutional leadership, and to navigate complex organisational and political environments with confidence.

Nice to Have

TOGAF certification or equivalent enterprise architecture framework experience.

AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Professional (SAP-C02) and/or Microsoft Certified: Azure Solutions Architect Expert (AZ-305).

Direct experience as a hands-on cloud architect, database architect, or solutions architect in a prior role — evidence that the architectural depth is real, not theoretical.

Experience in fintech, banking, or financial services — with first-hand knowledge of core banking systems, payment infrastructure, and the regulatory architecture requirements of African financial markets.

Familiarity with domain-driven design, data mesh, or event sourcing at enterprise scale.

Experience engaging with African regulatory frameworks — CBN guidelines, NDPR, and cross-border data transfer requirements across multiple operating markets.

Compensation

Competitive and commensurate with experience. Details will be shared with shortlisted candidates.

What We Offer

Impactful work — you'll set the architectural direction of a platform built to serve hundreds of millions of Africans.

World-class team — you'll lead domain architects and work alongside engineers, security specialists, and product leaders from some of the best organisations on the continent and globally.

Modern ways of working — architecture-led, cloud-native, and built on a dual-cloud (AWS + Azure) foundation.

Lagos, Nigeria — based at our Lagos office, at the heart of Africa's most dynamic technology ecosystem.

How to Apply

To apply, please use the link provided in the job posting. Applications are managed through our recruitment platform and reviewed on a rolling basis.