Ford Credit Europe is transforming how customers access vehicle finance. As a Senior Enterprise / Solution Architect in the Global Architecture team, you will play a key role in our journey to design and develop the next generation of financial platforms. In this role you will be play a pivotal role with engineering teams around the world and have responsibility for providing architectural design, technology solutions and guidance across a diverse selection of applications ensuring alignment with our overall global architecture standards and strategies.

We are seeking a highly motivated and experienced Architect for this leadership position reporting to the Director of Architecture, Ford Credit Europe. In this role, you will be a key individual contributor working with senior business and engineering partners to create the future designs of Ford Credit platforms whilst also helping to guide, steer and mentor other team members on their deliverables. 

Required Skills and Selection Criteria:

Significant years overall IT experience in architecture or software engineering rolesHands-on Enterprise or Solution Architecture experienceBachelor's degree in computer science, engineering, or a related field.Google Cloud Professional Cloud Architect certification or equivalent Deep technical proficiency in developing architecture designs for digital front end and back end foundational platforms, ideally React, Java Springboot, Apollo GraphQL, Kafka / PubSub, PostgreSQL, BigQuery technologies.Experience of migrating, designing and building applications in modern cloud hosting environments, specifically leveraging Google Cloud Platform services.Knowledge of enterprise frameworks and technologies. Strong in architecture design patterns, experience with secure interoperability standards and methods, architecture tools and process.Solid understanding of architectural principles and best practices, particularly in the context of lending and financial systems. Experience within the Banking and Financial sector, including knowledge of relevant regulatory and compliance requirements preferred.Good knowledge of strategic, new, and emerging technology trends, and the practical application of them within enterprise landscapes. Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, with ability to communicate and collaborate on architectural proposals with diverse audiences (user groups, stakeholders and senior management).Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to adapt to changing business needs. Ability to work on multiple projects in a fast paced & dynamic environment.Experience with agile methodologies and modern development practices.Track record of designing secure architectures, including knowledge of common security patterns, threats, and mitigation techniques relevant to digital platforms and financial applications.Strong understanding of data architecture principles, including data modeling, data governance, data integration patterns, and experience designing solutions that utilize various database technologies and data warehousing concepts, ideally with PostgreSQL and BigQuery experience.

Role & Responsibilities

Provide Architecture support to European and Indian based engineering squads & product teams. Create and maintain comprehensive architectural documentation, including diagrams, specifications, and design patterns.Contribute to the design and implementation of architectural frameworks for Ford Credit’s European systems, ensuring alignment with the overall global architecture vision.Develop and maintain architecture artefacts including roadmaps and current / future state designs following industry standard architecture models and best practices.Support the European architecture team, developing talent of junior team members. Provide technical guidance and mentoring to architecture and engineering teams, ensuring adherence to architectural standards and best practices. Provide technical leadership and guidance to product teams. Collaborate with key business stakeholders, IT product teams, engineering management and external partners. Collaborate with cross-functional teams at a global level to deliver complex integrated solutions.Identify and address performance bottlenecks, security vulnerabilities, and scalability issues within existing systems. Ensure all architectural solutions adhere to security best practices and regulatory compliance requirements.Design transitional architectures to help product teams on their modernisation journeys and guide teams through required enterprise architecture processes ensuring alignment with standards.Provide architecture assessments on technical solutions and proposals, make recommendations that meet business needs and present in architectural governance forums.Evaluate new technologies and platforms, providing recommendations to the Director of Architecture on their potential application within Ford Credit.