JOB DESCRIPTION

Role : Head of Digital Architect
Location : Abu Dhabi

Role Purpose:

The Head of Digital Architect is accountable for defining, governing and continuously evolving ADIB's Digital Ecosystem architecture. This includes digital channels, mobile and web experiences, APIs, microservices, integration layers, identity and access capabilities, CRM and customer engagement platforms, data and analytics interfaces, AI-enabled capabilities, partnerintegrationsand supporting platform services.The role ensures that digital solutions are designed as part of a cohesive, secure, scalable,resilientand future-ready ecosystem aligned with business strategy, enterprise architecture principles, regulatoryexpectationsand customer experience ambitions.

Key Accountabilities of the role

Define andmaintainthe target-state architecture for the Digital Ecosystem across mobile, web, API, microservices, integration, identity, data,AIand partner-facing capabilities.
Translate digital business priorities and product roadmaps intoarchitectureroadmaps, transitionstatesand platform evolution plans.
Ensure digital architecture decisions support speed to market while protecting long-term platform health, scalability, resilience and maintainability.
Architect digital capabilities to provide consistent,secureand high-performing customer experiences across digital channels.
Promote reusable customer, product, authentication, notification,communicationand servicing capabilities across the ecosystem.
Ensure digital journeys are designed with clear consideration for performance, availability, observability, accessibility,securityand operational support.
Define and govern API-first architecture principles, API standards, service boundaries, interface contracts and integration patterns.
Guide secure and scalable integration with core banking, cards, payments, CRM, risk, fraud, identity, analytics, third-party providers and fintech partners.
Ensure ecosystem integrations are designed with clear ownership, versioning, error handling, throttling, monitoring, resilience and lifecycle management.
Provide architecture direction for microservices, event-driven patterns, container platforms, cloud-nativecapabilitiesand digital platform modernization.
Define reusable reference architectures, technologypatternsand design guardrails to reduce duplication and improve consistency across squads.
Assess platform constraints, architecture debt, technologyobsolescenceand scalability risks, and driveprioritisedremediation plans.
Own digital architecture review and design assurance for strategic digital initiatives, major ecosystem changes and reusable platform capabilities.
Ensure solution designs address functional scope, non-functional requirements, dependencies, data flows, security, resilience, operational impacts and regulatory expectations.
Govern architecture exceptions, architecture decision records, design standards and alignment with enterprise architecture principles.
Embed secure-by-design and privacy-by-design principles across the Digital Ecosystem, including identity, access, data protection, APIsecurityandsecretsmanagement.
Partner with Information Security, Risk, Compliance, Infrastructure and Operations teams to ensure digital architecture meets control,resilienceand regulatory requirements.
Ensure architecture decisions proactively mitigate operational, cyber, integration,performanceand customer-impact risks.
Provide architecture direction for AI-enabled digital capabilities, conversational banking, customer engagementautomationand intelligent service journeys.
Evaluate emerging technologies based on business value, architecture fit, ecosystem interoperability, security,supportabilityand total cost of ownership.
Ensure new digital capabilities are introduced through governed architecture patterns rather than isolated point solutions.
Act as the senior architecture advisor to Product Owners, Engineering Leads, Enterprise Architecture, Security, Infrastructure, Data,Operationsand senior stakeholders.
Lead and mentor architects and senior technical contributors to improve architecture discipline, decisionqualityand design consistency.
Communicate architecture options, trade-offs, risks,dependenciesand recommendations clearly to both technical and executive audiences.
Specialist Skills / Technical Knowledge Required for this role:
Deep knowledge of digital banking ecosystem architecture, including mobile, web, APIs, microservices, integration, identity, data,AIand partner platforms.
Ability to define target-state architecture, transition architecture, reference architecture, ecosystem principles, architecturestandardsand reusable design patterns.
Strong understanding of API-first design, RESTful APIs, API gateways, service decomposition, domain boundaries, interfacecontractsandintegrationlifecycle management.
Experience with microservices, event-driven architecture, domain-driven design, container platforms, cloud-nativepatternsand platform modernization.
Strong understanding of non-functional requirements including scalability, availability, performance, resilience, observability, supportability,recoverabilityand operational readiness.
Knowledge of secure architecture practices including IAM/CIAM, API security, authentication,authorisation, encryption,secretsmanagement, dataprotectionand secure integration patterns.
Ability to assess third-party platforms, SDKs, fintech integrations and vendor solutions from architecture, security, interoperability,lifecycleand supportability perspectives.
Experience with architecture governance, architecture decision records, design review forums, exception management, technical debtgovernanceandstandardsadoption.
Good understanding of modern software engineering practices, DevOps, CI/CD, automated testing, release governance, codequalityand operational monitoring to guide architectural decisions.
Excellent written,verbaland executive communication skills, with the ability to simplify architecture trade-offs for senior stakeholders.

Head of Digital Architect