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We Insure · 21 hours ago

Senior Director, Solutions Architect (Global Wealth Services)

Austin, TX

Full-time

Hybrid

Lead/Staff, Director/Executive

$220K/yr - $275K/yr

12+ years exp

Apex Fintech Services LLC is a leader in digital wealth management, processing millions of transactions daily. The Senior Director, Solutions Architect will ensure Apex meets technology services demands, focusing on expanding the Ascend platform while maintaining regulatory compliance and delivering exceptional client experiences.

Insurance

Responsibilities

Collaborate closely with business SMEs, Relationship Managers, the service delivery organization and the technology organization to deliver local/regional Ascend solutions to create a one-of a kind global wealth processing platform

Develop and forcefully champion a strong, opinionated perspective on trade execution, custody, and clearance architecture. Don't just understand these systems—decisively shape them. Guide team members – collaboratively -- with clear, authoritative direction on outcomes, making confident judgments that others can follow

Develop cross-functional solutions based upon little direction (essentially, develop a plan from 0 to 1) yet seek validation via business SMEs and other Product Managers

Interface with clients from both a tactical and strategic perspective on our existing Ascend processing capabilities and understand evolving local needs, competitive requirements, and best practices

As a champion of the Ascend platform, raise issues or concerns to Senior Management, whether for production service experience or development challenges. Once identified, endeavor to resolve issues by identifying responsible parties and relentlessly seeking closure

In conjunction with Sales and Relationship Management, engage with client stakeholders (product and technology leadership, operations, compliance) to capture business goals, regulatory needs, and localization requirements for each target market

Facilitate workshops and interviews to understand client pain points, current workflows, and desired outcomes in local contexts

Present solution concepts, architecture diagrams, and realistic, timeline-informed roadmaps to both business and technical client audiences, adapting the language and approach as needed. Deliver product demos and proof-of-concept presentations tailored for local market features and workflows

Lead solution validation sessions—walk clients through proposed interaction points and feature designs; gather feedback for localization or compliance adjustments

Collect and act on client feedback post-launch, facilitating enhancements and rapid iterations to ensure continued local/regional compliance

Build trusted relationships with client teams, acting as a strategic advisor for ongoing and future localized needs

Act as a quarterback for our strategic global investments; lead, mentor, and inspire a team of product, engineering, and testing professionals towards the incremental and iterative delivery of solutions, continuing the configuration-driven processing architecture which is the foundation of the Ascend platform

Foster a culture of quality, innovation, and accountability across technology and business partners, promoting agile principles such as iterative development and frequent feedback loops

Establish clear goals and performance metrics to evaluate solution readiness, with a focus on acceptance testing criteria, automated end-to-end test coverage and agility in responding to changing requirements

Identify and escalate blockers quickly towards resolution

Ability to articulate an executable, cross-platform plan for delivering local clearing and custody solutions on Ascend, with enough clarity to engage other domain teams in understanding the outcomes required

Continue to maintain architectural governance of the platform while adding localized configurations and processing to all feature domains

Closely collaborate with other Product Managers and Business SMEs during the definition of cross-domain changes. Fill in knowledge gaps and question assumptions as required

Work with Product Execution team (technology program management) to ensure all initiatives are transparently tracked according to Apex standards

Oversee the planning, execution, and analysis of end-to-end test scenarios, prioritizing testing efforts based on risk and impact analysis

Ensure thorough test coverage across all components and integrations of the platform, with a focus on identifying and mitigating regression risks of the client-facing API and UI surface

Collaborate closely with product management, development teams, and other stakeholders to prioritize testing activities and resolve issues within agile development sprints

Communicate status, risks, and recommendations to senior management and project stakeholders

Facilitate knowledge sharing and cross-functional collaboration to foster a culture of quality ownership within an agile development framework

Qualification

ClearanceCustody processingGlobal regulatory standardsIntegration architecturesAgile development methodologiesHigh-performing team managementUser experience understandingLeadership skillsCommunication skillsProblem-solving abilities

Required

Bachelor's degree in Finance, Computer Science, Engineering, or related field (or equivalent work experience) required

12+ years of prior work experience in a leadership role in delivering large-scale, complex Financial Services solutions in an agile environment

6+ years of people management experience

Experience working in international financial services, encompassing multiple markets and regulatory environments

Extensive knowledge of Clearance, Custody and Trade Execution processing requirements in Financial Services. Understanding of the processing differences versus traditional investment products like equities

Demonstrated understanding of global regulatory standards in banking and wealth management (e.g., US SEC/FINRA, UK FCA, EU regulations, APAC regulations). Track record of designing solutions to accommodate international tax and reporting requirements for cross-border wealth clients

Deep understanding of integration architectures: APIs, microservices, data migration, ETL, and middleware relevant to financial services

Strong leadership, communication, and interpersonal skills, with the ability to inspire and lead teams in an agile environment

Strong ability to listen, but also to question assumptions

Excellent written and oral communication skills and ability to adapt storytelling to different audiences based on their priorities and level of knowledge

Experience in building and managing high-performing teams within agile development frameworks

Familiarity with agile development methodologies and continuous integration/continuous deployment (CI/CD) pipelines

Excellent problem-solving abilities and attention to detail, with a proactive approach to identifying and mitigating regression risks within an agile environment

Understanding of user experience, web development, API standards, and Agile practices, with a strong preference for best practices and incremental delivery

Ability to make decisions with imperfect information, lead without authority and be comfortable managing a team through ambiguity and complexity