Technical Lead

Overview Insight Global are seeking a Tech Lead on behalf of a tier 1 financial client to develop, enhance, debug, support, maintain, and test payments technology applications that underpin a portfolio of global payments programmes. These include ISO 20022 migrations (e.g., CHAPS, TARGET2, SWIFT CBPR+), real‑time payments (RTP) enablement, modernisation of payment engines and integration layers, and delivery against regulatory and scheme mandates across multiple geographies. The Tech Lead will participate in the design, development, and implementation of complex, high‑throughput applications, often using new technologies, providing technical direction and solution architecture for individual initiatives. The role serves as a fully seasoned technical resource; while there are no direct reports, the Tech Lead will lead projects and direct activities of engineers for special initiatives or operations, collaborate with external programmers/vendors, and may have responsibility for a project and budget. Routine accountability is for deep technical capability and delivery quality. Key Responsibilities • Design & Build: Lead design and hands‑on development of Java‑based, event‑driven and API‑centric services (microservices), ensuring scalability, resilience, and observability for payments workloads. • Payments Programme Delivery: Engineer solutions that align to ISO 20022 message standards and RTP scheme requirements; support message transformations (XML/JSON), validations, routing, and exception handling. • Integration & Data: Implement robust integration patterns (e.g., Mule ESB or equivalent middleware, messaging, Kafka/event streams) and performant data access against Oracle (SQL/PL‑SQL). • Architecture & Direction: Provide technical direction, contribute to system architecture, conduct design reviews, and ensure alignment with enterprise standards and programme milestones. • DevOps & Reliability: Operate within a highly Agile CI/CD environment; partner with SRE/DevOps to improve pipelines, automation, monitoring, and production readiness. • Collaboration & Leadership: Lead day‑to‑day technical activities for the squad; mentor engineers; coordinate with 10+ dependent teams across the payments portfolio; collaborate with external vendors where applicable. • Controls & Governance: Align delivery to scheme/regulatory timelines, non‑functional requirements (performance, resilience, security), and programme governance; contribute to audit‑ready documentation. Must‑Haves • 6+ years of hands‑on software engineering experience within financial services or similarly regulated, high‑scale environments. • Strong expertise in Java/J2EE, Web Services/REST, and microservices design and implementation. • Hands‑on exposure to payments schemes (e.g., CHAPS, TARGET2, SWIFT CBPR+, RTP) and associated cutover planning. • Deep knowledge of XML and JSON, including usage within API and microservice implementations at scale; experience with ISO 20022 message handling/transformations preferred. • Experience with integration technologies such as Mule ESB (or equivalent middleware), messaging patterns, and Kafka/event streaming. • Strong verbal and written communication skills for technical and non‑technical stakeholders; proven team leadership and mentoring. • Experience operating in a highly Agile environment with continuous integration and deployment, supporting production‑grade reliability. Plusses • Bachelor’s degree in a technical field. • Relevant technical certifications (e.g., Java, Cloud, Kafka, MuleSoft, SAFe for Architects/DevOps). • Familiarity with Eclipse IDE, WebLogic, or JBoss application servers. • Experience with platform modernisation (legacy/mainframe payment engines to modern platforms, event‑driven architectures). • Knowledge of operational resilience practices and run‑the‑bank/transform‑the‑bank governance.