Candescent is a forward-thinking technology company transforming how financial institutions deliver Intelligent Banking experiences. We unite digital banking, account opening, and branch solutions that power and connect digital banking, account opening, and branch solutions—creating seamless engagement across digital, remote, and in-person channels.
Our Experience-Led, Intelligence-Driven approach combines human-centered design with data, automation, and cloud-based innovation. Built on an API-first architecture, our extensible ecosystem enables institutions to adapt quickly, integrate easily, and unlock new opportunities for growth—turning every customer interaction into a moment of clarity, confidence, and connection.
About Candescent
Candescent is the leading cloud-based digital banking solutions provider for financial institutions. We are transforming digital banking with intelligent, cloud-powered solutions that connect account opening, digital banking, and branch experiences for financial institutions. Our advanced technology and developer tools enable seamless, differentiated customer journeys that elevate trust, service, and innovation. Success here requires flexibility in a fast-paced environment, a client-first mindset, and a commitment to delivering consistent, reliable results as part of a performance-driven, values-led team. With team members around the world, Candescent is an equal opportunity employer.
Director, Client Architecture & Technical Strategy
Business Function:
Client Operations
Reports to:
Chief Operating Officer (COO)
Type:
Full Time
Job Summary
The Staff Solutions Architect serves as the senior technical authority for Client Operations and a key enterprise leader connecting Candescent's digital banking platform strategy to client outcomes, implementation scale, and services growth. The role provides executive-level technical leadership across the DI platform, Votiv transformation, Professional Services, Development Services, Client Engagement, Product, and Engineering.
Reporting to the COO, this role operates as an enterprise-level individual contributor with broad decision influence across organizational boundaries. It establishes technical direction, architecture standards, implementation and support patterns, and executive recommendations for complex platform matters that materially affect client experience, delivery risk, scalability, operating cost, and revenue. The role is not accountable for a single client solution; it shapes how Candescent solves, implements, migrates, and supports platform capabilities across the client base.
The position has three strategic mandates: serve as Client Operations' senior technical authority and DI platform SME; define the architecture and operating models required to migrate and support clients on Votiv at scale; and provide the technical leadership required to position, solution, sell, and successfully deliver Candescent Advantage Services. Success requires the judgment and credibility to influence executives, architects, engineers, delivery leaders, and clients without relying on direct-line authority.
Key Responsibilities
Enterprise Platform Architecture & Technical Governance
- Define and govern Client Operations architecture principles, technical standards, implementation patterns, and support models across Candescent platform services.
- Establish the technical frameworks and decision criteria used to evaluate complex implementation, integration, migration, and support approaches across the client base.
- Represent Client Operations in enterprise architecture and platform decisions that materially affect scalability, serviceability, upgradeability, resiliency, and long-term operating cost.
- Identify systemic technical risks and capability gaps, recommend enterprise-level solutions, and drive cross-functional resolution with Product and Engineering leadership.
DI Platform Authority & Client Solution Leadership
- Serve as the senior Client Operations technical authority and subject matter expert on the DI platform, providing escalation leadership for the most complex client and platform issues.
- Lead technical strategy for high-risk or high-value client situations where issues span architecture, product, engineering, implementation, and ongoing support.
- Partner with Client Engagement Partners, Professional Services, Development Services, Product, and Engineering to translate complex client needs into scalable platform and service approaches.
- Provide executive-level technical recommendations that balance client outcomes, platform integrity, implementation feasibility, supportability, risk, and commercial considerations.
Votiv Transformation Architecture & Scale
- Own the Client Operations technical architecture and operating-model strategy for moving clients from DI to Votiv, in partnership with implementation scale and support tiger teams.
- Define repeatable upgrade paths, migration patterns, technical readiness criteria, implementation architectures, and post-migration support structures that enable Votiv adoption at scale.
- Identify architectural dependencies, platform constraints, integration risks, and support implications early enough to influence product, engineering, and client migration decisions.
- Convert lessons from launch partners and early migrations into reusable standards, playbooks, automation opportunities, and platform recommendations that reduce variation and execution risk.
- Drive architectural simplification and standardization to reduce migration complexity, shorten deployment cycles, and lower long-term support burden.
Advantage Services Commercial & Solution Leadership
- Serve as the senior technical leader for strategic Candescent Advantage pursuits, partnering with Client Engagement, Sales, Professional Services, and client executives from discovery through solution design.
- Shape the technical strategy, architecture, scope, delivery model, assumptions, dependencies, and risk profile for complex Advantage opportunities.
- Translate client business priorities and platform challenges into differentiated, scalable services propositions that Candescent can deliver repeatedly and profitably.
- Provide executive-level technical credibility in strategic client conversations, solution workshops, proposals, and escalations that materially influence Advantage pipeline conversion and client confidence.
- Identify new repeatable technical capabilities and service offerings that can be productized or monetized through Advantage and the broader services portfolio.
Enterprise & Executive Leadership
- Serve as a trusted technical advisor to the COO and executive leadership on platform architecture, client technology risk, implementation strategy, Votiv readiness, and services opportunities.
- Influence senior Product and Engineering leaders on platform priorities and design decisions based on client impact, operational scalability, implementation complexity, and support economics.
- Lead cross-functional technical decision-making when accountability spans Client Operations, Product, Engineering, Professional Services, Development Services, and Client Engagement.
- Raise the technical capability of delivery and client-facing teams through architecture guidance, mentoring, reusable standards, and direct coaching of senior technical resources.
- Communicate complex architecture, technology, risk, and business tradeoffs with executive clarity to client leaders and internal decision makers.
Qualifications and Experience
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or a related technical discipline; equivalent senior-level technical experience may be considered.
- 15+ years of progressive experience spanning software engineering, solution or enterprise architecture, technical consulting, platform implementation, and/or development leadership.
- Demonstrated career progression from hands-on engineering or development into architecture and senior technical leadership roles.
- Deep expertise in digital banking, fintech, or enterprise SaaS architectures, including APIs, integrations, distributed systems, platform services, and complex enterprise implementations.
- Proven experience setting technical direction and architecture standards across multiple teams, products, client environments, or enterprise initiatives.
- Demonstrated success leading highly complex technical decisions and client situations with material business, operational, or commercial impact.
- Strong executive presence and the ability to advise C-suite leaders, client executives, architects, engineering leaders, and delivery teams with credibility.
- Proven ability to influence senior leaders and drive decisions across organizational boundaries without direct reporting authority.
- Experience translating technical strategy into scalable implementation, migration, support, and commercial service models.
- Must be legally authorized to work in the U.S. without sponsorship.
Success Measures
- Enterprise adoption of architecture standards and repeatable technical patterns that improve scalability, serviceability, and decision quality.
- Votiv migration and support architectures that measurably reduce deployment risk, implementation variation, and time to transition clients.
- Faster and more effective resolution of complex DI platform and strategic client issues, with reduced dependency on ad hoc engineering intervention.
- Measurable contribution to Advantage revenue through technical qualification, solution design, pipeline conversion, and successful strategic client delivery.
- Improved alignment and speed of technical decision-making across Client Operations, Product, Engineering, Professional Services, and Development Services.
- Increased organizational leverage of senior technical expertise through reusable standards, playbooks, governance, mentoring, and scalable operating models.
Statement to Third Party Agencies
To ALL recruitment agencies: Candescent only accepts resumes from agencies on the preferred supplier list. Please do not forward resumes to our applicant tracking system, Candescent employees, or any Candescent facility. Candescent is not responsible for any fees or charges associated with unsolicited resumes.
