Payment Domain Subject Matter Expert (SME) and Solutions Architect

Role: Payment Domain Subject Matter Expert (SME) and Solutions Architect
location: Denver, CO (Hybrid)
Duration: 6-12+ Months Contract
Mandatory Skills:

• Payment systems, routing engines, and payment processing workflows
• Payment Processing: (Fintech (retail & payment).
• Please focus on profiles from a fintech background rather than banking.

Summary: We are looking for a seasoned Payment Domain Subject Matter Expert (SME) and Solutions Architect to lead the design, integration, and optimization of payment routing and processing solutions. This role will act as a bridge between business stakeholders, technology teams, vendors, and third-party partners, ensuring compliant, scalable, and efficient payment solutions. The ideal candidate brings strong payment domain expertise, solution architecture experience, and the ability to articulate complex technical concepts into clear business outcomes within a large enterprise environment.
Skills & Experience:

• Proven experience working as a Payment Domain SME in large-scale enterprise environments.
• Deep understanding of end-to-end payment processing workflows, including authorization, clearing, settlement, reconciliation, and dispute handling.
• Strong knowledge of payment routing engines, transaction decisioning, and rule-based routing.
• Hands-on experience with multiple payment methods, including cards, digital wallets, and alternative payment methods.
• Experience integrating with payment gateways, acquirers, processors, and third-party payment service providers.
• Experience designing and solutioning payment integrations and platforms in complex ecosystems.
• Ability to architect secure, scalable, and highly available payment solutions.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, especially in high-volume transaction environments.
• Ability to translate technical designs into business-focused solutions for executive and operational stakeholders.
• Good understanding of PCI DSS standards and secure handling of payment data.
• Familiarity with industry regulations and compliance requirements related to payment processing.
• Experience working with security and compliance teams to ensure adherence to enterprise controls.
• Demonstrated experience in a solution leadership or technical leadership role.
• Strong communication and presentation skills, capable of engaging senior business and technology leaders.
• Ability to represent the IT organization in client, vendor, and third-party engagements.
• Experience identifying team skill gaps and mentoring/training engineers on payment concepts and solutions.
• Prior experience supporting Telecom and/or Retail clients.
• Experience working with large, regulated enterprises similar in scale and complexity
  

Responsibilities:

• Engage with Client business and technology stakeholders to understand payment processing and routing requirements.
• Act as the primary Payment Domain SME, providing solution guidance to business, engineering, and partner teams.
• Design and propose end-to-end payment routing and integration solutions aligned with Client standards, industry best practices, and platform capabilities.
• Collaborate with internal IT teams, business teams, vendors, and third parties to gather, analyze, and validate business and technical requirements.
• Represent the IT team in client, vendor, and third-party meetings, ensuring clarity and alignment.
• Define requirements, acceptance criteria, considering the edge cases, and seniors in payment processing
• Recommend payment routing configurations, customization approaches, and integration strategies, including rules, workflows, and interfaces.
• Conduct solution walkthroughs, architecture reviews, and product demonstrations as needed.
• Support presales to post-implementation handover, working closely with product, engineering, support, and operations teams.
• Identify knowledge gaps within the team and drive enablement and training initiatives.
• Develop and maintain documentation, including solution proposals, architecture diagrams, implementation plans, and customization specifications.
• Ensure payment solutions comply with security, PCI, and enterprise governance standards.