Associate Vice President – Solution Architect – Digital Assets

Our Architecture team is looking for a skilled and experienced Digital Asset Technical Architect to design, implement, and manage a greenfield digital asset ecosystem, focusing on custody management, stablecoin issuance, and seamless integration with our bank's mobile banking platform. The ideal candidate will have a proven track record of deploying digital asset solutions, strong technical expertise in key management, security architecture, cloud technologies, and a comprehensive understanding of regulatory compliance, particularly with the Central Bank of UAE (CBUAE) mandates.

What You Will Do:

• Architect and implement a secure, scalable digital asset ecosystem.

• Design institutional-grade custody solutions including wallets, HSMs and key management.

• Lead stablecoin issuance and lifecycle management capabilities.

• Integrate digital asset platforms with core banking, payments and mobile banking.

• Establish security architecture, risk controls and operational governance.

• Ensure compliance with CBUAE regulations and AML/CFT requirements.

Digital Asset Platform Architecture

• Design and deploy a secure, scalable, and compliant digital asset ecosystem from the ground up.

• Establish custody management, stablecoin issuance, tokenization, and digital wallet capabilities.

• Integrate digital asset services with core banking systems, mobile banking platforms, exchanges, and third-party ecosystems through APIs.

Blockchain and Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT):

• Expertise in blockchain technologies and distributed ledger protocols (e.g., Ethereum, Hyperledger) for building custody management and stablecoin issuance solutions.
  

Blockchain & Smart Contract Development.

• Architect solutions using blockchain and distributed ledger technologies such as Ethereum and Hyperledger.

• Design, develop, and govern secure smart contracts for stablecoin issuance, transaction processing, and digital asset management.

• Enable interoperability across external digital asset networks, exchanges, and banking infrastructure.

Security & Key Management.

• Implement enterprise-grade cybersecurity controls, including HSM-based cryptographic key management.

• Establish security frameworks based on NIST, ISO 27001, and industry best practices.

• Lead penetration testing, vulnerability assessments, incident response planning, and disaster recovery strategies.
  Cloud, Infrastructure & DevOps.

Cloud and API Integration:

• Architect cloud-native, highly available, scalable, and resilient digital asset platforms.

• Define end-to-end infrastructure architecture covering HA, DR, performance, security, and elimination of single points of failure.

• Establish CI/CD pipelines and DevSecOps practices to ensure secure and efficient solution delivery.

Regulatory Compliance & Governance.

• Ensure compliance with CBUAE regulations, AML/KYC requirements, and applicable international digital asset standards.

• Monitor regulatory developments and adapt technology solutions and operating models accordingly.

• Collaborate with regulators and internal control functions to maintain governance and compliance.

Operations & Vendor Management.

• Manage the complete solution lifecycle from requirements gathering through production support.

• Develop operational playbooks, monitoring frameworks, dashboards, and automation capabilities.

• Evaluate and manage technology vendors, blockchain providers, custodians, and strategic partners.

Enterprise Architecture & Strategic Leadership.

• Apply TOGAF and Enterprise Architecture principles to create a future-ready digital asset platform aligned with business strategy.

• Design modular, API-first, microservices-based architectures to promote flexibility and scalability.

• Drive stakeholder engagement, change management, and cross-functional collaboration across business, technology, risk, compliance, and security teams.

What We are Looking for:

• Bachelor's or master's degree in computer science, IT, Engineering or related field.

• 8+ years of architecture or platform engineering experience in banking, fintech or digital assets.

• Experience with custody platforms, wallets, tokenisation and stablecoin ecosystems.

• Strong knowledge of blockchain, cryptography, cloud platforms and cybersecurity.

• Expertise in API management, enterprise integration and digital banking ecosystems.

• Experience with UAE digital asset regulations.

• Knowledge of tokenized deposits, CBDCs, stablecoins and blockchain interoperability.

• Professional certifications in cloud, security, architecture or blockchain technologies.

• Cloud Architects certification from public cloud providers like AWS, Azure etc.

• Certification on Virtualization and related technology.