Solutions Architect ( Internal/External)

At Safaricom Ethiopia, we are a purpose-led technology company dedicated to transforming lives through digital connectivity and inclusive financial services. In less than five years, we have grown to serve over 15 million 90 days active customers, with our network now reaching 60% of Ethiopia’s population; a testament to our bold vision and trusted partnerships.

Guided by our core values of Customer Obsession, Innovation, Integrity, and Get It Done Together, we are building a dynamic, inclusive, and empowering workplace. We believe our greatest strength lies in our people. That is why, for three consecutive years, we have proudly earned the Top Employer Award. In addition, we have received the African Top Employer recognition for the first time, reflecting our unwavering commitment to fostering a supportive, innovative, and inclusive work environment.

Join Safaricom Ethiopia and be part of a team shaping the digital future of Ethiopia. Here, your work has meaning, your voice matters, and your growth is our priority. Together, we are transforming lives for a digital future.

Role purpose:

The role holder is responsible for designing the end-to-end technology architecture and solution design required to launch and scale Credit Products across Telco and M-PESA.

Reporting to the Principal – Technical Data & Analytics, the role translates business and credit requirements into scalable technical solutions covering Credit Scoring Platforms, Loan Management Platforms, external partner platforms, data integration and customer-facing channels.

A key focus of the role is to design complex integration architectures involving banks, FinTechs, scoring partners, external data providers and other technology partners, while ensuring scalability, security, resilience and alignment with the company’s enterprise architecture.

Responsibilities

Key accountabilities and decision ownership:

Solution Architecture & Product Design

• Design end-to-end technology architecture for new Credit Products and enhancements to existing products.

• Translate business, product and credit requirements into solution architecture, system components and integration designs.

• Define how customer channels, M-PESA, Telco systems, Credit Scoring Platforms and Loan Management Platforms interact across the credit lifecycle.

• Develop scalable and reusable architecture supporting multiple products, customer segments and partner models.

• Define functional and non-functional requirements including scalability, availability, performance, resilience and security.

Credit Scoring & External Data Architecture

• Design the architecture supporting the company’s Credit Scoring Platform and decisioning capabilities.

• Define integration with external scoring providers, FinTech platforms, banks, credit bureaus and alternative data providers.

• Design secure and scalable mechanisms to ingest and exchange internal and external data used for credit scoring and decisioning.

• Ensure effective integration of GSM, M-PESA, repayment and external data into scoring and analytical environments.

• Support implementation of APIs, real-time decisioning and data exchange required for automated credit assessment

Loan Management & Platform Integration

• Design integration between Credit Scoring and Decision Engines and the existing Loan Management Platform.

• Define interfaces and workflows covering eligibility, application, approval, disbursement, repayment and collections.

• Support configuration and architectural changes required to introduce new products and partner solutions.

• Ensure architecture minimizes unnecessary customization and promotes reusable platform capabilities.

Partner & Integration Architecture

• Lead technical solution design for integration with banks, FinTechs and external technology partners.

• Review partner platforms, APIs, data models and technical capabilities and define appropriate integration approaches.

• Identify architecture risks, system dependencies and technical gaps during partner evaluation and product design.

• Establish clear interface specifications, data flows and integration responsibilities across internal and external systems.

• Support technical due diligence and vendor / partner selection where required.

Architecture Governance & Delivery Support

• Produce solution architecture documents, system diagrams, interface specifications and data flow designs.

• Ensure proposed solutions comply with enterprise architecture, Cyber Security, data privacy and technology standards.

• Work closely with Software Engineers, ML Engineers, Data Engineers and platform teams throughout design, development and implementation.

• Provide architectural oversight during development, testing, deployment and production rollout.

• Identify and resolve technical dependencies and integration bottlenecks affecting product delivery.

Key performance indicator:

• Quality and scalability of Credit Product solution architecture.
• Successful integration of Credit Scoring, Loan Management and partner platforms.
• Time-to-market for new Credit Product technical solutions.
• Reduction of integration issues and architectural rework.
• Successful onboarding of external platforms and data sources.
• Compliance with enterprise architecture, security and data standards.
• Reusability and scalability of architecture across multiple Credit Products.

Core competencies, knowledge and experience:

• 2 – 4 years of experience in Solution Architecture, Software Engineering, Systems Integration, FinTech, Digital Banking or related technology roles.

• Strong experience designing complex end-to-end technology solutions and system integrations.

• Experience with API-based integration, microservices, middleware and event-driven architectures.

• Strong understanding of data architecture, data integration and real-time data exchange.

• Experience with digital lending, Loan Management Systems, Credit Scoring Platforms or decision engines.

• Strong understanding of security, privacy, resilience and scalability requirements for financial platforms.

• Experience integrating third-party platforms and external data providers.

• Ability to translate business requirements into practical and scalable technical architectures.

• Strong stakeholder management across Product, Technology, Data and external partners.

Qualifications

Must have technical / professional qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Technology or related field.
• Strong knowledge of solution architecture, system integration and API design.
• Experience with cloud, middleware, databases and modern application architecture.
• Strong understanding of data flows, data models and integration patterns.
• Ability to produce architecture diagrams, solution design documents and technical specifications.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills in English.

Desired

• Experience within Telecommunications, Mobile Financial Services, Banking, FinTech or Digital Lending.
• Experience integrating Credit Scoring Platforms and Loan Management Systems.
• Experience with external data providers, credit bureaus or alternative data platforms.
• Experience integrating banking and FinTech platforms.

How to Apply. If you feel that you are up to the challenge and possess the necessary qualification and experience, kindly proceed to create/ update your candidate profile on the recruitment portal and then Click on the apply button. Remember to attach your resume.