Principal Banking Technology & Solution Architect — Credit Unions (Contract)

Location: Canada — Remote, with occasional client travel

Engagement: Independent Contractor / Consulting

Seniority: Principal / Senior Technology Advisory

Industry: Canadian Credit Unions, Banking Technology and Financial Services

About Aequilibrium
Aequilibrium is a Canadian digital transformation and technology consulting company helping financial institutions modernize their technology platforms, improve member experiences, and deliver complex transformation programs. We combine business and technology strategy, solution architecture, experience design, software engineering, quality assurance, and AI-enabled innovation.

We are seeking an experienced, client‑facing Principal Banking Technology & Solution Architect to advise Canadian credit unions on critical platform decisions, architecture modernization and complex technology migrations.

The Opportunity
You will work directly with credit union CTOs, CIOs and transformation leaders as a trusted technical advisor.

Our clients are navigating significant changes across digital banking, core banking integrations, enterprise data and analytics, payments, CRM and cloud platforms. Several are migrating away from Central 1 Forge while simultaneously modernizing other components of their technology landscape.

Your role is to help these institutions make informed technology decisions, manage architectural complexity and reduce delivery risk. This is a hands‑on advisory role requiring strong architecture judgment, banking domain knowledge, vendor evaluation experience and the ability to translate technical complexity into practical executive recommendations.

Key Responsibilities
Technology Strategy and Platform Selection
Lead structured evaluations of enterprise technology platforms, including data analytics, digital banking, CRM, payments and integration solutions
Define business and technical evaluation criteria, requirements, architecture principles and vendor scorecards
Assess products such as Microsoft Fabric, Snowflake, Fiserv and Finastra analytics solutions, as well as relevant digital banking platforms
Facilitate vendor demonstrations, technical due diligence, reference checks and proof‑of‑concept evaluations
Assess functional fit, interoperability, security, scalability, operational complexity, licensing and total cost of ownership
Prepare decision papers, target architectures and recommendations for CTOs and executive steering committees
Enterprise and Solution Architecture
Assess current‑state enterprise architectures and design pragmatic future‑state architectures
Evaluate integration dependencies across core banking, digital banking, CRM, payments, data warehouses, fraud systems and third‑party services




Define integration patterns, API strategies, data flows, architectural boundaries and transition roadmaps
Review vendor solution designs, identify architectural gaps and challenge unsupported technical assumptions
Provide architecture oversight across multiple vendors and implementation partners
Digital Banking and Forge Migration Advisory
Advise credit unions transitioning from Central 1 Forge to modern digital banking platforms
Evaluate replacement capabilities, functional parity, integration requirements and migration dependencies
Assess the implications of different platform versions, vendor configurations and customization approaches
Support migration planning, technical readiness assessments and architectural risk management
Work with delivery and QA leaders to define technical acceptance criteria and evidence‑based go‑live readiness
Data and Analytics Modernization
Lead assessments of legacy banking analytics and reporting environments
Evaluate contemporary data warehouses, lakehouses, data integration platforms and banking‑specific analytics products
Define data migration approaches, data quality controls, governance, security and reporting continuity requirements
Assess data integration with banking core systems, digital channels and enterprise applications
Develop architecture recommendations that support future AI, advanced analytics and member personalization
Executive Advisory and Delivery Assurance
Build trusted relationships with CTOs, CIOs, business sponsors and technology leadership teams
Communicate complex architecture and technology decisions in clear business language
Work alongside project managers, delivery directors, business analysts, designers and QA leads
Provide independent technical oversight without duplicating the responsibilities of existing implementation partners
Identify emerging risks early and recommend practical mitigation options
Produce concise architecture assessments, executive presentations, technical recommendations and implementation roadmaps

Required Qualifications
12+ years of experience in enterprise technology, solution architecture, technical consulting or banking technology delivery
Significant experience in banking, credit unions or regulated financial services
Demonstrated experience leading technology platform evaluations and vendor selections
Strong understanding of digital banking architectures,



core banking integrations, APIs, data integration and cloud platforms
Experience with enterprise data platforms, including Microsoft Azure, Microsoft Fabric, Snowflake or comparable technologies
Ability to evaluate architecture trade‑offs across security, scalability, maintainability, cost and implementation risk
Experience working with multiple technology vendors and complex transformation programs
Strong executive communication, stakeholder facilitation and technical documentation skills
Ability to operate independently as a senior advisor across multiple client engagements
Based in Canada and available to work with Canadian credit union clients

Highly Desirable Experience
Direct experience with Central 1 Forge or Canadian credit union digital banking migrations
Familiarity with VeriPark, Intellect Design, Backbase, ebankIT, Plumery or comparable digital banking platforms
Knowledge of Fiserv DNA, RFS360 or other credit union core banking systems
Experience with Temenos analytics, Microsoft Fabric, Snowflake, Fiserv analytics or Finastra platforms
Experience with Microsoft Dynamics 365, Salesforce, Power BI and enterprise data governance
Familiarity with Canadian financial services regulatory, security and privacy requirements
Experience with migration readiness, technical assurance, QA strategy and release governance
Previous experience as a CTO, Chief Architect, Principal Architect or senior technology consultant in a financial institution or consulting organization

What Success Looks Like
Lead at least one structured technology platform assessment and produce an executive‑ready recommendation
Establish a current‑state and target‑state architecture for a credit union modernization initiative
Identify material integration, vendor dependency and migration risks for active client programs
Provide practical architecture guidance that improves decision quality and reduces avoidable delivery risk
Build trusted working relationships with multiple credit union technology leaders

Success will be measured by the quality of decisions supported, risks reduced, client confidence and tangible progress toward modernization outcomes—not by the volume of documentation produced.

Engagement Model
This is a flexible, part‑time or full‑time consulting engagement depending on client demand. The successful candidate may support multiple Canadian credit union engagements concurrently, combining remote advisory work with occasional stakeholder workshops or on‑site sessions.

Applicants should provide their relevant banking architecture experience, availability, preferred hourly consulting rate and examples of comparable technology selection or modernization engagements.

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📌 Principal Banking Technology & Solution Architect (Canada only) (British Columbia)
🏢 Aequilibrium
📍 British Columbia