Director of Architecture – Card Processing Platform

At U.S. Bank, we’re on a journey to do our best. Helping the customers and businesses we serve to make better and smarter financial decisions and enabling the communities we support to grow and succeed.  We believe it takes all of us to bring our shared ambition to life, and each person is unique in their potential. A career with U.S. Bank gives you a wide, ever-growing range of opportunities to discover what makes you thrive at every stage of your career. Try new things, learn new skills and discover what you excel at—all from Day One.

Job Summary U.S. Bank is seeking a highly experienced technology leader to serve as the Director of Architecture for a critical card processing platform supporting Consumer and Small Business customers in a highly regulated, always-on environment. This role leads the architecture function , overseeing a team of architects responsible for designing and guiding complex payment solutions across a hybrid technology landscape. The Director will drive architecture strategy, solution design, and feasibility decisions across new product initiatives and business opportunities. This is a technical leadership role , focused on architecture design and decision-making—not engineering execution—requiring strong expertise across mainframe and modern technology stacks (distributed systems, cloud, APIs, and microservices) . What You’ll Do Architecture Leadership Lead and develop a team of architects responsible for end-to-end architecture across ICS initiatives Establish architectural direction across mainframe, API, distributed systems, and cloud environments Drive consistency, quality, scalability, and governance in architecture practices Solution Design & Feasibility Oversee high-level solution design, feasibility assessments, and effort sizing for new products and business initiatives Partner with business and technology stakeholders to define scalable, viable architecture approaches prior to development Cross-Platform Architecture & Strategy Drive architecture across a hybrid, multi-technology environment , including: Mainframe platforms (core system of record) Distributed systems and application services API and integration architecture Cloud and microservices-based platforms Ensure solutions balance modernization, scalability, resiliency, and platform stability Cross-Functional Partnership Collaborate closely with Product, Engineering, and Business leaders to shape solutions Translate business needs into clear, scalable architectural designs Partner with Enterprise Architecture and platform teams to ensure alignment to broader strategy Technical Leadership & Decision-Making Provide oversight of conceptual architecture design across systems and integrations Drive technical tradeoff decisions and long-term architecture strategy Influence senior stakeholders through clear, executive-level communication Basic Qualifications 10+ years of experience in software engineering, architecture, or related roles Experience leading architecture teams or senior-level architects Deep expertise in designing across: Mainframe systems (required) Distributed systems and application architectures APIs and integration patterns Cloud, microservices, and modern architecture patterns (e.g., domain-driven design, event-driven architecture) Experience supporting complex, high-availability platforms (e.g., payments, financial services, or similar) Ability to lead across legacy and modern technology environments simultaneously Experience with solution feasibility, sizing, or pre-development architecture work Preferred Skills/Experience Experience supporting payments or card processing platforms Experience in highly regulated, mission-critical environments Exposure to cloud transformation and hybrid architecture strategies Strong executive communication and stakeholder influence skills What Sets This Role Apart Leads architecture strategy and design , not delivery execution Owns architecture across both