Lead Architect - Digital Assets
Overview
A leading European regulated financial institution is expanding its digital assets capabilities to build the next generation of financial market infrastructure, and a recruiter is hiring on its behalf for a Lead Architect for Digital Assets in Paris, France. The mandate is a zero-to-one build that bridges traditional capital markets with decentralised finance.
The architect designs the core platform behind two initiatives now in design. The first is a tokenised issuance, trading and settlement platform for equities, ETFs and bonds, with a 24/7 central limit order book, fractional trading, CCP-cleared trades and end-of-day atomic delivery-versus-payment settlement on-chain. The second is a tokenised collateral-management platform for sovereign bonds, enabling real-time repo, CCP margin eligibility and DeFi distribution of government securities through gated lending venues. The guiding principles are that the token is the financial instrument, one ISIN corresponds to one ledger, and tokenisation is driven by the central securities depository.
Responsibilities include owning end-to-end architecture that integrates distributed ledger technology with trading, clearing, settlement, custody and CSD systems, designing cross-chain topology that combines permissioned chains such as Hyperledger Besu and Canton Network with public chains such as Ethereum and L2s, defining on-chain compliance using standards such as ERC-3643, KYC-whitelisted wallets, transfer restrictions, AML screening and MiFIR reporting, and architecting custody models around MPC solutions including bring-your-own-custody. The role also sets code quality and secure-by-design standards, leads threat modelling, governs an AI-assisted delivery process, works with product, legal, regulatory, clearing and CSD groups, and makes build, buy and partner decisions.
Requirements
Candidates need at least seven years of solution architecture experience, including three or more on DLT or blockchain projects in high-value, 24/7 financial systems, deep fluency with EVM and permissioned chains, hands-on experience with regulated security token standards and smart contract and bridge security, and strong knowledge of capital markets settlement including DvP, CSD operations and clearing. They also need proven ability to integrate AI tooling into development with guardrails, strong decision-making and stakeholder management across technical, business, legal and regulatory domains, and a bachelor's degree in computer science, engineering or a related field. Cloud or blockchain certifications are advantageous. Openness to working onsite in Paris four days a week is required.
What you get
The annual salary is 100,000 to 120,000 euros, with the client's employee benefits package and a high-visibility role in a build backed by a Tier-1 European financial institution.
Who can apply
Visa sponsorship is available for suitable candidates.