Lead Software Engineer

Our Purpose Mastercard powers economies and empowers people in 200+ countries and territories worldwide. Together with our customers, we’re helping build a sustainable economy where everyone can prosper. We support a wide range of digital payments choices, making transactions secure, simple, smart and accessible. Our technology and innovation, partnerships and networks combine to deliver a unique set of products and services that help people, businesses and governments realize their greatest potential. Title and Summary Lead Software Engineer OVERVIEW As part of a fast-paced team delivering innovative payment, digital commerce, and platform solutions, this role provides technical leadership across architecture, software engineering, AI-enabled development, and cloud-native modernization initiatives. The successful candidate will lead large-scale engineering programs, design scalable and secure solutions, drive adoption of AI-assisted engineering practices, and collaborate with business and technology stakeholders to deliver high-quality products. ROLE & RESPONSIBILITIES • Lead complex software engineering initiatives with significant business impact. • Define and execute technology strategy, architecture roadmaps, and modernization programs. • Design, develop, and deliver scalable, high-performance, cloud-native applications and APIs. • Drive decomposition of monolithic platforms into reusable microservices and domain-driven architectures. • Partner with Product Managers, TPMs, Architects, and Engineering teams to translate business requirements into technical solutions. • Evaluate emerging technologies, AI capabilities, and third-party platforms to improve business outcomes and engineering efficiency. • Develop Proofs of Concept (POCs) and validate new architectural approaches. • Champion engineering excellence through code reviews, design reviews, automated testing, and continuous improvement. • Drive adoption of AI-powered development tools and practices to improve developer productivity, code quality, testing efficiency, documentation, and operational excellence. • Mentor engineers, foster technical growth, and promote a culture of innovation and continuous learning. • Communicate architecture decisions, risks, trade-offs, and technical strategies effectively to leadership and stakeholders. • Ensure adherence to security, compliance, quality, reliability, and software development standards. ABOUT YOU Education: • Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Technology, or equivalent practical experience. Experience & Qualifications: • Extensive experience designing, developing, and leading enterprise-scale software platforms. • Strong expertise in Java, Spring Boot, REST APIs, Microservices, PostgreSQL, and distributed systems. • Experience building secure, resilient, high-availability applications in cloud environments. • Proven ability to architect and deliver mission-critical systems at scale. • Experience integrating external APIs, payment platforms, SaaS products, and third-party services. • Strong understanding of software architecture patterns, domain-driven design, event-driven architectures, and API-first development. • Hands-on experience with Agile, DevSecOps, CI/CD, infrastructure automation, and cloud-native engineering practices. • Experience leveraging AI-assisted development tools such as GitHub Copilot, AI coding assistants, intelligent code generation, automated testing, and developer productivity platforms. • Demonstrated ability to learn, evaluate, and adopt emerging technologies, frameworks, and AI innovations. • Strong leadership, communication, collaboration, and stakeholder management skills. KNOWLEDGE & RESPONSIBILITIES • Lead architecture and design decisions across multiple products, platforms, and engineering teams. • Develop and maintain reference architectures, engineering standards, and best practices. • Design and implement scalable APIs, microservices, integrations, and event-driven systems. • Drive engineering quality through automated testing, code reviews, observability, reliability engineering, and operational excellence. • Build secure solutions aligned with Security by Design principles, OWASP standards, PCI-DSS, and enterprise security requirements. • Optimize application performance, scalability, resilience, and cost efficiency. • Lead root cause analysis, troubleshooting, and resolution of complex production issues. • Establish development standards, automation frameworks, and quality metrics. • Influence technical direction, backlog prioritization, and management of technical debt. • Partner with engineering leadership to improve delivery velocity, reliability, and customer experience. • Coach and mentor engineers through design sessions, technical reviews, and knowledge-sharing activities. • Support talent acquisition, technical interviews, and team development. • Drive adoption of AI-enabled software engineering practices across the SDLC, including requirements analysis, coding, testing, documentation, observability, and operational support. • Use data, metrics, and AI-driven insights to improve engineering effectiveness, developer experience, and platform reliability. SKILLS & ABILITIES • Strong problem-solving and analytical skills with the ability to solve complex technical challenges. • Expertise in software architecture, design patterns, distributed systems, and cloud-native application design. • Ability to balance business priorities, technical strategy, and long-term platform sustainability. • Strong communication and collaboration skills for working with global, cross-functional teams. • Hands-on engineering leader capable of contributing to architecture, design, coding, code reviews, and technical decision-making. • Experience driving innovation, modernization, automation, and engineering productivity initiatives. • Ability to lead multiple concurrent programs in a matrixed, geographically distribu