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

Mastercard is looking for a talented Lead Software Development Engineer to join the Mastercard Foundry Research and Development team. In this role, you will work as part of a highly agile team building products and capabilities delivered at scale to global markets.
Our team is built on a foundation of research and development, partnering across the enterprise to define, build, validate, and deliver product capabilities that support Mastercard’s business units and customers. At Mastercard, you will help build technology that supports the future of commerce globally.
This team has a diverse focus across geography and technology challenges, with a strong emphasis on bringing payment solutions and services to market.

As a Lead Software Engineer on the R&D team, you will contribute to the design, development, testing, and delivery of product capabilities across Mastercard’s business units.

Responsibilities of the role include:
• Design, develop, test, and deliver software components in a rapidly changing environment
• Contribute to solution design and technical implementation plans under the guidance of Mastercard technology leaders
• Identify technical risks, raise issues early, and support validation of implementation approaches
• Leverage knowledge of technical and data assets to implement efficient solutions to business problems
• Build and integrate applications, interfaces, data pipelines, and services across relevant technology stacks
• Develop scalable, maintainable solutions across cloud platforms, data platforms, and enterprise environments
• Follow established engineering standards, secure development practices, and team delivery processes
• Partner closely and communicate effectively with product, design, data, architecture, and engineering stakeholders
• Participate in code reviews, troubleshooting, testing, documentation, and production-readiness activities
• Share technical knowledge with teammates and contribute to an effective engineering culture

Skills / Qualifications:
• Strong experience designing, developing, testing, and delivering software products and applications
• Hands-on experience with cloud platforms such as Databricks, Snowflake, AWS, or Azure
• Experience with big data ecosystems and enterprise-scale data or AI applications, such as Hadoop, Spark, Kafka, or similar technologies
• Working knowledge of AI/ML, data analytics, and data product development, including data quality, data privacy, and localization considerations
• Proficiency with Java, Spring Boot, React, TypeScript, Postgres, object-oriented programming, front-end frameworks, and database technologies
• Ability to translate business and product needs into practical technical implementation
• Strong verbal and written communication skills and ability to collaborate across functions
• Ability to work independently within defined priorities, escalate blockers, and deliver high-quality work in an agile environment

Mastercard is a merit-based, inclusive, equal opportunity employer that considers applicants without regard to gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, disabled or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We hire the most qualified candidate for the role. In the US or Canada, if you require accommodations or assistance to complete the online application process or during the recruitment process, please contact reasonable_accommodation@mastercard.com and identify the type of accommodation or assistance you are requesting. Do not include any medical or health information in this email. The Reasonable Accommodations team will respond to your email promptly.

Corporate Security Responsibility

All activities involving access to Mastercard assets, information, and networks comes with an inherent risk to the organization and, therefore, it is expected that every person working for, or on behalf of, Mastercard is responsible for information security and must:

• Abide by Mastercard’s security policies and practices;
• Ensure the confidentiality and integrity of the information being accessed;
• Report any suspected information security violation or breach, and
• Complete all periodic mandatory security trainings in accordance with Mastercard’s guidelines.

In line with Mastercard’s total compensation philosophy and assuming that the job will be performed in the US, the successful candidate will be offered a competitive base salary and may be eligible for an annual bonus or commissions depending on the role. The base salary offered may vary depending on multiple factors, including but not limited to location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Mastercard benefits for full time (and certain part time) employees generally include: insurance (including medical, prescription drug, dental, vision, disability, life insurance); flexible spending account and health savings account; paid leaves (including 16 weeks of new parent leave and up to 20 days of bereavement leave); 80 hours of Paid Sick and Safe Time, 25 days of vacation time and 5 personal days, pro-rated based on date of hire; 10 annual paid U.S. observed holidays; 401k with a best-in-class company match; deferred compensation for eligible roles; fitness reimbursement or on-site fitness facilities; eligibility for tuition reimbursement; and many more. Mastercard benefits for interns generally include: 56 hours of Paid Sick and Safe Time; jury duty leave; and on-site fitness facilities in some locations. THIS POSTING RELECTS ONE OR MORE CURRENT VACANCIES ON OUR TEAM, AND MASTERCARD INTENDS TO FILL THIS POSITION BY 01/21/2027. If the fill date has passed, Mastercard intends to fill this position as soon as possible.

Pay Ranges

Arlington, Virginia: $161,000 - $266,000 USD