Principal Software Engineer

Principal 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

Principal Software EngineerJob Overview
You'll join the Real Time Payments (RTP) Platform, Tooling & Engineering Enablement team as a senior technical individual contributor. We uplift engineering across RTP and act as a force multiplier for the program. We align RTP to Mastercard standards and push beyond them across platform, CI/CD, and governance, while driving developer experience and AI enablement. You'll bring deep SME knowledge and experience to complex and open problems across the RTP program. You'll work with many teams across RTP Engineering, while owning your time and output.

How success is measured
The team is measured on four key areas:
• Developer Experience – DX improves across RTP and stays above the Mastercard benchmark
• Innovation & Architecture – the right technology comes into RTP, and what works is shared back with the enterprise
• AI Enablement – AI is adopted consistently and acts as a force multiplier across RTP
• Standards & Governance – Mastercard and RTP standards embedded, with teams, including our own, held to them

Major Accountabilities
• Bring SME expertise to drive significant improvements to how RTP builds, tests, and ships software
• Architect secure, resilient, and scalable solutions with clear, well-documented designs
• Take on open and uncertain problems, analysing data and areas of failure or inefficiency, and turn findings into clear recommendations
• Look ahead at engineering practice, identifying where approved technology can improve how RTP works
• Drive practical AI adoption across RTP Engineering teams using approved tools
• Help embed standards and governance by driving adoption, auditing how we work, and turning gaps into actions we own or items for the program tech roadmap
• Support program-wide teams, customers, and initiatives
• Make complex technical topics accessible to leadership through clear communication and reporting
• Coach and mentor engineers across cross-functional teams

Education
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Technology, or Engineering, or equivalent experience

Knowledge / Experience
• Strong experience in software engineering and architecture, with Java desired
• Strong experience in platform engineering and cloud
• Strong experience in CI/CD
• Experience in technical leadership, setting direction on complex technical problems
• Experience using AI in day-to-day engineering, such as AI coding assistants and agents, and driving its adoption across teams
• Experience embedding engineering standards, including design, secure coding, and testing
• Experience preparing and delivering executive-level presentations to business and technology audiences
• Experience mentoring and developing engineers in a high-performance culture
• Experience influencing teams without direct authority
• Knowledge of payments, or experience working in a regulated industry

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.

Experience Level

Senior Level