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 Mastercard is seeking a Lead Software Engineer to design, build, and operate the API platform that exposes foundation model capabilities across the organization. This role is responsible for delivering secure, scalable, and reliable software systems that enable teams to consume AI capabilities in a consistent and governed way. As a Lead Engineer, you will combine hands‑on development with technical leadership, ensuring high‑quality delivery of API services and backend platforms that support production AI use cases. Role In this role, you will be responsible for end‑to‑end delivery of API and platform services that enable foundation model access. Key responsibilities include: Design and build API services and backend systems that expose foundation model capabilities (e.g. inference, embeddings, orchestration) Lead the development of secure, scalable, and high‑performance APIs, including versioning, request handling, and service reliability Implement authentication, authorization, and policy controls to ensure secure and compliant model access Ensure systems meet performance, scalability, and availability requirements, including implementing retries, caching, and fault tolerance Collaborate with AI engineers to integrate models into production systems while abstracting complexity for downstream consumers Work with DevOps and platform teams to implement CI/CD pipelines, deployment patterns, and operational readiness Apply best practices for observability, including monitoring, logging, and alerting Lead design and code reviews within the team to ensure high standards in code quality and system design Troubleshoot and resolve production issues, ensuring minimal disruption and continuous improvement Mentor junior and senior engineers, providing technical guidance and delivery oversight All About You Strong experience building and deploying production backend systems and APIs Proven ability to lead delivery of software components or services end‑to‑end Solid expertise in API design (REST and/or gRPC) and service‑based architectures Experience working with cloud‑native technologies (AWS, Azure, or GCP) Familiarity with security best practices, including authN/authZ, secure API design, and data protection Experience with CI/CD pipelines and DevOps practices for building and deploying services Strong programming skills in languages such as Java, Go, C#, Python, or similar Experience implementing monitoring, logging, and performance optimisation Familiarity with AI/ML system integration (e.g. model inference APIs, embeddings, or similar patterns) is preferred Strong problem‑solving skills and ability to work collaboratively in cross‑functional teams Experience mentoring engineers and contributing to team‑level technical leadership 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. Everyone wants easier ways to pay; we invent them. Checkout lines are slow; we speed them along. Merchants want more sales; we give them data and insights. People need financial access; we connect them. Corporate purchasing is complicated; we make it simple. Commuters are busy; we speed them on their way. Governments need greater efficiencies; we help create them. Small businesses are virtual; we give them access to a world of buyers. Retailers want to fight fraud; we provide the tools.