Senior AI Engineer

MasterCard; Vancouver; On-site; CAD 111,000 - 160,000; Full time

Job summary

Mastercard is seeking a Senior AI Engineer to independently drive AI engineering projects, build agentic systems, and deliver production-grade AI tooling. You will collaborate with data science and engineering teams to scale proofs of concept into deployed solutions and ensure robust, safe AI performance.

Qualifications include a CS/AI/engineering degree, hands-on production experience with agentic systems, Generative AI/LLMs, and strong Python/SQL fundamentals.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Data Science, Engineering, or related field.
• Hands-on experience building agentic systems in production or near-production settings.
• Practical experience with Generative AI and LLMs, including prompt design, RAG patterns, and model evaluation.

Responsibilities

• Independently execute key elements of AI Engineering projects.
• Design and build agentic systems and internal tooling.
• Translate proofs of concept into deployable solutions and productionize them.
• Implement models into production with scalable training pipelines.

Skills

Python

SQL

GIT

CI/CD

Docker

Kubernetes

LangGraph

LangChain

CrewAI

MLOps

Databricks

Spark

Cloud

Education

Bachelor's degree in CS/AI/Data Science/Engineering

Tools

Jenkins

Maven

Artifactory

MLflow

Comet

Weights & Biases

Job description

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.

Senior AI Engineer Overview

AI Solutions, part of Mastercard’s AI & Data organization, scales AI across the enterprise, moving use cases beyond pilots into trusted, production-grade capabilities embedded in Mastercard’s platforms and products. Centralizing this capability drives speed to scale, operational resilience, consistent delivery standards, and responsible AI by design, in close partnership with the AI Center of Excellence. This position sits on the Horizontal Enablement team, reporting to the Manager, AI Engineering who heads the Tooling and Agent Development remit. The remit builds the internal tooling and agentic systems that make AI development faster and more repeatable across Mastercard and works alongside data science teams to move their research products into production. As a Senior AI Engineer, you will independently build and ship agent-based applications and developer tooling, and partner with data science counterparts and engineering partners to take proofs of concept from experiment to deployable solution.

About the Role

• Independently execute key elements of projects within AI Engineering, resolving problems and roadblocks as they arise.
• Design and build agentic systems and internal tooling, including agent orchestration, tool and API integration, memory and context handling, prompt and workflow design, evaluation harnesses, and guardrails for safe and reliable behavior.
• Contribute to the design and development of scalable AI and machine learning systems that address complex business needs, adhering to engineering best practices.
• Work with data science counterparts to understand their research products and translate proofs of concept into deployable solutions, then liaise with engineering partners to carry those solutions through to production.
• Implement models into production, designing scalable training pipelines and deployment frameworks.
• Conduct hyperparameter tuning and validation to meet targeted performance metrics, ensuring robustness and efficiency.
• Monitor model and agent performance, manage versioning, and update solutions to sustain high-quality outputs.
• Ensure the operational stability and scalability of AI systems, adhering to ethical guidelines and contributing to the organization’s AI infrastructure.
• Contribute to solution development for new tools and services and lead smaller projects as an experienced individual contributor with specialized knowledge.

All About You

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Data Science, Engineering, or a related field; equivalent practical experience considered.
• Hands-on experience building agentic systems in production or near-production settings, including agent frameworks, tool and API integration, multi-step workflows, evaluation, and guardrails.
• Practical experience with Generative AI and LLMs, including prompt design, RAG patterns, and model selection and evaluation trade-offs.
• Experience partnering with data scientists or researchers to productionize proofs of concept and working with engineering partners to deliver them.
• Proficiency in Python and SQL, with solid software engineering fundamentals in testing, version control, packaging, and code review.
• Experience building and consuming APIs and integrating with internal platforms and third-party services.
• Hands-on experience with CI/CD and build tooling such as Git, Jenkins, Maven, and Artifactory.
• Experience deploying models or applications to production and supporting them operationally, including monitoring, versioning, and troubleshooting.
• Working knowledge of machine learning and deep learning techniques and the model lifecycle, including hyperparameter tuning and validation.
• Experience with Databricks, Spark, or comparable distributed data processing environments.
• Experience working in cloud environments.
• Ability to work independently, communicate technical concepts clearly, and collaborate across data science and engineering teams.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience with agent and orchestration frameworks such as LangGraph, LangChain, CrewAI, or the Model Context Protocol.
• Experience with agent evaluation and observability, including tracing, regression testing, and quality benchmarking.
• Familiarity with AI-assisted development tools such as GitHub Copilot or Claude Code.
• Experience with MLOps tools such as MLflow, Comet, or Weights and Biases.
• Experience with containerization and orchestration technologies such as Docker and Kubernetes.
• Experience building internal developer tooling, SDKs, or self-service platforms adopted by other engineering teams.
• Familiarity with responsible AI practices, data governance, and sensitive data handling.

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 [e-mail] 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 Canada, the successful candidate will be offered a competitive pay based on location, experience and other qualifications for the role and may be eligible to participate in a discretionary annual incentive program.

Pay Ranges Vancouver, Canada: $111,000 - $160,000 CAD

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.