Principal Security Engineer

MasterCard; Dublin; Hybrid; EUR 120,000 - 150,000; Full time

Job summary

Mastercard is seeking a Principal Security Engineer focused on developer enablement and threat modeling. You will lead efforts to make security practical and scalable for engineers, shaping how threat modeling is taught, adopted, reviewed, and governed across the development lifecycle.

You will collaborate with developers and architects to embed security into workflows, ensuring security adds value without hindering delivery, in a senior hands-on leadership capacity.

Qualifications

• Senior security practitioner with hands-on threat modeling and secure software design.
• Experience at scale and across multiple teams.
• Strong coaching, communication, and developer‑focused mindset.
• Ability to influence without formal authority.

Responsibilities

• Create scalable threat modeling collateral, blueprints, and templates.
• Evolve threat modeling methodologies for the engineering lifecycle.
• Establish review and governance practices for secure outcomes.
• Design learning programs to help engineers apply threat modeling daily.
• Partner with development teams to embed security into workflows.

Skills

Threat modeling

Secure software design

Developer enablement

Coaching

Cross-team collaboration

Job description

Title and Summary Principal Security Engineer Overview

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.

The Principal Security Engineer serves as a trusted advisor and partner to developers, providing hands‑on support, coaching, and real‑time guidance to integrate security seamlessly into the development lifecycle. This role plays a critical part in shaping how security and threat modeling is taught, adopted, reviewed, and governed across Mastercard’s development lifecycle. The focus is on making security accessible, actionable, and aligned with how developers actually build software, driving adoption through collaboration, continuous feedback, and a strong developer experience.

Role

This is a senior, hands‑on security leadership role focused first and foremost on developer enablement and engagement, responsible for driving security excellence at scale across Mastercard.

• Creating scalable, developer‑friendly threat modeling collateral such as blueprints, threat libraries, and templates
• Implementing and evolving threat modeling methodologies
• Establishing review and governance practices that support consistent, high‑quality outcomes
• Designing and delivering formal learning and enablement programs that help engineers and architects confidently apply threat modeling in their day‑to‑day work

The role partners closely with development teams to embed security naturally into workflows, ensuring security enhances—not hinders—delivery.

About You

You are a senior security practitioner with deep, hands‑on experience in threat modeling and secure software design. You are comfortable operating at scale, influencing across teams, and working directly with developers and architects. You combine technical depth with strong coaching and communication skills, and you are passionate about building practical, developer‑centric security practices. You thrive in environments where collaboration, continuous improvement, and strong developer experience are key to success.

Corporate Security Responsibility

• 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.