Senior Principal of Software Engineering

Mastercard; Ireland; On-site; EUR 120,000 - 180,000; Full time

Job summary

Mastercard Foundry seeks a Senior Principal, Software Engineering in Dublin to serve as a technical expert and thought leader. You will influence architecture, design, development, testing, deployment, and operations across enterprise-scale software solutions.

You will partner with business, product, engineering, and architecture teams to translate strategic objectives into scalable, secure, and resilient software delivering customer and business value.

Qualifications

• Demonstrated deep technical leadership as an individual contributor.
• Proven ability to translate strategy into scalable software designs.
• Experience with architecture patterns, microservices, and SDLC excellence.

Responsibilities

• Lead design and delivery of complex software solutions across services and platforms.
• Translate complex requirements into scalable, secure software designs.
• Drive architectural decisions in line with long-term platform vision and standards.
• Champion automation, testing, and observability to improve reliability and delivery.

Skills

Technical leadership

Software architecture

Cross-functional collaboration

Security and reliability

Job description

• Mastercard is looking for a talented Senior Principal, Software Engineering to join the Mastercard Foundry Research and Development team at our Dublin Tech Hub. In this role, you will be an established technical expert and thought leader, helping shape and deliver complex, enterprise-scale software solutions across products, services, and platforms
• You will provide deep technical leadership as an individual contributor, influencing architecture, design, development, testing, deployment, and operational excellence across complex systems. You will partner closely with business, product, engineering, architecture, and technology stakeholders to translate strategic objectives into scalable, secure, resilient, and high-quality software solutions
• Serve as an established expert and thought leader in Software Engineering, applying deep technical expertise to solve complex problems and drive achievement of key goals and initiatives
• Lead the design and delivery of complex software solutions spanning multiple services, applications, or programs, ensuring alignment with business needs and organizational standards
• Translate complex functional and non-functional requirements into scalable, secure, resilient, and maintainable software designs
• Drive architectural decisions and technical design discussions across teams, ensuring solutions align with long-term platform vision, enterprise standards, and future scalability
• Partner with business and product owners to architect and deliver new services, products, and capabilities that create customer and business value
• Estimate, plan, and own delivery of engineering work across design, development, testing, deployment, configuration, documentation, and operational readiness
• Review design, code, test, and deployment artifacts to uphold high standards of correctness, quality, security, performance, and maintainability
• Proactively diagnose and resolve complex production, security, customer‑experience, and performance issues, using root‑cause analysis and preventative improvements
• Champion automation across build, deployment, testing, observability, and operational workflows to improve reliability, reduce manual effort, and accelerate delivery
• Contribute to strategic technical decisions, influencing product direction, system architecture, engineering practices, and technology roadmaps
• Drive adoption of Mastercard software engineering standards, secure coding practices, API standards, testing practices, and SDLC excellence
• Identify opportunities to simplify architectures, reduce technical debt, improve cost efficiency, and increase reuse of common platforms, services, and libraries
• Consult across teams and organizational boundaries to identify synergies, resolve enterprise‑wide technical challenges, and promote consistent engineering practices
• Contribute to Software Engineering guilds, architecture forums, technical communities, and other initiatives that grow global expertise and elevate engineering craftsmanship

Considered an established expert and thought leader in Software Engineering with a strong track record of technical impact as an individual contributorProven experience designing, developing, and delivering complex software solutions across large‑scale, distributed, secure, and resilient systemsDemonstrated ability to lead global or cross‑functional technical initiatives involving technology, engineering, architecture, product, or business teamsDeep experience with modern software engineering practices, SDLC excellence, secure coding standards, code review, testing strategies, and operational readinessProgressively grown career with proven design and development experience in multiple languages, software frameworks, secure coding standards, and vulnerability managementExpert understanding of architecture patterns, application design, APIs, microservices, integration patterns, event‑driven architectures, and modern software delivery approachesExperience translating complex business and functional requirements into clear technical strategies, designs, and implementation plansStrong understanding of DevOps, CI/CD, automation, observability, reliability, scalability, and performance engineering practicesAbility to drive trade‑off discussions and balance competing priorities such as regulatory requirements, security, business value, customer experience, technical debt, and delivery timelinesExperience improving engineering productivity, quality, operational metrics, and developer experience across areas of technical ownershipAbility to succinctly articulate complex architecture patterns, technical risks, business implications, and recommendations to senior stakeholdersExperience contributing to engineering communities, architecture councils, guild initiatives, technical blogs, white papers, patents, or speaking engagements is preferredExperience in setting up test environments that simulate production, including high availability, monitoring, automation, and ephemeral architecture to reduce run costsLoves creating innovative products and technology solutions in a collaborative environmentDeep technical expertise in modern software engineering concepts, architecture, design, development, testing, automation, and operational excellenceStrong individual‑contributor leadership skills with the ability to influence without direct authority across teams, functions, and geographiesStrong analytical and problem‑solving skills, with the ability to navigate ambiguity and resolve complex technical challengesAbility to quickly learn, evaluate, and apply new technologies, frameworks, patterns, and toolsExperience partnering with product, business, architecture, and engineering teams to build solutions that create customer and business valueAbility to support multiple concurrent initiatives while maintaining focus on quality, security, scalability, and delivery outcomesStrong communication skills — both verbal and written — with the ability to explain complex technical subjects clearly and succinctlySkilled at explaining technical problems, architecture decisions, trade‑offs, and recommendations to technical and non‑technical stakeholdersPassionate about mentoring engineers, raising the engineering bar, and building a culture of continuous learning and craftsmanshipComfortable representing technical strategy and progress in senior‑level forums, architecture reviews, and cross‑functional discussions