Distributed Systems Engineer

Global Payments; Alpharetta (GA); On-site; USD 180,000 - 260,000; Full time

Job summary

Global Payments Inc. seeks a Staff Engineer to join the Enterprise Data Platform Engineering Team and help shape the future of global commerce.

You will lead on a ground-floor platform build for the next-generation Operational Data Store (ODS) that powers real-time payment experiences, fraud prevention, and merchant servicing. This role offers the opportunity to influence architecture, technology choices, engineering standards, and platform strategy from the outset while solving challenges in

Qualifications

• Experience designing, building, and operating large-scale distributed data platforms in production.
• Deep expertise with distributed NoSQL databases and low-latency architectures.
• Strong experience with Apache Kafka and high-volume data streaming.
• Demonstrated success leading technical direction and mentoring engineers while driving best practices.
• Product-focused mindset with strong communication, accountability, and ability to translate complex technical challenges into scalable business solutions.

Responsibilities

• Shape the architecture of a strategic enterprise platform.
• Drive performance and reliability outcomes for real-time data access.
• Accelerate innovation through automation and self-service.
• Influence engineering excellence and set technical standards across the organization.
• Lead the evolution of enterprise data services from PoC to production.

Skills

Leadership

Communication

Mentoring engineers

Product-focused mindset

Tools

Apache Kafka

Apache Iceberg

Job description

Make your mark at one of the biggest names in payments. We're looking for a Staff Engineer to join our ever evolving Enterprise Data Platform Engineering Team and help shape the future of global commerce. As a technical leader on a ground-floor platform build, you'll help create the next-generation Operational Data Store (ODS) that powers real-time payment experiences, fraud prevention, merchant servicing, and business-critical applications across Global Payments. This role offers a unique opportunity to influence architecture, technology selection, engineering standards, and platform strategy from the very beginning while solving complex challenges in scale, resiliency, and performance. Your work will directly support Global Payments' mission to deliver secure, innovative, and seamless payment solutions, enabling the business to move faster, serve clients better, and build the future of global commerce on a modern, data-driven foundation.

What you'll own

• Shape the architecture of a strategic enterprise platform by defining scalable, resilient solutions that enable real-time access to critical payment data and support business growth across global markets.
• Drive performance and reliability outcomes by ensuring the platform consistently delivers high availability, low-latency experiences, and operational excellence at enterprise scale.
• Accelerate innovation through automation and self-service by creating capabilities that reduce onboarding time, increase engineering productivity, and empower teams to deliver value faster.
• Influence engineering excellence across the organization by establishing technical standards, mentoring engineers, and guiding architectural decisions that improve platform quality, scalability, and long-term sustainability.
• Lead the evolution of enterprise data services by transforming proof-of-concept initiatives into production-ready capabilities that strengthen business agility, client experiences, and competitive advantage.

What you'll bring

• Proven experience designing, building, and operating large-scale distributed data platforms in production environments, including leadership responsibility for complex technical initiatives.
• Deep expertise with distributed NoSQL databases and low-latency architectures, with a track record of optimizing performance, scalability, and reliability under demanding workloads.
• Strong experience with Apache Kafka, event-driven systems, and high-volume data streaming solutions that deliver reliable, business-critical outcomes.
• Demonstrated success leading technical direction, influencing architecture decisions, and mentoring engineers while driving adoption of engineering best practices.
• A product-focused mindset with strong communication skills, accountability, and the ability to translate complex technical challenges into scalable business solutions.

It's a bonus if you have

• Experience within payments, financial technology (fintech), or other highly regulated industries where security, compliance, and operational resilience are essential.
• Experience building internal platform products, database-as-a-service capabilities, or multi-tenant self-service solutions used by engineering teams across an enterprise.
• Familiarity with Apache Iceberg, lakehouse technologies, active-active multi-region architectures, or contributions to the data infrastructure open-source community.

About the team

Our inclusive and global teams win together every day. We're proud to have the best minds in the industry, who you can learn from as you grow your career. The people, the energy, the connections - it's unmatched. Come and be part of an ever-evolving company and get dynamic opportunities that go beyond borders.

What makes a Globalpayer?

Globalpayers think like a client, act like an owner and win as one team. We're curious and innovative - always finding better ways to deliver impact. We empower each other to make decisions, and it's our passion that drives excellence in everything we set out to do.

Come and be part of an ever-evolving company and get dynamic opportunities that go beyond borders.