Lead Platform Engineer, Operational Data Store

Global Payment Holding Company; Cincinnati (OH); On-site; USD 140,000 - 190,000; Full time

Job summary

Global Payments is seeking a Staff Engineer to lead the design and delivery of a next-generation enterprise data platform. You will shape architecture, drive high-availability and low-latency data services, and mentor engineers across global teams.

You will influence technology choices, promote engineering standards, and accelerate automation and self-service capabilities in a payments-focused environment.

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.
• Product-focused mindset with strong communication and accountability.
• Bonus: payments/fintech domain experience or regulated industries.

Responsibilities

• Shape the architecture of an enterprise data platform to enable real-time access to payment data.
• Lead architectural decisions, establish engineering standards, and guide platform strategy.
• Mentor engineers and drive adoption of engineering best practices.
• Collaborate with teams to deliver scalable, reliable data services at scale.

Skills

Distributed systems

NoSQL databases

Low latency

Kafka

Event-driven architecture

Mentoring

Technical leadership

Tools

Apache Kafka

Apache Iceberg

Job description

Job Description Ready to take your career global? 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.

EEOC Statement

Global Payments is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, genetic information, national origin, disability, veteran status, and other protected characteristics. The EEO is the Law poster is available here. If you are made a conditional offer of employment and will be working in the United States, you will be required to undergo a drug test. In developing this job description care was taken to include all competencies and requirements needed to successfully perform the position. Reasonable accommodations will be provided for individuals with qualified disabilities both during the hiring process, as well as to allow the individual to perform the essential functions of the job, if hired. EEOC Statement: Global Payments Inc. is an equal opportunity employer. Global Payments provides equal employment opportunities to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex (including pregnancy), national origin, ancestry, age, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, veteran status, genetic information or any other basis protected by law. Those applicants requiring reasonable accommodation to the application and/or interview process should notify [e-mail].