Lead Software Development Engineer

Mastercard; O’Fallon (MO); On-site; USD 140,000 - 231,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Medical Insurance

401(k) Match

Paid Leave

Vacation Time

Job summary

Mastercard is seeking a Lead Software Development Engineer to drive architecture, engineering strategy, and delivery for our next‑generation payment platforms. You will lead across teams to establish standards, governance, and secure coding practices while guiding AI‑powered engineering initiatives.

You will mentor engineers, own performance and observability, and design fault‑tolerant, low-latency systems capable of processing millions of transactions daily in a modern cloud ecosystem.

Qualifications

• 10+ years of software engineering experience.
• 3+ years leading large-scale distributed system initiatives.
• Expert-level Java, Spring Boot, REST APIs, microservices architecture, and distributed systems expertise.
• Strong software architecture and software design leadership experience.
• Deep expertise in performance engineering and reliability engineering.
• Extensive experience implementing secure coding standards and software quality practices.
• Experience mentoring engineers and leading technical decision-making.
• Deep understanding of observability, monitoring, operability, and production support.
• Demonstrated experience with AI-assisted software development, AI agents, MCP, RAG, and agentic workflows.
• Strong communication, stakeholder management, and technical leadership skills.

Responsibilities

• Lead software design and architecture decisions across multiple teams and platforms.
• Define engineering standards for software development, testing, security, operability, and deployment.
• Mentor engineers and cultivate a culture of engineering excellence.
• Architect highly available, fault-tolerant distributed systems capable of processing millions of transactions daily.
• Lead development and deployment using PCF, Kubernetes, Docker, and CI/CD platforms.
• Establish secure coding standards and application security best practices.
• Drive operational readiness, observability, monitoring, and supportability strategies.
• Lead complex troubleshooting efforts, root cause analysis, and remediation activities.
• Lead adoption of AI-assisted development, AI agents, MCP-based integrations, autonomous workflows, and modern engineering productivity tools.

Skills

Java

Spring Boot

REST APIs

Microservices

Distributed systems

Software architecture

Performance engineering

Observability

Secure coding

Technical leadership

Mentoring

AI-assisted development

Tools

Kubernetes

Docker

CI/CD

Kafka

Job description

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.

Lead Software Development Engineer

Overview

The Lead Software Development Engineer is a technical leader responsible for driving software architecture, engineering strategy, and delivery of Mastercard's next‑generation payment platforms. This role combines hands‑on engineering leadership with architecture ownership, modernization initiatives, and adoption of Agentic AI‑powered engineering practices.

What You Will Do

• Lead software design and architecture decisions across multiple teams and platforms.
• Define engineering standards for software development, testing, security, operability, and deployment.
• Conduct architecture reviews and provide technical governance across projects.
• Mentor engineers and cultivate a culture of engineering excellence.
• Architect highly available, fault‑tolerant distributed systems capable of processing millions of transactions daily.
• Drive performance engineering initiatives including load testing, capacity planning, scalability analysis, and production optimization.
• Design solutions supporting low‑latency, high‑throughput, resiliency, and operational excellence.
• Design and implement large‑scale event‑driven architectures utilizing Kafka and modern messaging patterns.
• Drive adoption of asynchronous processing and distributed system design best practices.
• Lead development and deployment using PCF, Kubernetes, Docker, and CI/CD platforms.
• Champion platform engineering and infrastructure automation practices.
• Establish secure coding standards and application security best practices.
• Drive operational readiness, observability, monitoring, and supportability strategies.
• Lead complex troubleshooting efforts, root cause analysis, and remediation activities.
• Establish standards for unit, functional, and integration testing.
• Lead adoption of AI‑assisted development, AI agents, MCP‑based integrations, autonomous workflows, and modern engineering productivity tools.
• Evaluate and implement emerging AI engineering capabilities while ensuring governance and responsible AI practices.

All About You

• 10+ years of software engineering experience.
• 3+ years leading large‑scale distributed system initiatives.
• Expert‑level Java, Spring Boot, REST APIs, microservices architecture, and distributed systems expertise.
• Strong software architecture and software design leadership experience.
• Deep expertise in performance engineering and reliability engineering.
• Extensive experience implementing secure coding standards and software quality practices.
• Experience mentoring engineers and leading technical decision‑making.
• Deep understanding of observability, monitoring, operability, and production support.
• Demonstrated experience with AI‑assisted software development, AI agents, MCP, RAG, and agentic workflows.
• Strong communication, stakeholder management, and technical leadership skills.

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

• 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.
• Complete all periodic mandatory security trainings in accordance with Mastercard’s guidelines.

Pay Ranges

O’Fallon, Missouri: $140,000 - $231,000 USD

Benefits

In line with Mastercard’s total compensation philosophy and assuming that the job will be performed in the US, the successful candidate will be offered a competitive base salary and may be eligible for an annual bonus or commissions depending on the role. The base salary offered may vary depending on multiple factors, including but not limited to location, job‑related knowledge, skills, and experience. Mastercard benefits for full‑time (and certain part‑time) employees generally include: insurance (including medical, prescription drug, dental, vision, disability, life insurance); flexible spending account and health savings account; paid leaves (including 16 weeks of new parent leave and up to 20 days of bereavement leave); 80 hours of Paid Sick and Safe Time, 25 days of vacation time and 5 personal days, pro‑rated based on date of hire; 10 annual paid U.S. observed holidays; 401(k) with a best‑in‑class company match; deferred compensation for eligible roles; fitness reimbursement or on‑site fitness facilities; eligibility for tuition reimbursement; and many more. Mastercard benefits for interns generally include: 56 hours of Paid Sick and Safe Time; jury duty leave; and on‑site fitness facilities in some locations.