Staff Software Engineer

VISA; Bellevue (WA); Hybrid; USD 132,000 - 210,000; Full time

Job summary

Visa Staff Software Engineer position focuses on designing and evolving secure, scalable transaction processing platforms. This hands-on role requires 60-75% coding and offers technical leadership across architecture, API strategy, and integration patterns.

You will operate in a hybrid model with in-office days and collaborate with cross-functional teams to advance AI-assisted tooling and high-quality delivery in a regulated payments environment.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of relevant work experience with a degree or 0 years with PhD, or 8+ years experience.
• Proficiency in modern programming languages (Java, Python, JavaScript, TypeScript, Go, or Kotlin).
• Experience with system design, architecture, debugging, and production support.
• Ability to use AI-assisted tools and establish safe AI practices.
• Experience designing, building, and supporting APIs, web services, microservices.

Responsibilities

• Design, build, and evolve secure, scalable platforms for Visa's Acceptance Solutions.
• Provide technical direction across architecture, API strategy, integration patterns, and standards.
• Hands-on coding (60-75%) and mentoring engineers across teams.

Skills

5+ years experience

Programming languages

System design

AI tooling

Team leadership

Education

Bachelor's degree

Advanced degree (MBA/JD/MD)

Tools

GitHub Copilot

ChatGPT

Docker

Kubernetes

OpenAPI

Job description

About Us

Visa is a world leader in payments technology, facilitating transactions between consumers, merchants, financial institutions and government entities across more than 200 countries and territories, dedicated to uplifting everyone, everywhere by being the best way to pay and be paid.

At Visa, you'll have the opportunity to create impact at scale - tackling meaningful challenges, growing your skills and seeing your contributions impact lives around the world.

Join Visa and do work that matters - to you, to your community, and to the world. Progress starts with you.

Job Description

The Staff Software Engineer is a senior technical leader responsible for designing, building, and evolving secure, scalableplatforms for Visa's Acceptance Solutions platform, focusing on transaction processing platforms. This hands‑on role (60-75% coding) provides technical direction across architecture, API strategy, integration patterns, and engineering standards while leveraging Generative AI and agentic AI to improve pr oductivity and quality.

Visa requires at least 3 days in office, expectations of these days will be confirmed by your Hiring Manager.

Qualifications

Basic Qualifications:

• 5+ years of relevant work experience with a Bachelor's Degree or at least 2 years of work experience with an Advanced degree (e.g. Masters, MBA, JD, MD) or 0 years of work experience with a PhD, OR 8+ years of relevant work experience.




• Proficiencyin modern programming languages (Java, Python, JavaScript, TypeScript, Go, or Kotlin).




• Experience with system design, architecture, debugging, troubleshooting, and production support.




• Ability to use AI-assisted tools (GitHub Copilot, ChatGPT, agentic AI) and establish safe AI practices.

Preferred Qualifications:

• 6 or more years of work experience with a Bachelor's Degree or 4 or more years of relevant experience with an Advanced Degree (e.g. Masters, MBA, JD, MD) or up to 3 years of relevant experience with a PhD.



• Experience in software engineering, technology delivery, or directly related field.


• Experience designing, building, and supporting APIs, web services, microservices, or enterprise integration services.


• Experience in a technical leadership role (with or without direct reports).


• Strong experience with API‑first design, REST, OpenAPI, JSON, webhooks, and event‑driven architecture.


• Experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP), Docker, Kubernetes, and infrastructure as code.


• Experience collaborating with cross‑functional teams to deliver secure and scalable solutions.


• Deep understanding of payment event processing and transaction lifecycle


• Experience with Payments clearing and payment message formats


• Expertise in event‑driven architecture and event‑streaming platforms (Kafka)


• Knowledge of payment capture processing and event enrichment


• Experience building enterprise‑scale distributed systems, APIs, or integration platforms.


• Experience with event‑driven architecture using Kafka, message queues, event streaming, or workflow orchestration.


• Experience with authentication/authorization (OAuth 2.0, OpenID Connect, JWT, SAML, mTLS, IAM).


• Experience with observability and reliability (Splunk, Datadog, Grafana, OpenTelemetry, SLOs).


• Experience with automated testing, contract testing, performance testing, and API certification.


• Experience in product development within regulated industries (fintech, payments, banking).


• Experience implementing Generative AI, agentic AI workflows, RAG, or intelligent automation.


• Experience mentoring engineers and driving engineering standards across teams.


• Experience with PCI‑DSS, SOX, or financial services compliance requirements.


• Experience with file transfer protocols (SFTP) and batch processing


• Understanding of payment network protocols (Visa, Mastercard, Amex)


• Experience with event correlation and transaction matching


• Knowledge of retry mechanisms, dead‑letter queues, and event replay


• Experience with data serialization formats (Avro, Protobuf, JSON)


• Understanding of exactly‑once processing and idempotency patterns

Information for US Applicants

For roles located in the US, the estimated salary range for this position is $131,600.00 to $ 210,300.00 USD per year, which may include potential sales incentive payments (if applicable). Salary may vary depending on job-related factors which may include knowledge, skills, experience, and location. In addition, this position may be eligible for bonus and equity. Visa has a comprehensive benefits package for which this position may be eligible that includes Medical, Dental, Vision, 401(k), FSA/HSA, Life Insurance, Paid Time Off, and Wellness Program.

Work Hours

Varies upon the needs of the department.

Travel Requirements

This position requires travel 5-10% of the time.

Mental/Physical Requirements

This position will be performed in an office setting. The position will require the incumbent to sit and stand at a desk, communicate in person and by telephone, frequently operate standard office equipment, such as telephones and computers.

Visa is an EEO Employer

Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or protect veteran status. Visa will also consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the EEOC guidelines and applicable local law.