Mastercard is a global leader in payments, powering economies and empowering individuals across more than 200 countries. We are dedicated to fostering a sustainable economy where everyone can thrive by offering secure, simple, and smart digital payment solutions. Our innovative technology, robust partnerships, and extensive networks are designed to help people, businesses, and governments achieve their full potential.

This Lead Software Engineer role involves spearheading software engineering initiatives, ensuring the successful development and delivery of advanced software solutions. The position requires a proactive approach to researching and implementing technical solutions that address evolving business needs while ensuring daily team activities meet stringent Service Level Agreements (SLAs).

Lead and execute major software engineering projects and complex assignments with significant long-term business impact. Develop innovative, cost-effective, high-quality solutions with rapid time-to-market.

Oversee day-to-day system development and maintenance activities to ensure adherence to SLAs. Collaborate with business and technical partners to identify opportunities, assess value and ROI, and mitigate risks and constraints. Contribute to strategic planning and manage complex issues within the expertise domain.

Develop comprehensive technical strategies and propose architectures based on identified solution gaps. As a recognized subject matter expert, lead the planning, design, and implementation of technical solutions. Define solution architectures and assist management in business case development and scenario planning for informed decision-making. Present proposals to management, business owners, and stakeholders.

Evaluate commercially available and emerging industry technologies. Research current and upcoming technologies and application frameworks, providing recommendations to management. Conduct Proofs of Concept (PoCs) and support technology selection. Proactively create and maintain solution and technology roadmaps.

Partner with Project Managers to implement processes aligned with team and solution needs. Provide detailed cost and time estimates for business solutions, define project technical scope and requirements, and assist project managers in scope management throughout the project lifecycle. Define quality methodologies and metrics for the team. Lead Quality Assurance and Quality Control processes.

Ensure adequate test coverage across Unit, System/Integration, and Performance Testing. Conduct quality inspections and walkthroughs throughout the Software Development Life Cycle (SDLC), including requirements, architecture, design, code, and security reviews, to ensure compliance with Mastercard standards. Coordinate offshore development activities. Support the collection and reporting of project and software metrics. Actively seek opportunities to enhance standards and improve process efficiency.

Lead and guide team members through all phases of the SDLC. Successfully manage production incident and problem management, including root cause identification and remediation. Mentor and coach project team members. Deliver Brownbag sessions on new technologies, methodologies, and frameworks. Provide technical training to the team and assist with technical resource selection for projects.

Ensure compliance with defined standards and proactively enhance them as needed. Develop documentation templates and enforce their use throughout the solution development lifecycle. Ensure compliance with audit requirements by educating the team and integrating compliance needs into the SDLC. Represent the team during compliance audits.

A Bachelor's degree in Information Systems, Information Technology, Computer Science, Engineering, or equivalent practical experience is required.

Possess 5 to 8 years of relevant experience, with a preference for 5 to 8 years in delivering secure solutions within the Financial Services Sector. A strong understanding of Software Engineering Concepts and Methodologies is essential.

Demonstrate proficiency in Mastercard Core Competencies. The ideal candidate will be high-energy, detail-oriented, proactive, and capable of working under pressure with a high degree of initiative in an independent environment. Strong verbal and written communication skills, coupled with excellent relationship, collaboration, and organizational abilities, are crucial. The ability to quickly learn and implement new technologies, frameworks, and tools, support multiple concurrent activities, and interface effectively with both external and internal resources within a diverse, geographically distributed project team is expected.