Principal Software Engineer, Data Architecture

Our Purpose 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.

Principal Software Engineer, Data Architecture

Overview:
Mastercard's Data & Analytics organization is seeking a visionary Principal Software Engineer, Data Architecture to define and advance our global enterprise data architecture strategy. Reporting to the Vice President of Data Engineering, this role will lead the design and evolution of strategic platforms that simplify how external data is securely exchanged with Mastercard and enable product teams, consultants, and analysts to more easily discover, access, and leverage enterprise data.

The successful candidate will establish the architectural vision for platforms that transform complex, fragmented data processes into scalable, self‑service experiences that accelerate innovation and unlock greater value from Mastercard's data assets. This position combines deep hands‑on technical expertise with enterprise influence, driving architectural decisions that maximize the value of Mastercard's data assets while meeting the highest standards for security, resiliency, compliance, and operational excellence.

• Serve as the senior technical leader for enterprise data architecture, partnering closely with the VP and senior technology leadership.
• Act as a trusted advisor to executive stakeholders, translating business strategy into scalable, secure, and resilient data architecture decisions.
• Drive the technical vision and architecture for enterprise data onboarding, exchange, discovery, and consumption capabilities.
• Develop roadmaps that balance immediate business needs with long-term platform scalability and reuse.
• Establish and drive enterprise architecture standards, design patterns, and engineering best practices through the Data & Analytics Architecture Review Board.
• Drive adoption of modern data technologies, including Databricks, Snowflake, Delta Lake, and streaming platforms.
• Evaluate and incorporate emerging technologies, including AI-enabled data platforms and agent-based architectures.
• Mentor and influence global engineering teams, fostering a culture of technical excellence, accountability, and thoughtful risk taking.

• Proven experience as a Principal Engineer, Lead Architect, Lead Engineer, or equivalent technical leadership role driving enterprise-scale data architecture and platform strategy.
• Extensive experience architecting and building large-scale data platforms, distributed systems, and enterprise integration solutions across both on-premises and cloud environments, leveraging technologies such as Spark, Kafka, Flink, NiFi, Hadoop/Cloudera, Databricks, and modern cloud-native data services.
• Experience integrating AI driven capabilities into data platforms, with appropriate governance and guardrails for emerging use cases, including agentic commerce.
• Experience building reusable platforms that serve multiple products, teams, or business domains.
• Strong understanding of data governance, security, and regulatory compliance in highly regulated, global environments.
• Proven ability to lead and influence architectural initiatives within Agile, SAFe, or product centric delivery models, partnering effectively with product, engineering, and business stakeholders.
• Demonstrated ability to influence technical and…