Director Software Engineering

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.

Title and Summary

Director Software Engineering

We are seeking a visionary and results-driven Director of Engineering to lead a service group in our critical Decision Management Platform for fraud detection. This role is pivotal in driving engineering excellence, scaling delivery capabilities, and fostering a culture of innovation, accountability, and continuous improvement. You will be responsible for aligning engineering strategy with business goals, mentoring high-performing teams, and ensuring the successful delivery of complex software solutions.
  • Are you passionate about low latency (the speed it takes to authorise a payment card), high volume (think Google searches and then some), and highly available (5 9s) software solutions?
  • Would you like to work on a team that is building industry leading solutions for fighting fraud?
  • Do you want to learn cutting edge technologies and help solve complex business problems?

Key Responsibilities
Strategic Leadership & Execution
  • Define and drive the engineering strategy in alignment with company objectives.
  • Lead cross-functional teams to deliver high-quality, scalable software products on time and within budget.
  • Champion engineering best practices, including DevOps, CI/CD, Observability and agile methodologies.
  • Identify and mitigate technical and delivery risks across programs and initiatives.
People Leadership & Coaching
  • Build, mentor, and retain high-performing engineering teams through career development, coaching, and performance management.
  • Foster a culture of ownership, innovation, and continuous learning.
  • Set clear goals and expectations, and provide regular feedback and development plans.
Operational Excellence
  • Own the end-to-end software delivery lifecycle, from requirements through release and support.
  • Continuously improve engineering processes, tools, and metrics to optimize team performance and product quality.
  • Ensure operational readiness, including incident response, monitoring, and service reliability.
Collaboration & Communication
  • Partner with Product, Operations, and Business stakeholders to define scope, priorities, and roadmaps.
  • Communicate technical vision and progress to executive leadership and non-technical stakeholders.
  • Represent engineering in strategic planning and budgeting discussions.

Qualifications
Education & Experience
  • Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or a related field (or equivalent experience).
  • 15+ years of experience in software engineering and architecture, including leadership roles on complex, mission-critical platforms.
  • Proven track record of delivering distributed/scalable systems and high-volume transaction applications.
  • Experience with fintech, digital payments, authentication, or identity systems.
  • Strong grounding in security, secure SDLC, PCI considerations, and compliance-driven architecture.
  • Familiarity with reliability engineering, observability platforms, and operational excellence practices.
  • Prior leadership in an organization undergoing significant platform evolution or transformation.
Technical & Business Acumen
  • Deep understanding of modern software architecture, cloud infrastructure, and service-oriented systems.
  • Strong grasp of software operations, including monitoring, incident management, and performance tuning.
  • Experience managing budgets, forecasting, and resource planning.
Leadership & Communication
  • Exceptional communication, executive presence, and ability to simplify complex technical topics for senior stakeholders.
  • Exceptional leadership skills with the ability to inspire and influence across all levels of the organization.
  • Skilled at translating complex technical concepts into clear, actionable plans.

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 [email protected] 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

All activities involving access to Mastercard assets, information, and networks comes with an inherent risk to the organization and, therefore, it is expected that every person working for, or on behalf of, Mastercard is responsible for information security and must:

• 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, and

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

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; 401k 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.

Pay Ranges

O'Fallon, Missouri: $170,000 - $281,000 USD