Lead Software Engineer

Mastercard is hiring a Lead Software Engineer in Warsaw, Poland. Level rates it ; you can apply on Mastercard.

Level's read on this job

Level rates this software engineer role Little AI ●○○○: aI is not part of the work.
The posting mentions Java, test automation and software engineering among its tools and skills.
Level classes it as a lead role.
Mastercard has 1,100+ other open roles on Level.
Posted within the past two weeks.

AI in this role

Lead software engineering and test automation initiatives for developer tools and portal applications.

java

test-automationsoftware-engineeringquality-assurance

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

Lead Software Engineer

We are looking for a Lead Software Engineer - Dev & Test (Java) to join the Developer Experience team, responsible for the Mastercard Developers portal and related tools used by developers globally.

This is a hands-on technical leadership role for an experienced engineer who combines strong software engineering and test automation expertise with the ability to drive quality strategy across teams. You will lead quality initiatives, influence engineering practices, and help teams deliver reliable, scalable, and production-ready software.

You will work closely with software engineers, product managers, and other engineering teams to embed quality throughout the software development lifecycle while contributing directly to design, implementation, and automation.

HOW WILL YOU WORK

You will serve as the quality and test automation lead within one or more feature teams, partnering with engineers throughout the software development lifecycle.

For each initiative, you will:

Drive quality strategy and test approach from design through production
Identify quality risks, dependencies, and release concerns early in the development process
Collaborate with engineers to improve testability, observability, and automation coverage
Lead root cause analysis of complex issues and drive long-term improvements
Design scalable automation solutions that support sustainable delivery
Mentor engineers and promote quality engineering best practices across teams

While remaining hands-on, you will also influence broader engineering standards and continuously improve how quality is delivered across the organization.

WHAT WILL YOU DO
Lead quality engineering efforts for major initiatives and business-critical features
Define and drive test automation strategy across multiple applications and services
Design, develop, and maintain automated test frameworks in Java
Establish quality standards, test practices, and release readiness criteria
Partner with engineering teams to improve development workflows, shift-left testing, and automation adoption
Drive improvements in CI/CD pipelines, deployment confidence, and release quality
Analyze production issues and lead quality improvement initiatives
Mentor and coach engineers in testing, automation, and quality engineering practices
Influence technical decisions and contribute to architecture discussions with a focus on reliability, scalability, and quality

WHAT YOU BRING
Significant experience in software engineering, test automation, or software development in test
Strong Java development skills with experience building automation frameworks and engineering solutions
Experience testing APIs, UI applications, distributed systems, and cloud-native services
Deep understanding of software quality practices, test strategy, and risk-based testing
Experience leading quality initiatives across multiple teams or complex projects
Strong knowledge of CI/CD pipelines, DevOps practices, and modern software delivery
Ability to influence technical direction and drive improvements without direct authority
Strong communication and collaboration skills with engineers, product managers, and stakeholders

NICE TO HAVE
Experience with cloud platforms and microservices architectures
Experience defining engineering standards and automation strategies at scale
Experience mentoring engineers and leading technical communities of practice
Familiarity with developer platforms, API ecosystems, or developer experience tooling
Experience with performance, reliability, and observability testing

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.

How we rate this

Lead Software Engineer at Mastercard rates 0 out of 100 for how much of the daily work is AI. That makes it Little AI (AI Level 1 of 4). The level is about AI in the job, not seniority.

Classification

Little AI. AI is not part of the work.

●●●● Builds AI80 to 100
●●●○ Works on AI60 to 79
●●○○ Uses AI40 to 59
●○○○ Little AI0 to 39

Levels come from how often the tools, models and workflows of the role are named in the posting itself. Read the description and count the AI tools, models and workflows it names.

Key facts

Lead Software Engineer is an open job at Mastercard.
Level rates this role AI Level 1 of 4: Little AI.
The role is based in Warsaw, Poland.
The job was posted on October 21, 2026.
Seniority: lead.
Applications are handled by Mastercard. Apply on Mastercard

Prepare for this job

Built from this posting and from similar jobs on Level.

Skills and AI tools this role asks for

Test AutomationSoftware EngineeringQuality AssuranceJava

Also common in software engineer jobs at this level

Python AWS C++Kubernetes TypeScript React

Pay

Typical software engineer job: $167k

This posting doesn't list pay. Use the typical software engineer figure when pay comes up. See software engineer jobs

Questions you could be asked

Tell me about a project where test automation was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where software engineering was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where quality assurance was part of your work. What did you do?
What's a project where you used Java hands-on?

Adapt your resume

List these exact terms on your resume: Test Automation, Software Engineering, Quality Assurance, and Java. An applicant tracking system matches the wording, not the idea.
Attach one line of real, concrete experience to at least one of them. A tool named with nothing behind it rarely survives a human read.

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