Principal Software Engineer, Data Architecture

Mastercard is hiring a Principal Software Engineer, Data Architecture in Arlington, United States. 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 Databricks, Snowflake and Delta Lake among its tools and skills.
Level classes it as a senior role.
Mastercard has 967 other open roles on Level.

AI in this role

Lead global enterprise data architecture strategy, including evaluating AI-enabled data platforms and streaming technologies.

DatabricksSnowflakeDelta Lake

data-architecturedata-engineeringenterprise-architecturestreaming

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

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.

Role:
• 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.

All About You:
• 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 business decisions at all levels, including C-suite stakeholders.
• Strong executive presence with the ability to translate complex architecture concepts into business language.
• Exceptional communication skills, with the ability to articulate complex technical concepts to executive and non-technical audiences.
• Strong Decency Quotient (DQ) with a track record of building inclusive, collaborative, high performing teams.
• Bachelor’s or Master's degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, or a related quantitative field, or equivalent practical experience.

This role is not eligible for Mastercard’s work authorization sponsorship. As such, candidates must be eligible to work in the United States, now as well as in the future, without employer sponsorship.

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 reasonable_accommodation@mastercard.com 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

Arlington, Virginia: $195,000 - $323,000 USD

How we rate this

Principal Software Engineer, Data Architecture at Mastercard rates 25 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

Principal Software Engineer, Data Architecture is an open job at Mastercard.
Level rates this role AI Level 1 of 4: Little AI.
The role is based in Arlington, Virginia.
The job was posted on September 9, 2026.
Seniority: senior.
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

Data ArchitectureData EngineeringEnterprise ArchitectureStreamingDatabricksSnowflakeDelta Lake

Also common in software engineer jobs at this level

Python Java AWS C++Kubernetes TypeScript

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 data architecture was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where data engineering was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where enterprise architecture was part of your work. What did you do?
Tell me about a project where streaming was part of your work. What did you do?
Walk me through how you've used Databricks in your day-to-day work.

Adapt your resume

List these exact terms on your resume: Data Architecture, Data Engineering, Enterprise Architecture, Streaming, and Databricks. 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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