Senior Principal, Data Platforms

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

Senior Principal, Data Platforms

Who is Mastercard?
Mastercard is a global technology company in the payments industry. Our mission is to connect and power an inclusive, digital economy that benefits everyone, everywhere by making transactions safe, simple, smart, and accessible. Using secure data and networks, partnerships and passion, our innovations and solutions help individuals, financial institutions, governments, and businesses realize their greatest potential.
Our decency quotient, or DQ, drives our culture and everything we do inside and outside of our company. With connections across more than 210 countries and territories, we are building a sustainable world that unlocks priceless possibilities for all.
Overview
The Mastercard Services Technology team is looking for Senior Principal of Data Platforms & Engineering, to drive our mission to unlock potential of data assets by consistently innovating, eliminating friction in how we manage big data assets, store those assets, accessibility of data and, enforce standards and principles in the Big Data space both on public cloud and on-premises set up. This is a high-impact role where the person will be responsible for driving the design and implementation of modern, scalable, and secure data platforms across AWS and Azure. The scope of the role includes establishing platform strategy, enforcing governance, defining and propagating best practices across Data Platforms. The role will also involve collaborating with cross-geography teams of data engineers and platform engineers. We’re not just looking for an architect—we want a builder, mentor, and leader who thrives in fast-paced environments and takes pride in delivering real, measurable value. If you enjoy rolling up your sleeves while shaping long-term strategy, this role is for you.
Role
• Design and architect end-to-end cloud-native solutions with a focus on modern data platforms, including lakehouse architectures leveraging S3, Azure Data Lake, Databricks, and related tools.
• Lead by doing – drive DevOps initiatives including CI/CD pipeline creation, infrastructure-as-code implementation, and automated environment provisioning across multi-cloud environments.
• Set and enforce cloud security best practices, including IAM, encryption, network security, and regulatory compliance (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA).
• Establish and enforce enterprise-grade data governance frameworks, including data cataloging, lineage, classification, and access control, leveraging tools like Lake Formation or Azure Purview.
• Design and lead implementation of robust data engineering pipelines, including ETL/ELT, data lakes, and data warehouses.
• Implement Lakehouse architectures using the medallion model (Bronze, Silver, Gold) with deep integration into AWS services (Glue, Lake Formation) and analytics engines (Databricks, EMR, Athena).
• Translate business requirements into scalable technical solutions, working closely with product, engineering, and data stakeholders.
• Mentor and guide engineers and DevOps teams, fostering a culture of technical excellence, ownership, and continuous improvement.
• Continuously monitor, troubleshoot, and optimize infrastructure and data workflows for performance, reliability, scalability, and cost efficiency.
• Document architecture decisions and operational standards and help establish technical best practices across teams.
• Stay ahead of emerging technologies and trends in cloud, data, and DevOps to keep our platform future ready.
• Participate in architectural discussions, iteration planning, and feature sizing meetings
• Adhere to Agile processes and participate actively in agile ceremonies
• Stakeholder management skills
All About You
• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Engineering, or related field (or equivalent experience).
• Extensive experience with cloud and data platform architecture, DevOps, or related technical roles.
• Proven hands-on expertise with AWS and Azure services including S3, EC2, Lambda, Glue, Redshift, Lake Formation, Azure Data Factory, Fabric, Synapse, and Databricks.
• Strong track record of building DevOps pipelines and infrastructure-as-code using Terraform, CloudFormation, ARM templates, Azure DevOps, or GitLab CI/CD.
• Solid understanding of cloud security concepts, IAM design, data encryption, and governance frameworks.
• Experience with data engineering frameworks such as Spark, PySpark, and large-scale ETL systems.
• Proficiency in scripting and automation using Python, Bash, or PowerShell.
• Demonstrated success in architecting and delivering medallion architecture solutions in a production environment.
• Excellent problem-solving, decision-making, and communication skills.
• Proven leadership experience, with the ability to guide cross-functional teams, influence stakeholders, and drive outcomes.
• Experience with containerization and orchestration tools (e.g., Docker, Kubernetes, ECS, AKS) will be plus.
• Familiarity with data governance tools such as AWS Lake Formation or Azure Purview.
• Knowledge of observability and logging stacks (e.g., CloudWatch, Azure Monitor, ELK).
• Experience with cloud cost optimization strategies and financial management. Exposure to MLOps workflows and integration with machine learning pipelines.

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 based on location, experience and other qualifications for the role and may be eligible for an annual bonus or commissions depending on the role. 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 new parent leave, up to 20 paid days bereavement leave), 10 annual paid sick days, 10 or more annual paid vacation days based on level, 5 personal days, 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, gender-inclusive benefits and many more.

Pay Ranges

Arlington, Virginia: $230,000 - $368,000 USD

Remote - Virginia: $200,000 - $320,000 USD

Job Posting Window

Posting windows may change based on the volume of applications received and business necessity. Candidates are encouraged to apply expeditiously.