Director Software Engineering

Director Software Engineering

The Mastercard Developer Workbench, part of the MSBX (Mastercard Software Builder Experience) division, is evolving from a cost-allocation construct into a unified, developer-centric platform. With over 11,500 software engineers across the organization, Mastercard is investing in a dedicated product team to deliver an integrated, end-to-end developer experience.

• Lead and grow a team of engineers responsible for delivering and maintaining the Developer Workbench platform end-to-end.


• Own the strategic vision and roadmap for the Developer Workbench, evolving it from a chargeback mechanism into a cohesive, productized developer experience


• Drive the integration and enablement of software engineers’ tools across the development lifecycle and usability.


• Establish and maintain a governed "birthright and optional tooling" catalogue, managing version lifecycles, evaluating new tools, and retiring redundant solutions


• Partner with CTOs, product owners, and platform teams to align the workbench roadmap with engineering priorities across the organization


• Lead developer enablement programs — training, feedback loops, and adoption campaigns — to maximize the value of deployed tools across 11,500+ engineers


• Define and drive pre-provisioned onboarding environments that enable new hires to be productive within 30 minutes of day one


• Champion AI-augmented development practices including agentic coding tools, code assistants, and automated quality pipelines


• Establish transparent cost structures and demonstrate ROI for the workbench investment through productivity metrics, onboarding improvements, and tool adoption data


• Engage with finance, legal, and compliance stakeholders to ensure tooling governance meets Mastercard's security, regulatory, and budgetary requirements


• Actively participate in the Software Engineering Guild, sharing expertise and promoting standard engineering patterns across the organization


• Identify and drive meaningful, behavior-changing metrics that reflect developer productivity, satisfaction, and platform health

• History of success in software engineering, including multiple years in a director or senior engineering leadership role managing teams


• Proven track record building and leading platform or developer experience teams at enterprise scale


• Deep understanding of the modern developer tooling ecosystem, including:


• AI coding assistants: GitHub Copilot, Claude Code or similar


• Containerization and desktop dev environments: Docker Desktop, Kubernetes, DevContainers


• CI/CD and pipeline tooling: GitHub Actions, Jenkins, ArgoCD, or similar


• Developer portals and inner-source platforms: Backstage, or similar


• Experience governing AI-powered developer tools in a highly regulated enterprise environment, including policy compliance, access controls, and responsible AI usage


• Strong understanding of developer experience (DevEx) principles and the ability to translate developer pain points into platform improvements


• Experience designing and delivering pre-provisioned, standardized development environments at scale


• Solid understanding of cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP), including infrastructure automation and cloud-native development patterns


• Demonstrated ability to drive tool adoption through structured enablement programs, metrics, and feedback mechanisms


• Strong financial acumen — experience managing budgets, building cost transparency models, and articulating ROI to executive stakeholders


• Ability to navigate complex organizational dynamics and build alignment across engineering, finance, security, and product organizations


• Excellent written and verbal communication skills with the ability to tailor messaging from engineers to C-suite


• Experience with software development productivity metrics (e.g., DORA metrics, onboarding time, tool adoption rates) and using data to drive decisions


• Self-driven and comfortable leading in ambiguous, fast-evolving technology environments


• Strong understanding of Agile/Scrum methodologies and SDLC best practices from design through deployment

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.

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