Principal AI Engineer

Mastercard • Arlington, VA

55d

About The Position

Mastercard is a global technology company in the payments industry, connecting billions of consumers, financial institutions, merchants, governments, and businesses worldwide. We are driving the future of commerce by enabling secure, simple, and smart transactions. Artificial Intelligence is at the core of our strategy to make Mastercard stronger and commerce safer, smarter, and more personal. At Mastercard, we are building the next generation of AI-powered platforms that drive innovation, efficiency, and impact. As a Senior AI Engineer, you will work hands-on with cutting-edge AI tools, large language models (LLMs), and emerging frameworks to develop intelligent systems that power our platform. You’ll collaborate closely with senior engineers, data scientists, and product teams—learning from experts while contributing to real-world AI applications. You will be responsible for implementing Agentic AI systems, developing backend services to support them, and experimenting with new AI capabilities. You will also focus on prompt engineering, guardrail design, and running experiments to ensure safe, effective, and scalable AI solutions.

Requirements

• Strong hands-on experience with AI/ML concepts, with a passion for working with LLMs and generative AI.
• Professional hands-on experience with Python and backend development frameworks (e.g., FastAPI, Flask, Node.js).
• Understanding of REST APIs and cloud environments (AWS, Azure, or GCP).
• Strong problem-solving and analytical skills, with curiosity for exploring new AI capabilities.
• Comfortable working in a collaborative environment and open to feedback and mentorship.
• Eagerness to learn prompt engineering, AI safety/guardrail development, and large-scale AI deployment.

Responsibilities

• Agentic AI Development – Build and enhance AI agents and backend systems that power Mastercard’s AI platform.
• Experimentation & Evaluation – Test and evaluate new LLMs, emerging AI technologies, and frameworks to identify opportunities for innovation.
• Prompt Engineering – Design, refine, and optimize prompts for LLMs to achieve desired outputs.
• Guardrail Development – Implement safeguards to ensure AI responses are accurate, secure, and aligned with ethical guidelines.
• Backend Engineering – Contribute to the development of APIs, microservices, and data integrations for AI-powered features.
• Best Practices in Software Development – Write clean, maintainable, and well-documented code following industry standards.
• Continuous Learning – Stay current with the latest developments in AI, LLMs, and software engineering best practices.

Benefits

• 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.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Senior
• Education Level: No Education Listed
• Number of Employees: 5,001-10,000 employees