Principal AI Engineer
About The Position
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 AI Engineer About Mastercard 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. The Role: At Mastercard, we’re building next-generation AI-powered platforms to drive innovation and impact. As an AI Engineer, you’ll work with cutting-edge tools, large language models (LLMs), and emerging frameworks to develop intelligent systems. You’ll collaborate with senior engineers, data scientists, and product teams—gaining hands-on experience while contributing to real-world AI solutions. You’ll help implement Agentic AI systems, develop backend services, and explore new AI capabilities. Your focus will include prompt engineering, guardrail design, and experimentation to ensure safe, scalable, and effective AI applications.
Requirements
- Basic understanding of AI/ML concepts and enthusiasm for generative AI
- Experience with Python and backend frameworks (e.g., FastAPI, Flask, Node.js)
- Knowledge of REST APIs and cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP)
- Strong analytical skills and curiosity for exploring new AI capabilities
- Collaborative mindset and openness to feedback and mentorship
- Interest in prompt engineering, AI safety, and scalable deployment
Responsibilities
- Develop and enhance AI agents and backend systems for Mastercard’s AI platform
- Evaluate LLMs and emerging technologies to identify innovation opportunities
- Design and optimize prompts for LLMs
- Implement safeguards to ensure secure, ethical AI responses
- Build APIs, microservices, and data integrations for AI features
- Write clean, maintainable code following industry best practices
- Stay current with advancements in AI and software engineering
Benefits
- 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
Stand Out From the Crowd
Upload your resume and get instant feedback on how well it matches this job.
What This Job Offers
Job Type
Full-time
Career Level
Principal
Education Level
No Education Listed
Number of Employees
5,001-10,000 employees
