Lead Software Engineer - (12-16 years - Java, Cloud, Shared Services, Infra, Security, Platform Engineering)

Visa is a world leader in payments technology, facilitating transactions between consumers, merchants, financial institutions and government entities across more than 200 countries and territories, dedicated to uplifting everyone, everywhere by being the best way to pay and be paid.

At Visa, you'll have the opportunity to create impact at scale — tackling meaningful challenges, growing your skills and seeing your contributions impact lives around the world. Join Visa and do work that matters — to you, to your community, and to the world.

Progress starts with you.

We are seeking a highly experienced Lead Software Engineer to join Visa’s Shared Services and Cloud Product Development organization. This role is ideal for a senior technologist who thrives as a lead generalist, operating across infrastructure, security, scalability, and platform engineering, while building foundational services that enable Visa’s global product ecosystem.

In this role, you will design and deliver Java/J2EE-based shared services that power multiple Visa products and platforms, influencing internal engineering standards for scalability, security, reliability, and reusability. You will collaborate across Product, Engineering, Security, SRE, and Architecture teams to build resilient, cloud-native systems that support Visa’s mission at global scale.

The Work Itself

• Design, build, and evolve core shared services that support Visa’s product development ecosystem and reach approximately 40% of the world’s population.
• Lead the development of scalable, secure, and reusable Java/J2EE-based services that serve as foundational platforms for multiple product teams.
• Act as a lead generalist, contributing across application architecture, infrastructure, security, and scalability to ensure shared services are enterprise-grade and future-ready.
• Collaborate cross-functionally to create architecture and design artifacts and deliver best-in-class software solutions used across Visa’s technical offerings.
• Drive continuous improvements in product quality, platform reliability, and operational excellence across shared services.
• Develop robust, highly available systems serving diverse use cases, including consumer-facing products, B2B platforms, and business-to-government solutions.
• Leverage modern technologies to build the next generation of Payment Services, Transaction Platforms, Real-Time Payments, and Buy Now Pay Later capabilities.
• Contribute to team and organizational growth through mentorship, technical leadership, and continuous learning initiatives.

Essential Functions

• Provide deep technical leadership within Shared Services and Cloud Product Development, with a strong understanding of how shared platforms enable downstream product innovation.
• Lead discovery and design sessions with product partners to translate business requirements into scalable, secure shared-service architectures.
• Define and formalize best practices and standards for Java/J2EE development, API design, security, and service scalability.
• Lead planning, piloting, and integration of new platform capabilities, including infrastructure enhancements, security controls, and AI-enabled tooling.
• Design and implement cloud-native, containerized services using Docker and Kubernetes, ensuring high availability, fault tolerance, and elastic scalability.
• Partner closely with Security teams to implement secure API gateways, authentication and authorization mechanisms, and compliance-driven architectures.
• Analyze systemic patterns across defects, incidents, and performance metrics, driving long-term platform improvements.

This is a hybrid position. Expectation of days in the office will be confirmed by your Hiring Manager. 

Basic Qualifications:
10+ years of relevant work experience with a Bachelor’s Degree or at least 7 years of work experience with an Advanced degree (e.g. Masters, MBA, JD, MD) or 4 years of work experience with a PhD, OR 13+ years of relevant work experience.

Preferred Qualifications:
12 or more years of work experience with a Bachelor’s Degree or 8-10 years of experience with an Advanced Degree (e.g. Masters, MBA, JD, MD) or 6+ years of work experience with a PhD
10+ years of relevant work experience with a Bachelor’s Degree, or
7+ years of relevant experience with an Advanced Degree (e.g., Master’s, MBA, JD, MD), or
4+ years of relevant experience with a PhD, or
13+ years of relevant work experience in lieu of a degree.
Proven ability to define technical needs, develop execution plans, coordinate resources, and deliver results across multiple initiatives.
Demonstrated success leading multiple projects simultaneously and resolving priority or scheduling conflicts.
Strong understanding of container-based cloud architectures, including Kubernetes and Docker.
Experience with cloud migration and multi-cloud strategies.
Experience designing elastic, scalable architectural patterns for high-traffic web applications.
Solid understanding of Service and IT Operations Management and DevOps operating models, including deployment and capacity planning.
Strong experience with enterprise integration, including RESTful web services and API-first architectures.
Deep understanding of security requirements, industry standards, and modern security threats and mitigation strategies.
Experience designing and implementing secure API gateway solutions with dynamic security standards.
Experience with CI/CD-driven architectures and automation-first development practices.
Experience developing commercial software on Unix/Linux platforms.
Proven track record in a technical leadership role, including ownership of system design and delivery.
Experience with consumer-facing application development at scale.
Strong verbal, written, and interpersonal communication skills with both technical and non-technical stakeholders.
Excellent collaboration skills and the ability to influence cross-functional teams without direct authority.
Demonstrated passion for mentoring, team building, and continuous improvement.
The Skills You Bring
Technical Leadership: Proven experience leading complex software initiatives across distributed systems and shared service platforms.
Primary Language Expertise: Strong expertise in Java (Core Java, J2EE, RESTful services).
Architecture & Scalability: Experience designing highly available, scalable, and secure distributed systems.
Cloud & Infrastructure: Hands-on experience with container-based architectures using Docker and Kubernetes, and cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP).
Security: Strong understanding of secure API design, authentication/authorization, secure gateway patterns, and enterprise security standards.
DevOps & Operations: Experience with CI/CD, deployment automation, observability, capacity planning, and production operations.
AI Enablement: Familiarity with integrating AI tools and services to improve platform intelligence and developer productivity.
Collaboration: Strong partnership skills working with Product, QA, DevOps, SRE, and Agile/Scrum teams.
Mentorship: Experience coaching engineers on technical excellence and career development.

Visa is an EEO Employer. Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or protected veteran status. Visa will also consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with EEOC guidelines and applicable local law.