Lead Software Engineer - (14-18 years - Java, Distributed Systems, Microservices, Cloud, Security, Platform Engineering, Gen AI)

Job description

About UsVisa 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. Job Description 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.  
Visa requires at least 3 days in office, expectations of these days will be confirmed by your Hiring Manager. Qualifications 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, an