Principal Data Scientist, Mastercard
CA$154-247k
Global payments technology company
Posted today
Global payments technology company
1001+ employees
Posted today
CA$154-247k
1001+ employees
Company mission
To connect and power an inclusive, digital economy that benefits everyone, everywhere by making transactions safe, simple, smart, and accessible.
Role
Who you are
- The successful candidate will combine technical depth with strong cross-functional skills to drive measurable business impact
- Proven experience leading data science teams and delivering enterprise-scale AI/ML solutions
- Deep expertise in supervised, unsupervised, and generative AI methods, with strong understanding of their mathematical foundations
- Hands-on background in NLP, information extraction, or computer vision or multi-modal AI applied to real-world business challenges
- Strong track record of translating complex data problems into scalable, measurable business outcomes
- Proficiency in Python, ML frameworks (Scikit-learn, PyTorch, TensorFlow), SQL, Spark, and Azure ML/Snowflake
- Experience working in highly regulated industries, with an emphasis on data governance and compliance
- Skilled at engaging with senior stakeholders, presenting technical results to diverse audiences, and driving alignment across functions
- Master’s degree required; PhD preferred
Desirable
- Experience in payments, FinTech, or consumer transaction data
- Prior patents or publications in AI/ML
- Demonstrated success applying GenAI or multi-agent systems in production environments
What the job involves
- Mastercard is seeking a Principal Data Scientist to lead the development and delivery of advanced AI and machine learning solutions for Mastercard’s Ethoca product that enhances consumer purchase experiences
- This is a senior technical role, responsible for defining the data science product design, guiding execution across multiple business initiatives, and ensuring solutions are delivered at scale to support chargeback reduction, dispute resolution, and consumer clarity
- Design and execute the data science vision and roadmap for the product enhancement, aligning technical initiatives with business priorities and product strategy
- Lead, mentor, and inspire a high-performing data science team, fostering a culture of technical excellence, innovation, and collaboration
- Partner with product, engineering, and business leaders to shape requirements and deliver data-driven capabilities that improve customer experience and reduce disputes
- Build and scale AI/ML models that enrich merchant data, enhance transaction clarity, and reduce chargeback/dispute rates
- Guide the design and implementation of solutions that leverage generative AI, multi-agent systems, NLP, and computer vision to enhance purchase experiences
- Monitor and continuously improve deployed models to ensure accuracy, reliability, and compliance in a regulated financial environment
- Provide hands-on technical leadership in model development, deployment, and governance across cloud environments (Azure, Snowflake, Spark)
- Ensure compliance with Mastercard’s data governance, security, and privacy requirements
- Review and oversee code, models, and engineering components developed by the team to maintain enterprise-grade standards
- Drive exploration of cutting-edge technologies, including generative AI and agentic frameworks, to strengthen the product offering and Mastercard technical competence
- Represent Mastercard’s AI leadership through patents, publications, conference presentations, and academic partnerships
- Incubate prototypes and proofs-of-concept to evaluate new methods before scaling into production
Our take
Mastercard is in the global payments business, and operates the world's fastest payments processing network. Its products and solutions have become central to everyday commerce across the world, in activities ranging from shopping and travelling to running businesses.
As the economy has become more and more digitized, Mastercard has been a leading player in helping businesses and individuals across the globe embrace card payments and digital banking. One of the world's largest companies, its revenue has seen consistent gain in the last 20 years.
The challenge for modern payments companies is that payments are always changing, as seen in the astronomical rise of contactless payments over the last decade. Mastercard's acquisition of blockchain systems, and an overall focus on leveraging its technology towards a digital economy, has placed the company in good stead to keep up to date with current trends, like cryptocurrency, in the digitized payments world.
Steph
Company Specialist at Welcome to the Jungle
Insights
21% employee growth in 12 months
Company
Company HQ
Purchase, Harrison, NY
Leadership
Michael Miebach
(CEO)Michael has served in a variety of roles at the company, including President and CPO. They are currently a Board Member at IBM, Accion, the World Resources Institute, the US-India Strategic Partnership Forum, and the Metropolitan Opera. They are also a Trustee of USCIB.
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