Lead Software Engineer - C/C++, Unix/Linux, ARQC, ARPC, HSM
Mastercard · Pune, India · Posted 2026-06-29
Tech stack: C, C++, Java, Linux, Python, Unix
About the role
We are seeking a Lead Software Engineer with strong expertise in C/C++ and Unix/Linux systems to design, develop, and lead high-performance, scalable, and secure enterprise applications. The role requires hands-on technical leadership, architecture ownership, and cross-team collaboration to deliver mission-critical systems.
Lead engineers are expected to own complex problems, drive architectural decisions, and mentor engineering teams, while ensuring high-quality software delivery.
Key
Responsibilities:
- Technical Leadership & Architecture
- Design and develop high-performance, low-latency systems using C/C++ on Unix/Linux platforms
- Own end-to-end architecture for components and services, ensuring scalability and resiliency
- Introduce and adopt modern design patterns, frameworks, and best practices
- Provide technical direction and guidance to engineering teams.
- Development & Delivery
- Lead design, development, testing, and deployment activities
- Write efficient, maintainable, and secure C/C++ code adhering to coding standards.
- Drive automation of builds, testing, and deployment pipelines
- Troubleshoot complex production issues and ensure system stability
- System Design & Performance
- Architect systems for high throughput, fault tolerance, and performance optimization
- Perform performance tuning, memory optimization, and multithreading enhancements
- Ensure system reliability and availability (high uptime expectations)
- Collaboration & Stakeholder Management
- Work closely with product, QA, and operations teams to prioritize and deliver solutions
- Drive design discussions, trade-offs, and cross-functional decisions
- Coordinate across geographically distributed teams
- Mentorship & Engineering Excellence
- Mentor developers and promote best practices (code reviews, TDD, secure coding).
- Conduct technical interviews and help build high-performing teams
- Lead post-incident reviews and drive continuous improvement initiatives
- Required Technical Skills:
- Strong experience of Cryptography in Payment cycle.
- Strong experience of Session Key Derivation and validation.
- Strong experience of Triple DES and Advanced Encryption Standard techniques.
- Strong understanding of Thales or equivalent Payment Validation HSM modules and its commands.
- Strong programming expertise in C and C++.
- Deep understanding of Unix/Linux systems, shell scripting, and system internals
- Strong understanding multi threading in C and Linux
- Experience with Multithreading and concurrency, Memory management and performance tuning, Socket programming / IPC mechanisms
- Knowledge of data structures, algorithms, and design patterns
- Familiarity with build tools (Make/CMake), debugging tools (gdb), gtest, and profiling tools.
- Strong experience of Github and Github Copilot.
- Strong experience of using Copilot with MCP servers.
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field (or equivalent experience)
- Experience with Agile methodologies, strong understanding of DevOps practices and CI/CD pipelines
- Experience writing unit, integration, and system tests
- Experience designing distributed systems or high-scale enterprise applications
- Exposure to security standards (OWASP, secure coding practices).
- Experience in payment systems / transaction processing / financial domain
- Exposure to cloud-native or hybrid systems
- Knowledge of additional languages (Java/Python) is a plus
- Strong problem-solving and analytical skills
- Ability to drive decisions and manage technical trade-offs
- Excellent c
Qualifications:
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field (or equivalent experience)
- Experience with Agile methodologies, strong understanding of DevOps practices and CI/CD pipelines
- Experience writing unit, integration, and system tests
- Experience designing distributed systems or high-scale enterprise applications
- Exposure to security standards (OWASP, secure coding practices).
- Experience in payment systems / transaction processing / financial domain
- Exposure to cloud-native or hybrid systems
- Knowledge of additional languages (Java/Python) is a plus
- Strong problem-solving and analytical skills
- Ability to drive decisions and manage technical trade-offs
- Excellent communication and stakeholder management
- Ownership mindset and ability to lead under ambiguity
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field (or equivalent experience)
- Experience with Agile methodologies, strong understanding of DevOps practices and CI/CD pipelines
- Experience writing unit, integration, and system tests
- Experience designing distributed systems or high-scale enterprise applications
- Exposure to security standards (OWASP, secure coding practices).
- Experience in payment systems / transaction processing / financial domain
- Exposure to cloud-native or hybrid systems
- Knowledge of additional languages (Java/Python) is a plus
- Strong problem-solving and analytical skills
- Ability to drive decisions and manage technical trade-offs
- Excellent communication and stakeholder management
- Ownership mindset and ability to lead under ambiguity
Responsibilities
- Technical Leadership & Architecture
- Design and develop high-performance, low-latency systems using C/C++ on Unix/Linux platforms
- Own end-to-end architecture for components and services, ensuring scalability and resiliency
- Introduce and adopt modern design patterns, frameworks, and best practices
- Provide technical direction and guidance to engineering teams.
- Development & Delivery
- Lead design, development, testing, and deployment activities
- Write efficient, maintainable, and secure C/C++ code adhering to coding standards.
- Drive automation of builds, testing, and deployment pipelines
- Troubleshoot complex production issues and ensure system stability
- System Design & Performance
- Architect systems for high throughput, fault tolerance, and performance optimization
- Perform performance tuning, memory optimization, and multithreading enhancements
- Ensure system reliability and availability (high uptime expectations)
- Collaboration & Stakeholder Management
- Work closely with product, QA, and operations teams to prioritize and deliver solutions
- Drive design discussions, trade-offs, and cross-functional decisions
- Coordinate across geographically distributed teams
- Mentorship & Engineering Excellence
- Mentor developers and promote best practices (code reviews, TDD, secure coding).
- Conduct technical interviews and help build high-performing teams
- Lead post-incident reviews and drive continuous improvement initiatives
- Required Technical Skills:
- Strong experience of Cryptography in Payment cycle.
- Strong experience of Session Key Derivation and validation.
- Strong experience of Triple DES and Advanced Encryption Standard techniques.
- Strong understanding of Thales or equivalent Payment Validation HSM modules and its commands.
- Strong programming expertise in C and C++.
- Deep understanding of Unix/Linux systems, shell scripting, and system internals
- Strong understanding multi threading in C and Linux
- Experience with Multithreading and concurrency, Memory management and performance tuning, Socket programming / IPC mechanisms
- Knowledge of data structures, algorithms, and design patterns
- Familiarity with build tools (Make/CMake), debugging tools (gdb), gtest, and profiling tools.
- Strong experience of Github and Github Copilot.
- Strong experience of using Copilot with MCP servers.
- Bachelor’s or Master’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, or related field (or equivalent experience)
- Experience with Agile methodologies, strong understanding of DevOps practices and CI/CD pipelines
- Experience writing unit, integration, and system tests
- Experience designing distributed systems or high-scale enterprise applications
- Exposure to security standards (OWASP, secure coding practices).
- Experience in payment systems / transaction processing / financial domain
- Exposure to cloud-native or hybrid systems
- Knowledge of additional languages (Java/Python) is a plus
- Strong problem-solving and analytical skills
- Ability to drive decisions and manage technical trade-offs Excellent c