At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead the design and development of innovative payment solutions for public transport.
- Company: Join Masabi, a pioneer in fare payment technology transforming journeys worldwide.
- Benefits: Flexible remote work, competitive salary, and a supportive culture focused on growth.
- Other info: Dynamic team environment with opportunities for personal and professional development.
- Why this job: Shape the future of payments while making a real impact on millions of journeys.
- Qualifications: Strong experience in payment systems and cloud platforms; leadership skills are a plus.
The predicted salary is between 75600 - 92400 £ per year.
At Masabi, we’re driving the fare payment revolution, powering the journeys of millions all over the world. We build fare collection platforms that allow riders to seamlessly buy and present tickets for public transport either on their mobile phones, from a ticket machine, or even by tapping their bank card to travel.
We’re looking for a Principal Engineer - Payments to join Masabi’s Architecture team, with a primary focus on our payments domain. This is a senior role for someone who combines strong technical judgement with deep payments experience. You’ll help shape the technical direction of our payments platform while staying close enough to the detail to design, review and support meaningful technical work.
Working across the engineering organisation, you’ll act as a senior technical leader within the payments domain - contributing to architecture, guiding complex decisions and helping teams build scalable, resilient systems that support millions of journeys worldwide. The role suits someone who can move between system-level thinking and implementation, who understands trade-offs, can navigate ambiguity and helps turn complex or loosely defined problems into clear, practical technical approaches.
This role is open to candidates based anywhere in the UK, with the flexibility to work fully remotely. For those based in or around London, we also offer the option of hybrid working from our London office.
Responsibilities:
- Shape the technical direction of Masabi’s payments platform, contributing to architecture, standards and engineering best practices.
- Design and deliver scalable, secure, resilient and cost-effective payment solutions aligned with Masabi’s platform direction.
- Support teams in building towards a modern, microservices-based architecture while balancing delivery priorities and long-term platform health.
- Stay close to technical delivery through architecture reviews, design discussions and targeted hands-on contribution where needed.
- Identify and work through complex technical challenges related to scalability, resilience, operational performance and system evolution.
- Act as a senior technical advisor across engineering teams, supporting and influencing technical decisions, particularly within the payments domain.
- Work with external providers and payment partners on integrations, technical alignment and problem-solving.
- Contribute to technical roadmap planning, prioritisation, technical scoping and architecture discussions for complex initiatives.
- Produce clear technical documentation and contribute to engineering standards, technical forums and good practices across the organisation.
About You:
- You bring a mix of strong technical expertise, sound judgement and real-world payments experience.
- Strong experience working on payment systems, including integrations with PSPs, gateways, EMV, contactless EMV, acquirers, etc.
- Good understanding of payment flows, transaction lifecycles and system design considerations.
- Experience designing and evolving distributed systems and microservices architectures.
- You’ve operated at Principal or Staff level, shaping technical direction across multiple teams or domains.
- Strong judgement and the ability to balance short-term delivery with long-term architectural outcomes.
- Comfortable navigating ambiguity and turning complex problems into clear, practical technical approaches.
- Clear and thoughtful communicator, able to engage both technical and non-technical audiences.
- Comfortable being hands-on where needed, while maintaining a focus on system-level impact.
- You have strong experience with cloud platforms (AWS preferred) and modern infrastructure practices.
- You’ve worked on systems where scale, reliability, performance and cost trade-offs matter, and can navigate those decisions thoughtfully.
- You’ve contributed to engineering standards, architecture patterns or platform direction.
- Interest in or exposure to AI-enabled systems, particularly understanding architectural implications in production.
Nice To Have:
- Experience with transit systems or fare payment systems (e.g. tap-to-ride systems).
- Familiarity with card schemes (e.g. Visa, Mastercard, Interac).
- Experience working in complex, multi-service or event-driven architectures.
- Familiarity with a range of tools and technologies including:
- Development: Kotlin, Java.
- Data storage: DynamoDB, MySQL.
- Infrastructure as code and CI/CD: Terraform, GitLab CI/CD.
You don’t need to have experience in every area listed above. If you bring strong fundamentals, good judgement, and a willingness to learn, we’d still love to hear from you.
Why Join Masabi?
- Driven by Purpose – We believe in journeys made simple. The work isn’t always easy, but the best things never are.
- Encouraged to Accelerate – Masabi is going places and our people are in the driving seat. Whether you’re taking the direct route or exploring new paths, we support your journey.
- Advancing with Empathy – We put people first and foster a culture of learning, not blame. No matter your cargo, we share the load.
Principal Software Engineer - Payments in London employer: Masabi
At Masabi, we pride ourselves on being an inclusive employer that champions diversity and innovation. Our remote-first approach allows you to work from anywhere in the UK, with the added flexibility of a hybrid model for those in London, ensuring a healthy work-life balance. With generous benefits like private healthcare, a training allowance, and a collaborative culture focused on personal growth, Masabi is dedicated to supporting your career journey while making a meaningful impact in the world of public transport.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Principal Software Engineer - Payments in London
✨Join Local Tech Meetups
Get out there and mingle with fellow developers by joining local tech meetups. It’s a fantastic way to meet people who might be working at Masabi or know someone who does. Plus, you can pick up some trendy tech skills and trends while you're at it!
✨Contribute to Open Source Projects
Show off your coding chops by jumping into open-source projects. Not only does this give you practical experience, but it also gets you noticed in the dev community. You'll create a killer portfolio that speaks volumes about your skills to Masabi.
✨Tap into Online Developer Communities
Don’t underestimate the power of online developer communities like GitHub, Stack Overflow, and even Reddit. Participate in discussions, share your projects, and build your visibility. We can often find opportunities through these channels that can lead to a full-time gig at companies like Masabi.
✨Explore Job Boards Specifically for Tech Roles
Keep your eyes peeled on job boards that focus on tech roles. Sites like TechCareers or Stack Overflow Jobs can often have listings for companies like Masabi that might not show up on broader job sites. Make it a habit to check these regularly, and don’t hesitate to apply directly through our website!
We think you need these skills to ace Principal Software Engineer - Payments in London
Some tips for your application 🫡
Show off your coding skills:When applying for a software engineering role, it's super important to showcase your coding skills. Make sure your CV includes your tech stack, any relevant programming languages you’re comfortable with, and examples of projects you've worked on. If you have a GitHub profile, link it up! We love to see code in action.
Tailor your portfolio:For a full-time role, we’d expect to see some solid examples of your work in your portfolio. Make sure to include at least two or three projects that highlight your problem-solving skills and your ability to work with different technologies. Focus on the projects that are most relevant to the position at Masabi.
Craft a killer cover letter:Your cover letter is your chance to stand out—make it personal! Explain why you want to work at Masabi and how your skills align with the role. Show us your passion for software development. We dig enthusiastic candidates who understand the value of collaboration and continuous learning!
Be clear and concise:When it comes to writing your CV and cover letter, clarity is key. Avoid jargon that could confuse us and stick to simple, direct language. Highlight your achievements with quantifiable results where possible, and keep everything easy to read. A well-organised application goes a long way!
How to prepare for a job interview at Masabi
✨Brush Up on Your Coding Skills
For a full-time software engineering role, it's crucial that we stay sharp with our coding abilities. Expect technical questions that might involve solving problems on the spot or discussing algorithms. Practise on platforms like LeetCode or HackerRank to get comfortable with the types of questions that often come up.
✨Know Your Tools and Frameworks
Make sure we’re well-acquainted with the tools and technologies listed in the job description. Familiarise ourselves with any specific frameworks or programming languages mentioned. If Masabi uses React or Node.js, for instance, be ready to discuss how we’ve used them in previous projects or coursework.
✨Showcase Your Projects
Bring along a portfolio that highlights our best work. This could be code samples, GitHub repositories, or any side projects we’ve built. Make sure we can talk through our thought process for each project, especially the challenges we faced and how we solved them—this shows our problem-solving skills in action.
✨Prepare for Behavioural Questions
While technical skills are key, full-time positions also require cultural fit. Be ready to discuss our previous experiences and how we handle teamwork, conflict, and deadlines. Brush up on the STAR method—Situation, Task, Action, Result—to clearly articulate our past experiences when discussing how we've contributed to a team.
