Software Engineering, Launch Graduate Program 2026 - London, UK

Mastercard works to connect and power a sustainable and inclusive global economy. We are a vehicle for commerce, a connection to financial systems for the previously excluded, a technology innovation lab, and the home of Priceless®. We ensure every employee has an opportunity to be a part of something bigger and to change lives. We believe in connecting everyone to endless, priceless possibilities.

We are looking for talented software engineers to develop advanced technologies and applications that are revolutionizing payments. Software engineers at Mastercard build the systems that process transactions, analyze data, and detect fraud to gain insight into the direction of the economy on behalf of our customers. We are focused on building simple, safe, and smart solutions that instill trust in every interaction. Our industry expertise is enhanced by our commitment to being a force for good in the world and to doing well by doing good.

The Launch program is a development program that is supplemental to the role and is designed to help you transition from being a student to being a Mastercard employee. In this program, you will participate in:

• Four-day orientation focused on getting to know Mastercard, building your skills, and being a force for good (Mastercard’s culture)
• Technical orientation focused on an introduction to tools, policies, and processes that are key to your role
• Professional skills workshops
• Launch innovation week
• Social impact – pro bono team challenge
• Global volunteer challenge

As a Software Engineer I, you will have the opportunity to:

• Write high-quality code with a focus on security, design, and maintainability.
• Contribute to all phases of software development from design through rollout.
• Find real-life solutions for our clients and the world.

Note: specific responsibilities and development tools/languages used will vary based on team placement.

Non-negotiable Requirements

• To be available to start from 1st September 2026
• To be a Final Year Undergraduate/Masters student or to have graduated no earlier than September 2025

Qualifications

• Currently enrolled in a bachelor’s or accelerated master’s computer science program graduating between September 2025 – July 2026
• Project-based experience (personal, academic, internship) in one or more general-purpose programming languages such as: Java, JavaScript, C#, Python, etc.
• Familiarity using persistent data stores such as relational databases, NoSQL, etc.
• Uses defensive coding, logging, and alerts to help prevent issues.
• Experience writing automated tests to verify code correctness and expected behaviour.
• Experience with source control management (e.g., git), deployment, and task management tools.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills and familiarity with common debugging tools and information to diagnose issues such as stack traces, memory profiling, code tracing, etc., using all debugging techniques/tools and logs.

Corporate Security Responsibility

All activities involving access to Mastercard assets, information, and networks come with an inherent risk to the organization and, therefore, it is expected that every person working for, or on behalf of, Mastercard is responsible for information security and must:

• Abide by Mastercard’s security policies and practices;
• Ensure the confidentiality and integrity of the information being accessed;
• Report any suspected information security violation or breach, and
• Complete all periodic mandatory security trainings in accordance with Mastercard’s guidelines.