Principal Payments Engineer - Architecture & Scale in Columbus

About Us
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.

Our Justride platform is used in over 250 locations globally, including some of the largest cities in the world. With our industry-first mobile ticketing SDK, we've partnered with large players in the transport space, including Uber, Moovit and Transit.

Your own journey is important to us too. Choosing a role here means joining a network of innovators from all walks of life; a group of passionate individuals who consistently deliver. Here, you'll find the tools you need to build the career you want. Whether you're taking the direct route or trying a new path, we'll support you no matter what.

The Role
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 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.

Location
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
• 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.

Some of Our Benefits

• 25 days of holiday per year plus the option to buy another 5 days pro-rated
• Private Healthcare via AXA, including pre-existing conditions and mental health
• Life Insurance
• Menopause support
• Choice of workstation
• Ability to work for up to 3 months per year from any country in the world (certain limitations)
• Pension scheme
• Training allowance of up to £1,000 per year
• £200 annual allowance for any home office need or improvement
• Enhanced family leave pay
• Cycle to work scheme
• Regular social gatherings with a monthly allowance for each employee
• Fun and collaborative environment with a focus on making a difference in the world

Careers at Masabi are for people going places - driven by a mission to make transit fair and accessible for all.

We are a network of innovators from all walks of life, passionate about making a difference. At Masabi, we operate with openness and trust, creating an environment where everyone feels empowered to bring their whole, authentic selves to work.

Whoever you are, just be yourself.
We welcome applications from underrepresented groups, including disabled and neurodivergent people, and can make adjustments at any stage of the process. You're also welcome to share your pronouns whenever you feel comfortable. Together, we simplify journeys, remove barriers, and improve daily life for millions.

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.

We're already powering journeys - are you ready to join us?