Principal Network Platform Engineer at Mastercard · Dunstable

Principal Network Platform Engineer Location: Dunstable, England (Vocalink) Our Purpose Mastercard powers economies and empowers people in 200+ countries and territories worldwide. Together with our customers, we’re helping build a sustainable economy where everyone can prosper. We support a wide range of digital payments choices, making transactions secure, simple, smart and accessible. Our technology and innovation, partnerships and networks combine to deliver a unique set of products and services that help people, businesses and governments realize their greatest potential. Title and Summary Principal Network Platform Engineer We are seeking an experienced Principal Network Platform Engineer to provide senior technical leadership, hands on delivery, and people leadership across our enterprise network platforms. This is a highly hands on role, combining deep technical expertise with technical authority, delivery ownership, and leadership accountability. The Principal Network Platform Engineer acts as a technical anchor for the network domain — shaping standards, driving automation adoption, leading complex delivery, and mentoring engineers to raise capability and consistency across the organisation. The role supports the Vocalink International business, operating across live and test environments, and requires the ability to translate strategy into executable, automated, and resilient network solutions. Technical Leadership & Delivery – in this role, you will: • Provide senior-level (3rd/4th line) hands-on engineering support, design authority, and technical leadership across network platforms. • Own and lead the technical delivery of complex network initiatives, ensuring solutions are secure, resilient, scalable, and automation first. • Act as the final technical escalation point for complex incidents, architectural challenges, and cross domain issues. • Drive engineering excellence, ensuring adherence to build standards, configuration templates, and operational best practices. Lead the end to end lifecycle of network services, from design through build, automation, run, and continuous improvement. Automation & Platform Engineering – in this role, you will: • Champion and deliver Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and network automation at scale, embedding automation as the default delivery approach. • Design, implement, and evolve automation frameworks, delivery pipelines, and reusable patterns using Ansible, Python, AS3, Terraform, and modern CI/CD platforms. • Reduce manual toil by identifying automation opportunities and delivering measurable improvements in reliability, speed, and consistency. Set automation standards and mentor engineers in automation-first engineering practices. People Leadership & Capability Building – in this role, you will: • Provide technical and people leadership to network engineers, acting as a coach, mentor, and role model. • Support the development of engineers through mentoring, knowledge sharing, peer reviews, and technical leadership forums. • Influence team structure, skills development, and succession planning within the network engineering function. Foster a One Team culture across Architecture, Build, and Run, encouraging collaboration and shared accountability. Operational Excellence & Governance – in this role, you will: • Lead and govern incident, problem, and change management for the network domain, ensuring stability and continuous improvement. • Ensure compliance with regulatory and audit requirements, including PCI, ISO, ISAE, and internal risk controls. • Oversee vulnerability management, including certificate lifecycle management, cipher hardening, software upgrades, and configuration compliance. Produce and maintain high quality documentation, including playbooks, standards, diagrams, and automation artefacts. Stakeholder & Vendor Engagement – in this role, you will: • Act as a trusted technical authority for senior stakeholders, translating complex technical topics into clear business outcomes. • Lead technical engagement with vendors, influencing roadmaps, designs, and service delivery outcomes. Represent the network function in technical communities, guilds, and leadership forums. Skills & Experience Essential • Extensive experience as a Lead or Principal Network Engineer in complex or regulated enterprise environments, with at least 2 years in a technical leadership role. • Deep expertise in routing, switching, firewall, and load balancing technologies across enterprise and service provider networks. • Strong hands on experience with routing protocols (OSPF, BGP) and Layer 2 / Layer 3 technologies. • Proven experience delivering network automation and IaC solutions using Ansible, Python, AS3, Terraform, and CI/CD tooling methods. • Strong understanding of network security and encryption technologies (PKI, SSL/TLS, IPsec, SSH, HTTPS). • Demonstrated ability to lead complex technical deliveries, troubleshoot critical issues, and make sound engineering decisions under pressure. • Excellent communication skills, with the ability to influence both technical and non technical audiences. • Experience mentoring engineers and leading through technical authority rather than hierarchy. Desirable • Industry certifications (e.g. CCIE, Palo Alto, F5, CISSP). • Experience with network tooling such as Splunk, NetBrain, SolarWinds, NNMi, Tufin, CMDB, and packet analysis tools. • Experience working within Agile and DevOps operating models (Scrum, Kanban, SAFe). • Background in financial services or banking environments. • Experience shaping platform strategy or contributing to architectural governance. Work Conditions • Hybrid working model. • Provides engineering leadership for globally available platforms in a 24x7 network environment. • Occasional travel may be required. • Willingness to undergo required background and clearance checks. Corporate Security Responsibility 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.