Software Engineer - Sr. Consultant level (Java & Python, GenAI, Cloud; 11-15 years' experience)

Job Description Job Summary: Software Development Engineers are expert problem-solvers and builders who design, implement, and improve software applications and systems. In this role, engineers spend approximately 60–75% of their time coding, working hands-on with code, data, and modern tools (including AI-assisted development, cloud services, and automation frameworks) to deliver secure, scalable, and high-quality technology solutions that drive business outcomes in the fintech sector. They collaborate with cross-functional teams – product managers, designers, data scientists, QA, operations, and compliance – to translate business requirements into robust technical solutions, all while adhering to best practices, security standards, and regulatory requirements. As the technical lead of the Visa Assist AI platform, you will be a hands-on, technically deep, and influential engineer who owns the technical vision and delivery of a multi-agent AI architecture (Visa Assist) serving Visa's client-facing channels — Chat, Email, and Portal. This is a coding-intensive leadership role where you will architect, implement, and ship critical platform components while mentoring engineers, standardizing engineering practices, and aligning with stakeholders to shape the strategic roadmap for Visa's AI-powered client services. Key RESPONSIBILITIES: Collaborate with business stakeholders and leadership to interpret and translate requirements across the full Visa Assist portfolio — spanning inbound channels (Chat, Email, Portal), agent worker routing logic, and platform evolution roadmaps — incorporating feedback into technical architecture decisions and working code. Translate business requirements into strategic roadmaps and tactical solutions — including routing logic adjustments, guardrail tuning, knowledge base curation, and CRM/billing workflow improvements — while escalating potential design issues and downstream dependencies to appropriate stakeholders. Lead system design and architecture, personally architecting and building core infrastructure components: intent classification models, agent routing logic, MCP protocol adapters, and resilience patterns across the distributed multi-agent system. Drive program delivery across the full Visa Assist portfolio — intent classification & routing accuracy improvements, agent worker ecosystem (Msg Processing, Crm Dynamics, Invoice Investigator, Client Profile, Transaction Management), MCP protocol adoption and expansion across external services (CRM, Invoice, CAD CP servers), and platform reliability. Write production code daily (60%+ of time), personally implementing the most complex features across the full stack — Fast API endpoints, Lang Chain agent orchestration, Pydantic v2 schemas, async NATS handlers, and Docker/Kubernetes configurations. Establish and lead engineering standards by implementing reference patterns for the Python / Fast API / Lang Chain / Pydantic v2 stack, building shared library modules, and coding MCP server integration adapters (OAuth2 + SSE, m TLS + API Key, REST) that the team adopts as platform-wide standards. Implement Lang Chain agent patterns including multi-hop MCP and dynamic schema composition; prototype emerging technologies (agentic AI frameworks, MCP protocol evolution, RAG advancements) and recommend technical direction based on hands-on evaluation. Apply advanced debugging techniques to resolve the hardest production issues spanning multiple microservices, NATS messaging, and external service integrations, proactively flagging and addressing systemic risks. Design and implement observability strategies using Open Telemetry, Prometheus, and Lang Smith across the full request lifecycle (inbound channel → intent worker → NATS → agent worker → external service), with comprehensive distributed tracing and SLA target definitions for each agent worker and external service dependency. Build operational resilience — implement NATS messaging failure recovery patterns, manage platform uptime, and drive SLA adherence for Chat/Portal real-time latency, Email throughput, and external service availability. Lead code reviews and enforce coding standards — including Pydantic validation patterns, Lang Chain agent design, async Fast API endpoints, and security-first practices — ensuring quality across the full Python/Fast API codebase. Partner with cybersecurity teams to address security assessments and implement solutions for findings including API Key Auth, m TLS, OAuth2, PCI-DSS log redaction, and input guardrails (CSAM, injection, SSRF, abuse filtering); teach security-first development practices across the team. Mentor and develop engineers through hands-on pair programming, code reviews, and technical guidance on Lang Chain agent patterns, MCP protocol implementation, and RAG pipeline optimization; empower team members to own agent worker design and individual microservice delivery. Remain current in skills by continuously evaluating emerging agentic AI frameworks, MCP protocol evolution, and RAG advancements, and investing in team capability growth across the Visa Assist architecture and NATS pub/sub patterns. Forecast labor and support fiscal planning — project labor needs for agent worker development, infrastructure capacity, and LLM/Gen AI API cost projections; support workforce planning during QBR accounting for platform growth, operational burden, and technical debt reduction. Keep stakeholders and leadership informed of progress across epics, program delivery milestones, and overall platform health for the Visa Assist agent ecosystem. Visa requires at least 3 days in office, expectations of these days will be confirmed by your Hiring Manager. Qualifications Basic QUALIFICATIONS: 11-15 years' work experience of work experience with a Bachelor's Degree or with an Advanced Degree (e.g. Masters/MBA/JD/MD) or at least 3 years of work experience with a Ph D Experience in Java EE technologies, Open-Source frameworks including Spring, React, Java Script, HTML5, and Web Services (REST/RPC). Experience on microservices, containerization, and ability to quickly build and drive team to support future systems. Experience evaluating business requirements and translating them into technical design documents. Experience in Design Patterns and data modelling. Experience in Kafka and other No-SQL databases. Solid understanding and experience working with Database systems like My SQL and MSSQL. Experience working on application servers like Apache Tomcat, OS platforms like UNIX, Windows, and Linux. Experience with build automation tools including Maven/Gradle/Jenkins/Grunt. Exposure and good knowledge on web application security. Experience in version control tools: Bit Bucket, Git or similar. PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS: Programming Languages: Expert-level Python development including async/await architectures, high-performance API design (Fast API), advanced type systems (Pydantic v2), and serialization optimization (orjson). Ability to set and enforce coding standards across teams. AI/ML Architecture: Deep expertise in LLM integration patterns, agentic AI frameworks (Lang Chain), RAG pipeline architecture, intent classification systems, and prompt engineering at scale. Experience evaluating and selecting AI models for production use. Protocols & Integration: Expert knowledge of Model Context Protocol (MCP) JSON-RPC 2.0, REST API design, Server-Sent Events (SSE), m TLS, and OAuth2. Experience defining integration standards and protocol strategies across multiple services. Distributed Systems: Extensive experience with event-driven architectures, NATS/Kafka messaging systems, agent-to-agent communication patterns, distributed caching, connection pooling, and failover strategies. API & Platform Architecture: Proven track record of designing and scaling API platforms, defining authentication strategies (OAuth2, API Key, m TLS, X-API-Key), and building resilient microservice ecosystems. Infrastructure & Dev Ops: Expert knowledge of Kubernetes orchestration strategies, Docker security hardening (non-root, RHEL base), CI/CD pipeline design, and cloud-native deployment patterns. Observability & SRE: Experience designing observability architectures using Open Telemetry (distributed tracing), Prometheus (metrics/alerting), and LLM-specific tooling (Lang Smith). Ability to define SLA frameworks and incident prevention strategies. Security & Compliance: Deep understanding of PCI-DSS compliance requirements, security architecture (m TLS, OAuth2, API Key management), input guardrails design (injection prevention, SSRF, CSAM), and log redaction strategies for sensitive data. SDLC & Engineering Excellence: Experience establishing engineering standards, code quality frameworks (Sonar Qube), testing strategies, and release management processes across teams. People & Program Leadership: Demonstrated ability to mentor engineers, delegate ownership, drive technical roadmaps, and align with business stakeholders on strategic priorities. Fiscal Planning: Experience with labor forecasting, workforce planning, cost optimization (LLM token usage, infrastructure sizing), and QBR planning processes. Gen AI Strategy: Ability to evaluate emerging Generative AI capabilities, recommend model selection and drive adoption of AI-assisted development practices across the organization. Visa is an EEO Employer Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or protected veteran status. Visa will also consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with EEOC guidelines and applicable local law. If you thrive on rapid growth and enjoy working alongside positive, driven teammates, you’ll feel right at home here. Help us to uplift everyone, everywhere. Whether you’re starting your career, pushing your capabilities or are a seasoned professional, learn how we can partner to reimagine the world. Introduce yourself to our recruiters and we'll get in touch if there's a role that seems like a good match. At Visa, we are driven by a common purpose – to uplift everyone, everywhere by being the best way to pay and be paid. Our evolving technology keeps us at the heart of the digital economy, connecting people to 80+ million businesses worldwide. Backed by a resilient, proven model, our expanding network fuels growth—for Visa and for your career. Your journey starts here — discover how we hire Ready to take the next step? Learn more about life at Visa, explore our hiring process and get first-hand insights by hearing directly from our recruiters about what to expect. 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