Staff Software Engineer- GEN AI

Visa is a world leader in payments technology, facilitating transactions between consumers, merchants, financial institutions and government entities across more than 200 countries and territories, dedicated to uplifting everyone, everywhere by being the best way to pay and be paid.

At Visa, you'll have the opportunity to create impact at scale — tackling meaningful challenges, growing your skills and seeing your contributions impact lives around the world. Join Visa and do work that matters — to you, to your community, and to the world.

Progress starts with you.

We are seeking a talented and motivated Software Engineer to join our VAS Innovation team. As a key member of the team, you will play a critical role in developing cutting-edge solutions, leveraging innovative technologies, and enhancing the capabilities of our Value-Added Services (VAS) platform. 

You will be tasked to quickly grasp and evaluate new ideas and technologies from both internal and external sources and match them appropriately with emerging technology and business opportunities, building a culture of innovation and a drive for excellence. 

Essential functions:

• Innovative Development: Engage in the design, development, and implementation of innovative software solutions, including generative AI and modern integration patterns. Contribute to a culture of innovation by actively exploring and applying new ideas and technologies. 
• Collaborative Engineering: Collaborate with cross-functional teams to develop and deliver complex projects that integrate emerging technologies with our existing platforms. Work closely with Product Office, Operations & Infrastructure, Cybersecurity, Client Support, and other Product Development teams to build comprehensive solutions. 
• Continuous Learning: Engage in continuous learning and development, actively seeking opportunities to enhance your skills and knowledge. Collaborate with peers to share insights and drive team growth. 
• Client-Focused Solutions: Develop solutions with a client-centric mindset, ensuring that the VAS platform delivers exceptional value and innovation. Engage with client feedback to refine and improve our offerings. 
• API and Integration Development: Contribute to the design and development of APIs that enhance the integration of our Value-Added Services applications, platforms, and solutions. 
• Technology Modernization: Participate in the advancement of our modernization roadmap by adopting best-in-class technology solutions for our core platform, expanding our market reach and client base. 
• Process Improvement: Continuously assess and improve technology stacks, development processes, and methodologies to enhance productivity, quality, and time-to-market. 
• Engineering Excellence: Adhere to industry best practices in software development, emphasizing quality, security, performance, scalability, availability, and resilience. Contribute to the management and reduction of technical debt within projects. 
• Automation and Best Practices: Implement best engineering practices and automate software development, testing, and deployment processes. Ensure the timely delivery and maintenance of multiple services, focusing on continuous improvement. 
• Incident and Change Management: Support incident management, change, and problem management processes to ensure the high availability and reliability of our services. Participate in root-cause analysis and troubleshooting to resolve issues effectively. 

  This is a hybrid position. Expectation of days in the office will be confirmed by your Hiring Manager. 

Basic Qualifications:
5+ years of relevant work experience with a Bachelor’s Degree or at least 2 years of work experience with an Advanced degree (e.g. Masters, MBA, JD, MD) or 0 years of work experience with a PhD, OR 8+ years of relevant work experience.

Preferred Qualifications:
6 or more years of work experience with a Bachelors Degree or 4 or more years of relevant experience with an Advanced Degree (e.g. Masters, MBA, JD, MD) or up to 3 years of relevant experience with a PhD
4 or more years of relevant work experience with a bachelor’s degree or 3 years with an Advanced Degree (Masters/PhD in Engineering/Computer Science).
Self-driven and willing to work across technologies/languages.
Expert-level skills in Java and Python with skills in C++ and C# is a bonus.
Experience in building Generative AI applications, conversational AI, RAG architectures, techniques and libraries
In-depth understanding of NLP including tokenization, word embeddings, and basic sequence models.
Proficiency in implementing and fine-tuning AI models using popular frameworks (e.g., TensorFlow, PyTorch, scikit-learn)
Understanding of model compression techniques and their trade-offs
Awareness of transfer learning concepts and their applications
Familiarity with common robustness issues in AI systems
Exposure to leading-edge areas such as Machine Learning, Deep Learning, Stream Computing and MLOps.
Proficiency in front-end web development technologies like ReactJS/Angular/NodeJS.
Ability to work with large datasets and perform exploratory data analysis
Experience with data preprocessing, feature engineering, and model evaluation techniques
Experience in configuring build and deployment systems Docker, Jenkins, and Kubernetes.
Expertise in handling multi-threading, concurrency, and error-handling.
Demonstrated proficiency in troubleshooting, root-cause analysis, application design, and implementing large components for enterprise projects.
Knowledge of version control, CI/CD pipelines, and best practices for ML model deployment
Familiarity with deep learning basics, including neural network architectures and training procedures
Ability to design and implement AI components and integrate them into larger systems
Working knowledge using distributed in-memory computing technologies like Redis.
Understanding enterprise security, certificate management, etc.
Hands-on experience with Jenkins and container deployment architecture.
Experience using OAuth2.0, SSO, and authentication methods/protocols.
Expertise in application security, SSDLC, and knowledge of cryptography fundamentals.
Experience in the payments tech industry is a plus.

Work Hours: Varies upon the needs of the department.

Travel Requirements: This position requires travel 5-10% of the time.

Mental/Physical Requirements: This position will be performed in an office setting.  The position will require the incumbent to sit and stand at a desk, communicate in person and by telephone, frequently operate standard office equipment, such as telephones and computers.

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.

Visa will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with applicable local law, including the requirements of Article 49 of the San Francisco Police Code.

U.S. APPLICANTS ONLY:  The estimated salary range for this position is $131,600.00 to $210,300.00 USD per year, which may include potential sales incentive payments (if applicable).  Salary may vary depending on job-related factors which may include knowledge, skills, experience, and location. In addition, this position may be eligible for bonus and equity. Visa has a comprehensive benefits package for which this position may be eligible that includes Medical, Dental, Vision, 401 (k), FSA/HSA, Life Insurance, Paid Time Off, and Wellness Program.