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

Senior Counsel

Job Description, Senior Counsel, Digital Assets & Product Commercialization

Who is Mastercard?
Mastercard is a global technology company in the payments industry. Our mission is to connect and power an inclusive, digital economy that benefits everyone, everywhere by making transactions safe, simple, smart, and accessible. Using secure data and networks, partnerships and passion, our innovations and solutions help individuals, financial institutions, governments, and businesses realize their greatest potential.
Our decency quotient, or DQ, drives our culture and everything we do inside and outside of our company. With connections across more than 210 countries and territories, we are building a sustainable world that unlocks priceless possibilities for all.

Overview
Mastercard is looking for an experienced lawyer to serve as a key commercial attorney supporting the integration of BVNK and the commercialization of deals involving next-generation digital asset, stablecoin and cross-border payments solutions. This role will partner closely with multiple teams and stakeholders across Mastercard and BVNK including Product, Business Development, Privacy, Compliance, and Regulatory teams to enable strategic revenue synergies, accelerate go-to-market readiness, and support Mastercard's and BVNK’s evolving digital assets ecosystem.

The position requires strong judgment, strategic thinking, and the ability to navigate complex negotiations across regulatory and commercial issues in a rapidly evolving environment. The ideal candidate is highly motivated, intellectually curious and analytical, dedicated to delivering strategic and hands-on legal support and partnership to commercialize at scale the next generation of Mastercard product solutions focused on enabling the future of payments.
Role
As Senior Counsel, you will be a member of the Law Department supporting Blockchain & Digital Assets team under Mastercard’s Core Payments business. You will handle contract drafting, negotiations and commercialization and support legal matters for the business on a day-to-day basis, identifying and analyzing relevant issues and helping the business effectively navigate legal and regulatory risks and implement appropriate controls, policies and processes. You will:
• Manage legal support for the go to market and commercialization of Mastercard’s global digital assets products and services, reporting into the Senior Managing Counsel for Digital Assets.
• Manage tactical and strategic legal support related to products and solutions to advance Mastercard’s corporate objectives, including Mastercard’s stablecoin, digital assets, and blockchain strategy.
• Develop strong relationships with product development and business and sales clients.
• Collaborate with product, technology, regulatory, sales, franchise, marketing, communications and others to successfully commercialize products and solutions that differentiate Mastercard and meet our customers’ and cardholders’ rapidly changing needs.
• Structure, draft, and negotiate a wide range of contracts (including complex digital assets technology agreements, customer and vendor agreements) as well as other commercial agreements.
• Partner with subject matter experts in regulatory, privacy, product, intellectual property and other stakeholder teams to ensure product constructs and commercial agreements are consistent with corporate strategy, internal policies and procedures and applicable laws and regulations.
• Advise management teams on the identification and analysis of complex legal issues and commercial risks.
• Be an advocate for the business by providing solutions-oriented advice, being proactive, and looking for creative and practical ways to move the business objective forward.
• Identify needed process improvements and efficiencies; own and execute solutions to support Mastercard’s transformation strategy and streamline processes to increase ease of doing business.
• Take responsibility for special projects while continuing to handle a steady stream of day-to-day matters.
• Instruct and manage external counsel within agreed policy and budget.

Please note that roles within Mastercard evolve with the needs of the business and department. Therefore, the above is a guideline and by no means comprehensive.

Location
This role will be based in London, UK. As our team supports the business globally, the role may require limited travel and ability to support other time zones.

All About You
• A qualified lawyer with a solid academic and training background, licensed to practice in the UK.
• Strong commercial experience in digital assets, financial services, emerging technology, stablecoin and other digital currencies, and the use of public and private blockchains.
• Good working knowledge of the regulatory landscape and legal issues relating to digital assets.
• Excellent organizational, time management, client communication, and multi-tasking skills.
• Experience across a range of commercial and technology contracts and the ability to analyze and identify the core legal issues, skilled at explaining technical problems succinctly and clearly.
• A working knowledge of data privacy and intellectual property issues and how they relate to emerging technology such as digital assets.
• A fast learner who can gain rapid familiarity with complex products, services and legal frameworks and maintain knowledge of those changing products, services and legal frameworks.
• Agile and flexible while working under pressure and with tight deadlines.
• Strong drafting, writing, oral communication and negotiating skills, able to communicate your vision and roadmap effectively to a wide variety of stakeholders.
• Exceptional interpersonal skills with proven experience in relationship building and partnering. Must work well in both team and individual settings.
• Strong business acumen.
• Language: Fluent English.

Corporate Security Responsibility

All activities involving access to Mastercard assets, information, and networks comes 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.