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 Managing Counsel, Regulatory EEMEA

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 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’s global Privacy, Regulatory and Technology organization is looking for a Senior Managing Counsel to join its Eastern Europe & Middle East Africa (EEMEA) region. The role will report to the Assistant General Counsel, Regulatory for EEMEA/Europe, but work very closely to support the Senior Managing Counsel and overall Regulatory Lead for the EEMEA region.

The role holder will have full accountability for managing all regulatory issues across relevant markets (together with some issues across EEMEA), providing regulatory advice and support on multiple issues of critical importance to the EEMEA business. They will be responsible for interpreting relevant law and regulatory obligations, determining the business impact and managing the appropriate response, whilst working closely with regulatory compliance professionals to meet compliance obligations and regulator requests. Taking ownership will be key, as well as a willingness to drive outcomes which ensure Mastercard is meeting its obligations. This will require active and regular engagement both the business and local regulators and therefore fluency in both English and Arabic is essential.

Collectively, this will involve a high degree of collaborative working with many others across Mastercard, particularly global Regulatory colleagues and those in the Law Department, as well as business counterparts within and beyond the EEMEA region in roles potentially including Product, Technology, Franchise, Finance, Settlement, Sales, Communications, Strategy and many more. The successful candidate will become part of a global group of privacy, regulatory and technology regulatory and compliance specialists who between them cover Mastercard’s privacy, regulatory and technology footprint across the globe .

Role
• Provide support and advice both within the EEMEA regulatory team and to the wider business on a broad range of regulatory issues and activities impacting Mastercard within the region
• Conduct detailed analysis of existing and emerging laws and regulations affecting Mastercard’s business and products in EEMEA to support business strategy, growth, and licensing decisions.
• Advocate for regulatory reforms via written and verbal consultations that enable Mastercard’s growth, innovation and agility.
• Proactively identify, monitor, and manage regulatory changes using tracking and AI tools; coordinate with internal stakeholders to assess the impact of regulatory changes and support compliance implementation.
• Engage on the timely submission of regulatory filings/submission and develop responses to requests in accordance with internal processes and procedures
• Participate in multi-dimensional projects across business units/regions, successfully navigating throughout the organization by partnering effectively with individuals from other departments and delivering results
• Evaluate and identify EEMEA and country level regulatory risk and support the teams with assessing and implementing controls to mitigate risks
• Provide regulatory advice to business stakeholders on product development and operational matters, contributing subject matter expertise with respect to operational requirements, policies, and procedures to comply with applicable regulatory obligations
• Represent Mastercard at regulator engagements, industry forums and similar events, ensuring that Mastercard’s positions are clearly, consistently and effectively communicated.

All About You

• An attorney qualified to practice within the EEMEA region, with an LLB or JD from an established and reputable law school
• Substantial experience working in a regulatory role, within a corporation, association or government context and/or as a regulatory attorney in a law firm (ideally within payments or banking)
• Experience managing regulatory supervision, advocacy and licensing processes
• Strong understanding of relevant financial and payments regulation as it applies payments systems and services
• Ability to navigate diverse regulatory requirements to enable the introduction of products and/or services and the growth of business in an evolving environment
• Fluency in English and Arabic (written and spoken), combined with overall strong communication skills and an ability to communicate complex regulatory issues in simple and concise terms
• Proven success in navigating multi-national organizations and operating effectively within a diverse multicultural organization

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.