Senior Counsel

Our PurposeMastercard 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 SummarySenior CounselWHO 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.OVERVIEWMastercard is looking for an experienced lawyer to be responsible for comprehensive, end-to-end, strategic legal counsel and support to the global Financial Inclusion, Sustainability, Debit and Prepaid product teams. Mastercard’s legal team is a critical part of the business, helping to drive the identification, development and distribution of products and solutions that meet the needs of various market stakeholders. The candidate will be part of a highly agile team, building exciting and innovative products. The ideal candidate is a curious, self-motivated, sustainability and technology-minded lawyer with extensive transactional and product experience. The candidate must demonstrate sound business and legal judgment, thrive in a fast-paced environment with a diverse workload, and have a proven track record of providing pragmatic and proactive legal advice. The candidate must be able to engage at both the tactical and strategic levels to support his or her internal clients.This full-time role is based in Purchase, New York and reports to a Senior Managing Counsel in the Core Payments legal team.ROLEAs Senior Counsel, the candidate will handle product development and support matters for the business on a day-to-day basis, identifying and analyzing relevant issues and helping the business effectively navigate legal, governance and regulatory risks and implement appropriate controls. This role will:• Provide legal oversight during ideation, prototype, pilot and commercialization of Mastercard’s financial inclusion and sustainability products and services• Support the Global product team in negotiating commercial transactions to pilot and commercialize debit, prepaid, financial inclusion and sustainability programs • Draft and negotiate a wide range of contracts (including complex product and technology agreements, partnership and pilot agreements, memoranda of understanding, licenses, and terms of enrollment) to drive sustained scalable distribution, adoption and acceptance of our products and services• Identify, manage and mitigate legal and commercial risks within new product consumer experiences and transaction flows• Work cross-functionally with various product and legal teams, including data privacy, intellectual property, anti-trust, regulatory affairs, public policy, and franchise functions to provide holistic support to Mastercard’s global and regional products strategy• Work with internal and external regulatory counsel and regional colleagues to help ensure compliance with laws and government regulations relating to Mastercard's consumer products• Review and revise sales materials, program terms & conditions and marketing materials as technical solutions evolve• Assist with the creation of training materials, product guides, franchise standards and development activities to advance the business objectives in accordance with company policies• Work closely with executive and senior management teams to help define and deliver strategic objectives and prioritiesPlease 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. From time to time, there may also be opportunities to work on other matters within the Core Payments business. As the team supports the business globally, the role requires the ability to support other time zones and may require some travel.ALL ABOUT YOU• Minimum six years of solid technology, commercial transactions, complex negotiations, and/or payments experience required.• Qualified lawyer with a solid academic and training background, licensed to practice in the relevant jurisdiction in which the job is located. • Able to analyze and identify core legal issues, skilled at explaining technical problems succinctly and clearly. • Working knowledge of data privacy, regulatory, and intellectual property issues and how they relate to emerging technology. • Interest in and familiarity with issues of sustainability and financial inclusion, while not required, is considered a plus. Many of the solutions supported are intended to further Mastercard's social impact objectives and will involve issues of first impression.• Experience or interest in working with artificial intelligence to help drive operational excellence.• 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. • Should have a positive “can-do” attitude, willing to take initiative and ready to go the extra mile.• Solutions-oriented with excellent time management, planning and organizational skills. • Able to work flexibly under pressure and with tight deadlines. • Strong drafting, writing, oral communication and negotiating skills, able to effectively communicate vision and more detailed approaches to a wide variety of stakeholders. • Exceptional interpersonal skills with proven experience in relationship building and partnering with the ability to work both independently and collaboratively.• Global mindset and in-house experience, particularly in a multi-national company, is preferred. • Must be flexible, solutions oriented and able to multi-task within tight timelines.Mastercard is a merit-based, inclusive, equal opportunity employer that considers applicants without regard to gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, disabled or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We hire the most qualified candidate for the role. In the US or Canada, if you require accommodations or assistance to complete the online application process or during the recruitment process, please contact View email address on click.appcast.io and identify the type of accommodation or assistance you are requesting. Do not include any medical or health information in this email. The Reasonable Accommodations team will respond to your email promptly.Corporate Security ResponsibilityAll 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, andComplete all periodic mandatory security trainings in accordance with Mastercard’s guidelines.In line with Mastercard’s total compensation philosophy and assuming that the job will be performed in the US, the successful candidate will be offered a competitive base salary and may be eligible for an annual bonus or commissions depending on the role. The base salary offered may vary depending on multiple factors, including but not limited to location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Mastercard benefits for full time (and certain part time) employees generally include: insurance (including medical, prescription drug, dental, vision, disability, life insurance); flexible spending account and health savings account; paid leaves (including 16 weeks of new parent leave and up to 20 days of bereavement leave); 80 hours of Paid Sick and Safe Time, 25 days of vacation time and 5 personal days, pro-rated based on date of hire; 10 annual paid U.S. observed holidays; 401k with a best-in-class company match; deferred compensation for eligible roles; fitness reimbursement or on-site fitness facilities; eligibility for tuition reimbursement; and many more. Mastercard benefits for interns generally include: 56 hours of Paid Sick and Safe Time; jury duty leave; and on-site fitness facilities in some locations.Pay RangesPurchase, New York: $204,000 - $325,000 USDJob SummaryJob number: R-276121Date posted : 2026-04-20Profession: Legal and ComplianceEmployment type: Full time