Vice President, Risk Management, Commercial and New Payment Flows

Overview of the Role

The Vice President, Risk Management, Commercial and New Payment Flows (CNPF) leads a critical function within Mastercard's 1st line of defense. This role oversees and enhances CNPF Risk, driving strategic risk projects and capabilities aligned with CNPF's significant target payment flows and growth strategies. The VP will act as a subject matter expert, ensuring the compatibility and prioritization of risk management efforts while leading a dynamic, experienced team of risk managers.

Role and Key Responsibilities

• Lead and develop a comprehensive CNPF Risk Management capability for Commercial, SME, and Transfer Solutions, supporting the overall growth strategy.
• Design and implement robust end-to-end risk frameworks, including risk identification, remediation, issue management, RCSA, operational process mapping, and control embedding.
• Collaborate closely with Product, Engineering, and Functional Risk teams to integrate and enhance risk management across business operations and offerings, identifying cross-cutting risk themes.
• Engage stakeholders across the 3 Lines of Defense (3LoD), various teams, and regions, leveraging broader Mastercard Risk and 3LoD leadership, and linking to wider Mastercard initiatives.
• Identify, assess, and mitigate key risk types across CNPF, covering the full risk taxonomy such as operational resiliency, credit/settlement, fraud, AML, sanctions, and third-party risks.
• Oversee remediation plans, partnering with risk owners to achieve tangible risk reduction, meet target exposure levels, and address Audit findings effectively.
• Establish scalable governance models, risk policies, and decision forums to support strategic priorities, product development, and geographic expansion.
• Utilize data, analytics, and automation to improve risk detection, monitoring, and reporting across diverse payment flows and customer segments.
• Provide executive-level insights, comprehensive risk assessments, and strategic recommendations to senior leadership and risk committees.
• Manage the first line risk forum and provide continuous oversight of the risk heatmap.
• Support incident response and escalation procedures for material risk events impacting CNPF.
• Develop and lead a high-performing global risk organization with deep domain expertise in CNPF flows.
• Drive thought leadership in CNPF Risk, identifying opportunities to enhance capabilities and address cross-cutting risk management themes.
• Maintain awareness of broader organizational risk priorities, balancing key objectives, and adapting strategies as appropriate.

Candidate Profile

Mastercard is seeking an individual with a strong background in risk transformation across various risk types, industries, organizations, and geographies, including both regulated and non-regulated environments. The ideal candidate will possess:

• Extensive experience and knowledge of financial and non-financial risk management methods and frameworks.
• A continuous learning and growth mindset to stay current with evolving risk management practices.
• Proven experience in project/program management of complex risk initiatives spanning the 3 Lines of Defense, risk reporting, and data analytics.
• Demonstrated ability to lead a multi-disciplinary and globally dispersed/diverse team, supported by strong interpersonal skills.
• Outstanding written and verbal English communication skills.
• A pragmatic approach, capable of distinguishing timely, actionable, and effective outcomes from overly complex theoretical best practices.
• An outcome-oriented, proactive, and hands-on approach to problem-solving.
• A strong risk mindset, enabling the identification of potential risk sources, their mitigation, and informed decision-making with available information.
• Strong negotiation and influencing skills, with a proven ability to engage executive management effectively.
• Preferred knowledge of payments, card scheme operations, settlement processes, and related operational and technological setups.

Corporate Security Responsibility

All activities involving access to Mastercard assets, information, and networks entail inherent organizational risk. Therefore, every individual working for or on behalf of Mastercard is responsible for information security and must:

• Adhere to Mastercard’s security policies and practices.
• Ensure the confidentiality and integrity of accessed information.
• Report any suspected information security violations or breaches.
• Complete all periodic mandatory security trainings in accordance with Mastercard’s guidelines.

Key skills/competency

• Risk Management
• Commercial Payments
• Operational Risk
• Fraud Prevention
• AML/Sanctions Compliance
• Governance Frameworks
• Data Analytics
• Stakeholder Engagement
• Team Leadership
• Strategic Planning