Counsel at Mastercard

We work 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. We cultivate a culture of inclusion for all employees that respects their individual strengths, views, and experiences. We believe that our differences enable us to be a better team – one that makes better decisions, drives innovation and delivers better business results.

Overview

• Mastercard is looking for an energized corporate/commercial attorney to join its dynamic legal team to serve as a legal partner to Data & Services (D&S) group of Mastercard. Mastercard D&S provides end-to-end solutions through its innovative and proprietary transaction data analyses, data-driven consulting, and marketing and loyalty services to help our clients strategically optimize, streamline, and grow their businesses.
• Under the direction of the Vice President, Senior Managing Counsel, Data & Services, this position will support Senior Counsel in providing legal and general support for the D&S Product Development, Product Management and Strategy & Innovation business teams for Middle East & Africa (MEA) and Asia Pacific (AP) regions. This role will also product sales and product legal support to a recently acquired business.
• The position will be located in Johannesburg, South Africa.

Role

• Assist Senior Managing Counsel in advising on the impact of M&A activities of the D&S business and operationalizing and integrating acquired businesses (including a recently-acquired business), including impacts to the broader Mastercard organization such as our Franchise operations
• Provide product and sales legal support in connection with a recently-acquired business.
• Strategic partner and trusted advisor to a demanding business unit; High level of interaction with business clients;
• Manage wide-ranging issues such as data usage/privacy, intellectual property, compliance, regulatory, and tax by partnering with subject matter experts in these areas and other stakeholder teams, and balancing these issues against reputational risk to ensure product constructs and commercial agreements are consistent with corporate strategy, internal policies and procedures and applicable laws and regulations;
• Support selected sales and execution initiatives.

All About You

• Strong global experience in supporting mergers & acquisitions, product development and product management
• 2-4 years of solid transactional training and experience (preferably from a highly reputable law firm); Must have strong drafting and negotiations skills with the ability to manage complex issues and deal structure;
• Ability to operate in an agile and less than full information environment and ability to make quick but calculated decisions while managing risk effectively;
• Must be pragmatic, solutions-oriented, business-friendly, creative, nimble, thought provoker, and an advocate for the business and have a “let’s make it happen” attitude; Must have leadership skills in bringing different perspectives together and work through competing priorities;
• Must be able to work independently and collaboratively, but also take direction from manager and other team members, as appropriate;
• Must multi-task effectively in an extremely fast-paced team environment with short turnaround times;
• Must have strong communication skills to interact with clients and colleagues;
• Must be a team player and willing to take on responsibilities and roles that support the team, region, department and the company;
• Must be interested in significant contact with the business clients on a daily basis
• A Juris Doctorate degree (or non-U.S. equivalent) and admitted to bar (or non-U.S. equivalent) and in good standing