Senior Counsel at Mastercard

• Mastercard is looking for an energized commercial/technology attorney to join its dynamic legal team to serve as a legal partner to Services group of Mastercard with a particular focus on Security Solutions (SSO). Mastercard’s SSO team provides strategic and cutting-edge safety, security, identity and fraud solutions to Mastercard’s customers and cardholders. This innovative team helps develop the next generation of Mastercard product solutions with respect to authentication, artificial intelligence, behavioral biometrics, cybersecurity, contactless transactions, and the internet-of-things.
• Under the direction of the Vice President and Senior Managing Counsel - Services EEMEA, this position will provide the legal and general support for Services in the Mastercard's Eastern Europe, Middle East and Africa (EEMEA) region.

The position may be located in Johannesburg or Istanbul.

Role

• Structure, draft, and negotiate high-volume commercial contracts ranging from simple statements of work to complex partnership and novel/strategic deals. Typical agreements include transactional agreements, consulting agreements, platform agreements, SaaS agreements, marketing and promotional campaign agreements;
• Align and collaborate across various business and legal teams, including with other Services legal team members and EEMEA regional counsels;
• Develop, assist with and execute global initiatives in the region to support the evolution of the Services legal team and the support it provides;
• Collaborate with team members on product development and go-to-market implementation;
• Be a strategic partner and trusted advisor to a demanding business unit; counseling the business on deal matters as well as general business matters; 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; and
• Provide back-up support to other colleagues on the Services legal team as needed.
• Please note that this job description is not exhaustive, and the job holder may be required to undertake additional duties from time to time to ensure the smooth running of the Services business.

All About You

• 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;
• 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 daily
• A Juris Doctorate degree (or non-U.S. equivalent) and admitted to bar (or non-U.S. equivalent) and in good standing