Senior Counsel

Role Overview

Senior Counsel at Mastercard, based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, providing comprehensive strategic legal support to the Core Payments business across Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EEMEA).

Company Overview

Mastercard powers economies and empowers people in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. The organization combines technology, innovation, partnerships and networks to deliver products and services that help people, businesses and governments realize their greatest potential.

Role Purpose

To serve as a trusted strategic legal advisor to EEMEA Core Payments leadership, shaping business strategy, product development, commercialization and region-wide pricing initiatives. The role requires the ability to engage at both strategic and tactical levels, anticipate legal and regulatory issues, influence decision-making and translate complex risks into clear, practical guidance.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Advisory

• Act as a trusted strategic advisor to EEMEA Core Payments leadership and relevant regional and global stakeholders on business priorities, product strategy, commercialization models and material legal and reputational risks.
• Provide strategic challenge to business proposals, identify alternatives and controls, and help senior stakeholders make well-informed decisions in areas of legal uncertainty or heightened regulatory attention.
• Advise on the legal and regulatory dimensions of pricing proposals and provide clear, risk-balanced recommendations to inform relevant regional and global governance and approval processes.

Product Oversight

• Provide strategic legal oversight across the lifecycle of Core Payments products and initiatives, from concept, design and regional assessment through market enablement, launch, scaling, enhancement and discontinuation.
• Support Core Payments portfolios across EEMEA, including consumer products, core network and processing solutions, digital payments, authentication, tokenization, card products, cardholder solutions and related commercialization initiatives.
• Advise on product constructs, customer journeys, commercial models, go-to-market strategies, contracting structures and allocation of legal and operational responsibilities.

Pricing and Interchange Initiatives

• Lead the legal review of EEMEA-wide Core Payments pricing and interchange initiatives, including the legal assessment of proposed pricing models, fee constructs, bundling, opt-in and opt-out structures, customer impact, communications and implementation considerations.
• Assess strategic pricing proposals for legal, competition, consumer protection, regulatory, contractual and reputational considerations, and coordinate market-specific analysis where required.
• Guide the development of defensible rationales, customer propositions, contractual frameworks and communications for new or revised fees, product bundles and regional pricing programs.

Regional Legal Governance

• Shape regional legal positions and guardrails for complex or novel Core Payments initiatives, promoting consistency across EEMEA while recognizing market-specific legal and regulatory requirements.
• Lead regional legal assessments, legal scans and product governance processes, and ensure timely coordination with market counsel and legal subject-matter experts.
• Build strong relationships with global product counsel and other regions, promote alignment of legal positions, and adapt global frameworks and templates for EEMEA implementation.

Stakeholder Management and Collaboration

• Partner closely with regional Core Payments leadership, pricing, finance, global product, sales, business development, customer delivery, technology, franchise, regulatory, compliance, privacy, intellectual property, public policy, communications and market business and legal teams.
• Lead or coordinate high-profile, cross-border and sensitive matters, including engagement with senior business leaders, specialist counsel, market legal teams and external counsel.

Contracting and Commercial Agreements

• Oversee or handle complex commercial and technology agreements, including customer, partnership, vendor and platform arrangements, product terms, enrollment forms, addenda and statements of work.

Framework Development and Support

• Develop scalable legal frameworks, playbooks, templates and training that improve consistency, transparency and speed of execution across EEMEA.
• Provide senior-level guidance, coaching and quality oversight to lawyers and legal resources supporting Core Payments matters, without implying formal people-management responsibility.
• Manage external counsel strategically and efficiently, including scoping, selection, instruction, quality oversight and budget management.

Compliance and Governance

• Escalate material issues appropriately and ensure compliance with Mastercard policies, governance standards and record-keeping requirements.

Qualifications & Experience

• Qualified senior lawyer in one or more jurisdictions, with a strong academic and professional training background.
• Extensive experience in payments, financial services, fintech, technology, product and commercial legal matters, preferably gained through a combination of in-house and leading private-practice experience.
• Demonstrated record of providing strategic legal advice to senior business leaders and influencing complex, high-impact decisions across multiple jurisdictions.
• Strong understanding of payment networks, product development, commercialization and pricing.
• Experience reviewing pricing, fee or interchange initiatives is highly advantageous.
• Sophisticated knowledge of competition, consumer protection, financial services regulation and contractual risk as they relate to payment products and pricing structures, with the judgment to coordinate specialist advice where necessary.

Skills & Competencies

• Advanced drafting and negotiation skills, including experience with complex technology, customer, vendor, partnership and product agreements.
• Ability to understand complex products, data flows, technologies and economic models, identify the issues that matter and develop pragmatic, risk-balanced solutions.
• Excellent executive communication and stakeholder-management skills, with the credibility to advise, challenge and influence senior legal and business leadership.
• Proven ability to lead cross-functional and cross-border matters in a dynamic matrix environment, manage ambiguity and deliver under competing priorities and tight deadlines.
• Collaborative, curious, proactive and solutions-oriented, with sound judgment, high integrity and strong attention to detail.
• Fluency in English is required.
• Additional EEMEA language capability is an advantage.

Additional Information

• This role is based in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and supports stakeholders across EEMEA.
• The role requires collaboration across jurisdictions and time zones and may involve business travel.
• Mastercard roles evolve with the needs of the business, and the responsibilities above are intended as a guide rather than an exhaustive list.
• All activities involving access to Mastercard assets, information and networks come with an inherent risk to the organization, and every person working for or on behalf of Mastercard is responsible for information security.
• 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.
• Complete all periodic mandatory security trainings in accordance with Mastercard's guidelines.