Director, Project Management (AI)

Our Purpose Mastercard 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 Summary Director, Project Management (AI) The Strategy, Enablement & Transformation team is composed of strong contributors with deep project and program management expertise, leadership capability, and a consulting mindset. The Project Management as a Service organization within the Global Business Solutions Center focuses on delivering complex, cross-functional transformation initiatives across Finance, Marketing, GBSC, P&C, LF&I, and other key enterprise functions. This Director, Project Management role will lead project management for AI initiatives across the Finance organization. The role will be responsible for bringing structure, governance, and delivery rigor to a growing portfolio of AI opportunities, helping Finance accelerate practical adoption through disciplined intake, prioritization, execution, responsible AI alignment, and measurable value realization. The qualified candidate will be a member of a highly visible team working closely with Finance leadership, GBSC stakeholders, AI and automation partners, technology teams, risk and governance partners, and executive sponsors to identify opportunities, shape execution plans, manage dependencies, and drive outcomes. This role requires a highly collaborative, strategic, and execution-oriented leader who can operate in ambiguity, simplify complexity, influence across senior stakeholder groups, and maintain momentum across multiple workstreams. The ideal candidate will bring strong program governance, executive communication, stakeholder management, and delivery leadership skills. They must be able to establish operating rhythms, drive clarity around decision rights and escalation paths, translate complex program details into executive-ready updates, and ensure AI initiatives are progressing with clear scope, milestones, risks, benefits, and measurable outcomes. Role: • Lead project and program management for Finance AI initiatives, including AI literacy, idea intake and prioritization, quick-win use cases, priority pilots, and value realization tracking. • Establish and manage program governance structures, including steering committee routines, working team cadences, decision logs, RAID management, escalation paths, and executive reporting standards. • Partner with Finance leadership and executive sponsors to translate strategic priorities into executable roadmaps, delivery plans, milestones, and measurable outcomes. • Coordinate across Finance, GBSC Tech, AI / Automation, AI CoE, AI Governance, Risk, Data, Controls, and other partners to ensure initiatives are appropriately shaped, governed, and executed. • Develop, run, and distribute executive-ready status updates, dashboards, decision materials, and progress reports that clearly communicate scope, progress, risks, dependencies, decisions needed, and business value. • Drive cross-functional alignment across complex stakeholder groups, proactively identifying blockers, managing tradeoffs, resolving issues, and keeping workstreams moving toward agreed outcomes. • Support disciplined use case intake, prioritization, pilot planning, benefits tracking, and scale / stop decisions to ensure AI opportunities are aligned to Finance priorities and responsible AI expectations. • Provide insights to enhance processes, tooling, governance routines, and delivery practices, with a focus on scalable operating models and continuous improvement. • Perform analysis and assessment activities to provide stakeholders with timely updates, actionable recommendations, and clear visibility into program health. • Regularly communicate with senior and executive leadership regarding program status, risks, decisions, dependencies, and progress against expected outcomes. All About You: • Experience leading large-scale, cross-functional transformation programs in complex, matrixed organizations. • Strong project and program management experience, with demonstrated ability to manage multiple workstreams, executive stakeholders, dependencies, risks, and delivery milestones. • Proven ability to establish program governance, operating rhythms, decision forums, escalation paths, status reporting, and executive-level communications. • Excellent executive communication skills, including the ability to synthesize complex information into concise, data-backed, visually clear narratives for senior leadership. • Demonstrated ability to operate in ambiguity, bring structure to complex initiatives, manage competing priorities, and drive results through influence rather than authority. • Experience working on AI, automation, data, digital transformation, finance transformation, or technology-enabled business change initiatives preferred. • Strong stakeholder management skills, with the ability to build trusted partnerships across Finance, Technology, Risk, Governance, Operations, and senior leadership teams. • Experience evaluating business processes and advising on ways to streamline operations, improve controls, increase efficiency, and enable scalable ways of working. • Strong understanding of project risk management, issue resolution, business process assessment, benefits tracking, and change management. • Expert presenter using data, visuals, and storytelling to communicate project status, risks, decisions, and value to various audiences, including executive stakeholders. • Professional services, consulting, PMO, transformation office, or enterprise program leadership experience a plus. • Experience analyzing operational or program data to support business decisions and drive continuous improvement, including process design, system optimization, and measurable value realization. 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 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 Responsibility All 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, and Complete 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 Ranges O'Fallon, Missouri: $143,000 - $236,000 USD