Manager – Network Expansion Strategy

Job description

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 Manager – Network Expansion, Product Management Team overview The Next Generation Network Team is at the heart of Mastercard’s transformation, driving innovation and modernization to ensure the network remains resilient, flexible, and competitive in a rapidly evolving payments landscape. This team is responsible for building Mastercard’s next-generation unified switch and access capabilities, designed to handle all payment and related data flows across transaction types and payment schemes. Within Next Gen Network, the Network Expansion is leveraging our modernized network capabilities for proposing new products and unlocking new business models and revenues like Switching as a Service, Connectivity as a Service, Alternate Payment Methods, beyond card transactions switching for Mastercard scheme. Role Summary This role will primarily define and execute strategy + product management for Network Expansion domain. The role will lead the development and market rollout of Network Expansion products, as well as other initiatives including changes required to our Franchise, Compliance, Data Strategy and programs to enable serving growth beyond Mastercard card transactions switching. It will demand a strong product mindset, understanding of market business context, and the technical functioning of our card payments systems. It will require a high degree of collaboration across technical, customer-facing, and other stakeholder teams to bring to life innovative products with global impact. Key Responsibilities · Lead product and platform enhancements to address market needs across Network Expansion domain. · Define and drive new products, pricing, and business model opportunities from concept through GTM in partnership with regional and market teams. · Propose and influence changes to Franchise rules, programs, and policies to optimize ecosystem outcomes (issuers, merchants, cardholders). · Identify opportunities through rigorous analysis of data; build business cases and estimate impacts, costs, and revenues. · Define product roadmaps, prioritize enhancements, and align investment with strategic network expansion goals. · Evaluate alternative strategies with cross-functional input (business, technical, legal, franchise). · Lead innovation and delivery processes (e.g., Studio) to bring new capabilities and enhancements to market. · Work closely with engineering and platform teams to understand system constraints, document approaches, shape feasible solutions, and estimate delivery costs. · Develop and manage rollout strategies, including pilot markets, customer engagement, pricing, and deployment readiness. · Engage internal product teams, business owners, and global market stakeholders to identify needs and validate solutions. · Partner with commercialization and pricing teams to scale products and services effectively. · Build strong cross-functional relationships to drive alignment and execution across teams. · Develop clear, data-driven narratives and visuals to support recommendations and influence senior leadership decisions. · Communicate Next Gen capabilities, roadmap and approaches clearly to markets and leadership · Present strategies, proposals, and progress to executive stakeholders and product leadership. · Advocate for the best outcomes with a fact-based, independent mindset while remaining pragmatic and outcome-focused. · Drive development and scaling of innovative network switching and expansion solutions. · Support commercialization and internal adoption of new capabilities across regions, rails, and use cases. All About You · Fluent in English · 4+ years of product development or product management experience, working with geographically distributed stakeholders · Prior experience in payments and/or fintechs is preferred · Knowledge of payment industry, market landscape, competition and card processing systems (authorization, clearing and settlement) is a big plus. · Previous experience with product commercialization strategy of complex technical products including customer integration planning is a plus · Strong organizational and workstream management skills · Superior communications/ interpersonal skills, visual and verbal presentation including data visualization and ability to produce clear, compelling presentations and narratives. · Excellent analytical skills and relevant experience is required · Self-starter, desire to dive deep and learn about our technology, system structure, and rules · Business-oriented and strategic mindset in product development and decision-making · Ability to work with ambiguity and manage complex projects in fast-paced environments · Demonstrated ability to work independently and with minimal day-to-day supervision · Proven experience structuring and owning a product roadmap across multiple product and engineering teams, securing alignment and dependencies · Ability to interact and build relationships with all levels of leadership across the organization and with internal and external clients · Bachelor’s degree required. Preferred Background · Payments, fintech, real‑time payments, or network‑based platforms Core Skills · Excellent communication and stakeholder management · Strong analytical and structuring skills · Strategic thinking and structured problem-solving · Ability to navigate complex ecosystems and constraints with tenacity, pragmatism, and analytical rigor · Consulting‑style mindset: confident engaging with senior stakeholders. 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.