Our Purpose
Mastercard powers economies and empowers people in 200+ countries and territories worldwide. Together with our customers, weâre 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, Sales Strategy and Operationsâ U.S. Public Sector
Team Overview (U.S. Public Sector Business Development)
The U.S. Public Sector team is responsible for Mastercardâs relationships and engagements with U.S. government partners at the federal, state, and local levels (and closely adjacent public entities such as transit and higher education). We leverage the best of Mastercard: products, services, data, and insights to help governments work better, faster, smarter, and more securely for their citizens and stakeholders, reinforcing Mastercardâs ethos of doing well by doing good.
Our work spans âmoney inâ and âmoney outâ use cases, including government collections (e.g., taxes, fees, fines), benefits and other disbursements, procurement and commercial card programs, transit and urban mobility, and services that protect the ecosystem and improve decisioning. The team partners cross-functionally across product, services, marketing, communications, legal, policy, and sales to bring differentiated solutions to market and deliver measurable impact at scale.
Role:
The Director, Sales Strategy & Operations â U.S. Public Sector is a senior strategyâtoâexecution leader responsible for envisioning, shaping, and driving how Mastercard grows its U.S. public sector business. This role defines strategic priorities, establishes how success is measured, and ensures disciplined execution across complex, crossâfunctional initiatives while directly owning some of the most critical deliverables for the business.
The role partners closely with U.S. Public Sector leadership and stakeholders across sales, product, services, finance, legal, policy, marketing, and partnerships to evolve goâtoâmarket strategy, build pipeline, advance priority pursuits, and launch firstâofâkind programs that unlock longâterm growth.
Key responsibilities include:
⢠Strategy & GoâtoâMarket Leadership - Envision, develop, and own the U.S. Public Sector business strategy, grounded in rigorous market analysis and sizing, deep understanding of government payment flows, and a clear articulation of where Mastercard plays and how we win. This includes shaping goâtoâmarket approaches across federal, state, and local segments; defining priority use cases; evolving both direct and partnerâled selling models; and translating strategy into actionable priorities, frameworks, and roadmaps that are clearly communicated and adopted across crossâfunctional stakeholders.
⢠Narrative, RFIs/RFPs & Executive Deliverables - Lead and directly own Mastercardâs most critical public sector deliverables, including governmentâfacing RFIs, RFPs, and comment letters, ensuring submissions are strategically aligned, clearly differentiated, and polished for executive and government audiences. Develop and maintain reusable content, playbooks, and response infrastructure that elevate quality, consistency, and speed over time, while also owning executive narratives and materials such as account plans, strategy updates, and operating reviews.
⢠Partnerships, Pilots & Market Innovation - Represent Mastercard in strategic partner discussions and teaming conversations with fintechs, integrators, and ecosystem partners developing solutions for government customers. Lead the launch and scaling of firstâofâkind pilots with customers and partners to test new capabilities, validate market demand, generate proof points, and inform longerâterm commercialization and goâtoâmarket strategy.
⢠Performance Management & Operating Rhythm - Own performance management for the U.S. Public Sector business by defining KPIs, success metrics, visualization/reporting, and operating cadences aligned to strategic objectives. Drive transparency by tracking progress against goals, surface insights and risks, and enable dataâdriven decisioning at a senior executive level.
⢠Pipeline, Pursuits & Revenue Enablement - Own pipeline management and prioritization across the U.S. Public Sector portfolio, supporting opportunity intake, qualification, pursuit strategy, forecasting, tracking, and reporting. Partner closely with specialist sales and account teams to advance priority opportunities, owning aspects of complex government pursuits such as the formulation of business cases needed to evaluate potential deals.
⢠CrossâFunctional Leadership & Talent Development - Lead complex, crossâfunctional initiatives endâtoâend, operating effectively within a highly matrixed organization to align stakeholders across product, services, sales, marketing, legal, policy, and finance. Serve as a trusted public sector subjectâmatter expert for internal teams, and develop junior talent by providing clear ownership, mentorship, and exposure to highâimpact work across strategy and execution.
All About You:
⢠Typically 7+ years of experience in consulting, strategy & operations, business development, account management, or related roles; public sector, payments, fintech, or regulatedâindustry experience strongly preferred.
⢠Demonstrated strength in strategy and goâtoâmarket development, including structured problem definition, market and competitive analysis, strategic framing, and translation of strategy into clear priorities, operating plans, and execution roadmaps.
⢠Experience working at the intersection of public sector and payments, with strong familiarity across acquiring and acceptanceâled use cases (e.g., government collections, digital acceptance, and payment modernization) viewed as a significant plus.
⢠Demonstrated ability to take endâtoâend ownership, from problem definition and strategic framing through execution and measurable results; a true selfâstarter with a strong bias toward action who thrives in ambiguity and does not wait to be told what to do next.
⢠Proven ability to manage multiple complex workstreams simultaneously while maintaining high standards and meeting tight deadlines.
⢠Experience working across highly matrixed organizations and influencing without formal authority.
⢠Comfort operating in environments where no task is too big or too small - willing and able to move seamlessly between executive strategy and hands on execution.
⢠Exceptional written, verbal, and presentation communication skills; strong storytelling instincts and the ability to influence senior stakeholders.
⢠Strong analytical and problemâsolving skills, including experience with business case development, ROI modeling, and investment framing.
⢠Strong Microsoft Office skills (PowerPoint, Excel, Word) and comfort learning new tools quickly.
⢠Positive, collaborative teammate with strong interpersonal skills, intellectual curiosity, and a growth mindset.
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 reasonable_accommodation@mastercard.com 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 Mastercardâs 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 Mastercardâs guidelines.
In line with Mastercardâs 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