Our Purpose

We work to connect and power an inclusive, digital economy that benefits everyone, everywhere by making transactions safe, simple, smart and accessible. Using secure data and networks, partnerships and passion, our innovations and solutions help individuals, financial institutions, governments and businesses realize their greatest potential. Our decency quotient, or DQ, drives our culture and everything we do inside and outside of our company. We cultivate a culture of inclusion (https://www.mastercard.us/en-us/vision/who-we-are/diversity-inclusion.html) for all employees that respects their individual strengths, views, and experiences. We believe that our differences enable us to be a better team – one that makes better decisions, drives innovation and delivers better business results.

Title and Summary

Manager, First Line Risk

Risk Manager, First Line Risk, Real Time Payments (RTP)

Role Profile/Job Description

Who is Mastercard?

Mastercard is a global technology company in the payments industry. Our mission is to connect and power an inclusive, digital economy that benefits everyone, everywhere by making transactions safe, simple, smart, and accessible. Using secure data and networks, partnerships and passion, our innovations and solutions help individuals, financial institutions, governments, and businesses realize their greatest potential.

Our decency quotient, or DQ, drives our culture and everything we do inside and outside of our company. With connections across more than 210 countries and territories, we are building a sustainable world that unlocks priceless possibilities for all.

What is the opportunity?

This is an exciting opportunity to help build, run and deliver enhancements to operational business processes and First Line risk capabilities for Real Time Payments at Mastercard.

The successful candidate will become part of a high performing team, dedicated to delivering a robust, secure, and resilient service to multiple countries and over 32 billion transactions a year.

This role is part of a newly forming First Line of Defence Risk Management team within the Vocalink International Limited (VIL) entity, which is part of the Real Time Payments (RTP) division of Mastercard. The role reports directly to the First Line Risk Director.

The appointee will support the First Line Risk Director with embedding a risk management framework and culture within VIL to improve risk identification, ownership, management, treatment and reporting. This is a strategically important role that requires the need to work closely and broadly across the organization to enhance decision making whilst reducing operational risk and improving overall service resiliency.

The key mandate for the role will be to work closely with both Risk Owners and the Second Line of Defence to develop and execute a new Risk Target Operating Model and Risk Management Framework that includes implementing new;

Risk methodologies to assess and treat risk.

Training & awareness campaigns to embed a culture of risk management within BAU.

Risk Assessment and reporting techniques that include supporting the management of risk registers and risk exposures per Program, Live Market, Business Function and type. This may also include monitoring.

Key Risk Indicators, both leading and lagging, monitoring risk treatment actions and conducting risk deep dives into areas of perceived weakness or uncertainty and conducting Risk & Control Self-Assessments.

Governance arrangements to ensure practices are being followed and redirection can occur through C-Suite approval.

This role will support the organization in their journey to fully own risk and make risk-reward decisions in an operational setting. In addition, it will provide broad, timely and meaningful First Line risk management insights and manage and identify business process improvements.

What are the key responsibilities of the Role?

Partnering with VIL Live Markets and operational business functions to support the management of risk in a consistent, joined up manner, with the First Line of Defence owning risks, the Second Line of Defence setting the standards of risk management and providing the review and challenge over those standards, and the Third Line of Defence providing the independent assurance of management of risk.

Promote a strong, continually developing risk culture, where managing risk is simply part of how we work.

Support thoughtful risk taking using a systematic and process approach to risk management.

Evaluate VIL’s risk exposures including the identification, assessment and monitoring of the inherent and residual risk, top risk, emerging risk and concentration risk exposures that enable VIL leadership to make more informed decisions.

Support the business managing their control environment with partner stakeholders so risks to operating objectives, imperatives and services are reduced.

Look forward and anticipate future threats and risks.

Participate in scenario analysis to assess high severity plausible scenarios.

Provide risk briefings to senior risk colleagues when required, ensuring risks, issues and appetite breaches are monitored and escalated thoughtfully.

Support cross-functional initiatives to deliver on risk goals, policies and processes. 

Partner with the Lines of Business to identify, track, escalate and resolve issues in a timely manner.

Understand and comply with relevant legal and regulatory requirements applicable to VIL.

What knowledge and skills are we looking for?

Knowledge of key risk management principles supported by relevant experience.

Solid understanding of the three lines of defense operating model.

Advanced knowledge of Excel and PowerPoint reporting capabilities, knowledge of other common reporting tools (e.g., Open Pages, PowerBI, PowerApps etc.) a plus.

Experience in conducting RCSA.

Confidently develops trusted relationships with peers and senior stakeholders.

Able to work with minimal supervision.

Analytical and can work with data.

Able to plan and adapt quickly to changes in priorities.

Excellent communication skills - uses all relevant channels and resources to communicate effectively and proactively.

Team Player – ability to build and maintain effective working relationships with a wide range of people.

Demonstrate strong discipline regarding accuracy and quality of output.

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.