Director, Business Development - Digital Partnerships at MasterCard

Overview: 

The Digital Partnerships team in Eastern Europe Middle East and Africa region is looking for a Manager, Business Development to build, develop and manage the Telco relationships across the East Africa region. The primary objective of the role is defining the strategy, growing revenue across the Telco segment and key relationships in the region by identifying and pursuing opportunities with new or existing customers/markets, growing market share and deepening Mastercard’s regional footprint; embedding multiple products, platforms, and capability bundles that drive innovation and stickiness. Executing sales & commercial strategies aligned with geographies sand segments including pipeline management and go to market at the segment level.

The ideal candidate is passionate about leveraging payments technology to digitally transform new and emerging sectors, digital innovation, highly motivated, intellectually curious, analytical, and possesses an entrepreneurial and commercially astute mindset.
This role will be based in Nairobi, Kenya

Purpose of the Digital Partnerships Team:

The Digital Partnerships team in EEMEA leads Mastercard’s engagement with major actors in digital commerce. We work with the biggest names in tech, ecommerce, and financial services to leverage Mastercard’s technological capabilities to solve partner business problems, create new propositions, and ensure seamless, secure, and inclusive payments.

Our Digital Partners include Telco’s (Mobile Network Operators), Digital Merchants (including but not limited to Online Market Places and On Demand Services) including Large Digital Giants and Key Digital Activity Players in new and emerging sectors such as Microlending and Online Travel.

Role: 

• In this high-profile, customer facing position, you will partner with Telco customers in the East Africa region with a focus on deal commercialization , strategic account management, including identifying key business opportunities that will enable us to deepen our relationships across multiple customer touch-points, drive stickiness and further diversity our P & L with the customer and challenges and deliver solutions. 
• You will be the global ‘owner’ of Mastercard’s relationship with your assigned accounts and accountable to build mutually aligned strategies and plans with your partners and execute on them by effectively leveraging the Mastercard organization.
• You will be responsible for driving Mastercard revenue growth and be comfortable developing business cases including ROI analyses as well as leading responses to RFPs.
• You will dive into financial and payment related data to be grounded in facts in order to provide customer specific recommendations that drive value for partners and Mastercard.
• You will be the expert on your assigned partners and learn about Mastercard’s capabilities and be ready to provide insight into a merchant’s business, thinking strategically and broadly.
• You will establish day to day and senior business relationships and work with partners to create roadmaps and through QBRs and daily interactions ensure alignment on strategy and execution on agreed projects.
• You will lead negotiations with partners and with internal stakeholders and develop terms sheets and contracts. 

All About You: 

• Bachelor's degree required.
• Expertise on deal commercialization and P & L management.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills.
• A passion and comfort in meeting new people and building & nurturing meaningful relationships at all levels including with senior-level and C Suite executives. Strong Business Development & Relationship management expertise.
• Possess a blend of analytical capability, strategic thinking, and emotional intelligence and able to dive deep on all areas of the business to deliver creative solutions to unstructured problems.
• Comfortable aptitude for onboarding complex business and technical knowledge to a level sufficient to engage in meaningful partner discussions and identify and drive solutions.
• Enjoy collaborating with a team while working independently towards a goal.

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.