Director, Account Management - Retail

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, Account Management - Retail Mastercard is looking for a commercially minded and relationship-driven leader to join our Digital & Retail Partnerships team. This role is responsible for managing and growing strategic partnerships with some of Australia's largest retailers, helping them unlock value through payments innovation, technology solutions and broader Mastercard capabilities. Working at the intersection of retail and payments, you will serve as a trusted advisor to senior client stakeholders, bringing together teams across Mastercard to deliver meaningful business outcomes. This is a highly visible role that combines executive relationship management, commercial leadership, strategic account planning and people leadership. The successful candidate will bring deep payments expertise, strong retail acumen and the ability to influence senior stakeholders internally and externally. All About the Role • Own and grow a portfolio of strategically important retail partnerships across Australia, serving as the primary executive relationship lead for assigned clients. • Develop a deep understanding of client priorities and create partnership strategies that align Mastercard capabilities with customer growth objectives. • Lead senior stakeholder engagement with major retailers, building trusted relationships that support long-term partnership growth and innovation. • Identify and drive opportunities across payments acceptance, digital commerce, business payments, technology solutions, loyalty, offers and value-added services. • Coordinate cross-functional teams across Mastercard to ensure clients receive a seamless experience and access to the right expertise and solutions. Negotiate and manage commercial agreements, partnership plans and strategic initiatives that create value for both Mastercard and its customers. • Act as the senior escalation point for assigned clients, providing leadership and resolution support when complex challenges arise. • Deliver portfolio performance targets through effective account planning, opportunity development and strong execution. • Lead and develop team members while maintaining direct ownership of key customer relationships in a player-coach leadership model. • Contribute to the ongoing evolution of Mastercard's retail partnership strategy by bringing market insights, customer feedback and industry expertise into the business. All About You • Extensive experience within both the retail and payments industries, with a strong understanding of merchant acceptance, acquiring, retail payments and broader payment ecosystem dynamics. • Proven experience managing large strategic accounts, partnerships or commercial relationships within retail and payments environments, with a track record of working closely with enterprise retailers and senior customer stakeholders. • Demonstrated success engaging and influencing senior executives, including C-suite stakeholders and complex decision-making groups. • Experience developing commercial strategies and delivering measurable business growth through partnership-led initiatives. • Ability to build credibility quickly, navigate ambiguity and manage multiple high-profile stakeholder relationships simultaneously. • Experience leading, coaching and developing team members while remaining actively involved in customer-facing responsibilities. • Strong communication, negotiation and influencing skills, with the ability to simplify complex topics for a broad range of audiences. • A collaborative and commercially curious mindset, with a track record of building strong cross-functional partnerships to achieve outcomes. • Enthusiasm for payments innovation and helping major retail organisations solve business challenges through technology, data and partnership. 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.