
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
AI Product & Strategy Manager OVERVIEWMastercard is seeking a strategic product leader to define and drive the vision for AI solutions within the AI Center of Excellence.
This role shapes what we build and why.
You will serve as a thought partner to senior leadership, combining strategic insight and technical depth to deliver measurable business impact.
You will own the roadmap for internal AI initiatives, influence technical decisions, and align business and engineering teams on outcomes.
WHAT THIS ROLE IS
Owns strategic direction: defines the problem space, the “why,” and the sequence of bets grounded in technical and business realities.
Operates as a thought partner: provides leverage to senior leaders through independent, structured thinking and technical credibility.
Drives decisions and outcomes: creates clarity, frames trade‑offs, and guides stakeholders to a clear path forward.
Brings technical depth: understands ML pipelines, data flows, and model architectures to challenge assumptions and surface risks early.
Connects strategy to execution: translates technical concepts into business implications and ensures delivery against value targets.
Thrives in ambiguity: makes principled decisions with imperfect information and proactively identifies risks and opportunities.
Builds influence without authority: earns trust through insight, clarity, and consistent results.
KEY RESPONSIBILITIES
Product Strategy & Execution
Define the strategic vision and multi‑quarter roadmap based on capability, constraints, and market dynamics.
Surface misalignments and strategic risks early; propose course‑correcting options with clear trade‑offs.
Validate AI opportunities through independent technical and commercial analysis.
Recommend priorities and own outcomes end‑to‑end.
Technical Leadership & Credibility
Partner with data science and ML engineering teams to review approaches and surface considerations that impact business value and technical feasibility.
Dive into data, evaluation methods, and implementation details to build a credible point of view.
Translate complex technical concepts into concise narratives and decisions for executives.
Stakeholder Influence & Alignment
Lead forums to decisions with clear owners, timelines, and metrics.
Build direct relationships across Product, Engineering, and Business to accelerate execution.
Create shared understanding across diverse stakeholders; communicate strategies with crisp recommendations.
QUALIFICATIONS
Required
7+ years in product management, product strategy, or technical leadership roles.
Proven track record defining product strategy in technical domains, with examples of setting direction.
Hands‑on experience with AI/ML products, data platforms, or analytics products.
Demonstrated technical depth; able to discuss ML pipelines, model evaluation, and data architecture in detail.
History of operating as a strategic thought partner to senior leadership (Director+), influencing direction.
Strong analytical skills with ability to work directly with data (SQL required; Python or R a plus).
Evidence of driving decisions in ambiguous environments.
Preferred
Experience in payments, financial services, or other highly regulated industries.
Background in strategy consulting, product strategy, or technical strategy roles.
Prior experience managing or leading technical teams.
KEY COMPETENCIES
Strategic thought partnership: elevates leadership decision quality.
Independent decision‑making: acts with speed and judgment under uncertainty.
Technical depth and curiosity: goes beyond surface‑level understanding.
Intellectual credibility: earns trust through clear, evidence‑based perspectives.
Outcome ownership: accountable for value, quality, and adoption. 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 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.
Pay Ranges
New York City, New York: $143,000 - $228,000 USDApply on company website