Director, Services Technology Risk

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, Services Technology Risk

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.

Overview

The Services Technology Risk team is looking for a Director, Service Technology Risk professional to help maintain secure, resilient, and trusted technology environments while enabling innovation and growth.

The ideal candidate is analytical, collaborative, and proactive, with a passion for identifying and managing risks, strengthening controls, and partnering with Engineering, Product, Security, and Business teams. This role will focus on improving risk management and assurance practices through automation, analytics, and scalable solutions while supporting regulatory, audit, and customer expectations.

Role

The Director, Services Technology Risk will lead the identification, assessment, prioritization, monitoring, and escalation of technology and operational risks across Services. This role will develop risk management strategies and frameworks, including risk registers, product risk assessments, and risk and control self-assessments, providing leadership with clear insights to support informed decisions.

The role will partner with Product, Engineering, and Security teams to embed risk management into business and technology processes, strengthen accountability, and ensure risks are effectively managed. The ideal candidate brings deep technology risk expertise, strong business judgment, and the ability to influence senior stakeholders, translate complex risks into business impact, and build scalable capabilities that support secure innovation and growth.

The Director, Technology Risk Identification & Assessment will

• Lead the Risk Identification and Assessment for Services, establishing the strategy, operating model, governance, and capabilities required to consistently identify, assess, prioritize, monitor, and manage technology and operational risk.
• Establish and mature standardized risk management practices across Services, including risk registers, product risk assessments, Risk and Control Self-Assessments (RCSAs), and risk acceptance and escalation.
• Modernize and scale risk identification and assessment through automation, analytics, and AI-enabled capabilities that improve the quality, timeliness, and efficiency of risk management.
• Maintain a consolidated view of material risks across Services products, platforms, and programs, ensuring clear ownership, accountability, and visibility into risk exposure, treatment, and status.
• Partner with Product and Engineering leaders to embed risk identification and assessment into business and technology processes, reinforcing their accountability for managing risks throughout the risk lifecycle.
• Provide effective risk challenge and judgment on material and emerging risks, including cybersecurity, resilience, regulatory, operational, and risks introduced by emerging technologies such as AI/ML and generative AI.
• Establish governance for residual risk acceptance and escalation, ensuring decisions are transparent, appropriately approved, aligned with established risk appetite and tolerance, and supported by clear ownership and rationale.
• Translate complex technology risks into clear business impact, tradeoffs, and actionable insights to support leadership decision-making, prioritization, investment, and remediation.
• Provide Services leadership with an integrated view of the risk profile, including material exposures, emerging risks, accepted risks, trends, and areas requiring management attention.
• Partner across Engineering, Product, Security, Business, and enterprise risk functions to drive consistent risk practices, reduce fragmentation and duplication, and strengthen overall risk management across Services.
• Lead and develop a team of technology risk professionals, fostering strong risk judgment, constructive challenge, accountability, and trusted partnerships across the organization.

All About You

• Significant experience in technology risk management, operational risk, information security risk, technology audit, technology controls, or a related discipline.
• Strong experience leading and maturing technology risk management practices across complex products, platforms, and business environments, such as risk register management, product risk Assessments, RCSAs, and other risk identification and assessment activities.
• Comfortable navigating ambiguity, resolving competing priorities, and establishing structure where processes are not yet mature.
• Strong interest in automation, analytics, and AI-enabled approaches to modernizing risk management.
• Strong understanding of technology risks across areas such as cybersecurity, data protection, software development, cloud services, identity and access management, vulnerability management, change management, third-party risk, and operational resilience.
• Ability to understand complex technology architectures and translate technical risks into clear business impact and decision points.
• Familiarity with regulatory expectations and data-residency requirements as they apply to technology controls, and with frameworks such as NIST, ISO 27001, and COBIT.
• Strong business judgment, with the ability to assess risk, challenge assumptions, evaluate tradeoffs, and provide practical recommendations.
• Demonstrated ability to influence senior Product, Engineering, Business, Security, and risk stakeholders.
• Ability to build practical and scalable operating models in complex or evolving environments.
• Proven experience leading, coaching, and developing high-performing teams.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to communicate complex risk matters clearly to technical and non-technical audiences.
• Bachelor’s degree required.
• Professional certifications such as CISA, CISSP, CRISC, CISM, or equivalent are preferred but not required.

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.

In line with Mastercard’s 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 date of hire; 10 annual paid U.S. observed holidays; 401k with a best-in-class company match; deferred compensation for eligible roles; fitness reimbursement or on-site fitness facilities; eligibility for tuition reimbursement; and many more. Mastercard benefits for interns generally include: 56 hours of Paid Sick and Safe Time; jury duty leave; and on-site fitness facilities in some locations.

THIS POSTING RELECTS ONE OR MORE CURRENT VACANCIES ON OUR TEAM, AND MASTERCARD INTENDS TO FILL THIS POSITION BY 01/18/2027. If the fill date has passed, Mastercard intends to fill this position as soon as possible.

Pay Ranges

Remote - California: $142,000 - $234,000 USD

Job Posting Window

Posting windows may change based on the volume of applications received and business necessity. Candidates are encouraged to apply expeditiously.