Director, Mergers and Acquisitions

Mastercard•O'fallon, MO

1d•$154,000 - $247,000

About The Position

The Director, GBSC M&A Strategy & Execution will translate M&A strategy into coordinated execution across GBSC for acquisitions, divestitures, and other strategic transactions. The role spans deal strategy, integration planning, and GBSC operations, creating the structure to guide complex transactions from diligence and pre-close planning through Day 1 readiness, integration, stabilization, and transition to business-as-usual operations. The Director partners with M&A leadership, GBSC functional leaders, Finance, People & Capability, Legal, Technology, acquired-company stakeholders, and other enterprise partners. The role establishes integration strategies, clarifies ownership and dependencies, surfaces risks and decisions, and supports scalable execution across concurrent transactions. It also develops and improves repeatable integration methods, governance, playbooks, standards, and capabilities. The role requires significant experience leading complex integrations, transformations, strategy execution, program management, or shared-services initiatives; strong executive communication and stakeholder influence; and the ability to manage ambiguity, changing priorities, and multiple initiatives in a global matrixed organization. Mastercard describes itself as a merit-based, inclusive, equal opportunity employer and requires employees and representatives to follow security policies, protect information, report suspected security violations, and complete mandatory security training. The posting reflects one or more current vacancies, with an intended fill date of 01/25/2027. For the O'Fallon, Missouri location, the stated base salary range is $154,000–$247,000 USD. Eligible U.S. candidates may also receive an annual bonus or commissions depending on the role. Full-time and certain part-time employees generally receive insurance, paid leave, vacation and holidays, 401(k) matching, fitness reimbursement or facilities, tuition reimbursement, and other benefits.

Requirements

Significant experience leading complex M&A integrations, enterprise transformation, strategy execution, program management, or shared-services initiatives.
Demonstrated ability to translate strategy and ambiguous business objectives into structured execution plans.
Strong understanding of the M&A lifecycle, including diligence, pre-close planning, Day 1 readiness, integration, stabilization, and transition to BAU.
Experience working across multiple business functions and managing complex cross-functional dependencies.
Strong executive communication skills, including synthesizing complex issues into clear risks, options, recommendations, and decisions.
Demonstrated ability to influence senior stakeholders and drive outcomes in a global matrixed organization.
Strong problem-solving and analytical capability, including identifying root causes, evaluating tradeoffs, and developing practical solutions.
Experience establishing governance models, operating rhythms, performance measures, and scalable processes.
Ability to manage multiple transactions or strategic initiatives simultaneously while maintaining focus on critical milestones and enterprise risks.
Strong orientation toward continuous improvement, automation, and scalable ways of working.
Proven ability to build relationships and create accountability across teams without direct reporting authority.
Comfort operating in high-visibility situations with incomplete information, compressed timelines, and changing priorities.

Responsibilities

Translate transaction objectives and integration principles into GBSC integration strategies, roadmaps, milestones, and execution plans.
Lead GBSC assessment and scoping for new transactions, identifying affected capabilities, processes, systems, resources, dependencies, and operational risks.
Partner with deal and functional leaders to determine integration approaches based on transaction structure, business requirements, timing, and risk.
Establish success criteria, guiding principles, decision points, and transition expectations for transactions.
Connect lessons across the M&A portfolio to strengthen the broader GBSC integration model.
Drive cross-functional GBSC workstream execution from pre-close planning through Day 1, integration, and stabilization.
Set ownership, milestones, interdependencies, escalation paths, and decision requirements across workstreams.
Monitor execution, identify risks and constraints, and manage cross-functional dependencies affecting readiness or business continuity.
Facilitate resolution of cross-functional issues while ensuring accountable business owners retain decision ownership.
Ensure integration plans address operational readiness, process transition, and handoff to BAU teams.
Establish GBSC M&A governance, including operating rhythms, decision forums, milestones, and escalation mechanisms.
Provide concise executive reporting on business impact, material risks, tradeoffs, dependencies, and decisions required.
Prepare leadership and SteerCo discussions with recommendations, decision requirements, and accountable owners.
Provide transparency across concurrent transactions and identify portfolio-level resource conflicts, dependencies, and emerging risks requiring leadership intervention.
Build and improve M&A methodologies, playbooks, templates, tollgates, readiness criteria, and integration standards.
Refine roles, responsibilities, and handoff models between the M&A COE and BAU organizations with GBSC operational teams.
Capture lessons learned and turn recurring integration challenges into scalable processes and capabilities.
Identify ways to simplify integration activities, reduce manual effort, and improve consistency across transactions.
Advance the use of data, dashboards, automation, and AI to improve integration visibility, reporting, and execution.
Connect M&A leadership, GBSC functions, acquired-company stakeholders, and enterprise partners as a strategic integration partner.
Build alignment among stakeholders with differing objectives, timelines, and operating constraints.
Influence decisions without direct authority through facts, business context, risk assessment, and clear recommendations.
Challenge unclear accountability, unnecessary complexity, and approaches that create avoidable enterprise risk.
Support acquired-company leaders in transitioning to Mastercard processes and operating models.
Follow Mastercard security policies and practices, protect the confidentiality and integrity of information, report suspected security violations or breaches, and complete mandatory security training.

Benefits

Medical insurance
Prescription drug insurance
Dental insurance
Vision insurance
Disability insurance
Life insurance
Flexible spending account
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, prorated based on date of hire
10 annual paid U.S. observed holidays
401(k) with company match
Deferred compensation for eligible roles
Fitness reimbursement or on-site fitness facilities
Tuition reimbursement eligibility
Potential annual bonus or commissions depending on the role