Director, Customer Engagement Manager - Onboarding

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, Customer Engagement Manager - Onboarding

Overview
The Customer Engagement Manager – Onboarding is responsible for managing newly signed Mastercard customers from late-stage sales execution through initial onboarding and successful transition to steady-state account management. This role serves as the primary customer relationship lead during the customer’s early Mastercard lifecycle, ensuring a seamless handoff from Sales, close alignment with Product Delivery, and a high quality onboarding experience.

The role provides relationship management, commercial awareness, and executive communication with strong onboarding discipline, operational coordination, and cross-functional engagement with Product Delivery, Implementation, Product, Support, and other internal Mastercard teams.

The Customer Engagement Manager – Onboarding acts as the customer’s guide through Mastercard during the early relationship stage, helping the customer understand Mastercard’s operating model, implementation process, stakeholder ecosystem, governance structure, escalation paths, and long-term success model. Once the customer is live and operationally stable, this role facilitates a formal transition to the long-term Customer Account Manager.

Role Responsibilities
Late Stage Sales Engagement and Deal Readiness
• Engage in late-stage sales to clarify customer objectives, solution scope, and expectations.
• Review commitments, identify risks, and ensure alignment between customer expectations and delivery capabilities.
• Document non-standard commitments and potential onboarding challenges early.

Customer Relationship Ownership During Onboarding
• Serve as the primary relationship lead for customers during onboarding.
• Establish trust, credibility, and clear communication routines with customer stakeholders.
• Monitor customer sentiment and address concerns proactively throughout the onboarding process.

Product Delivery Partnership
• Align customer expectations with implementation plans by partnering closely with Product Delivery.
• Track and escalate risks, issues, and blockers impacting onboarding or satisfaction.
• Ensure business objectives remain connected to technical and operational activities.

Governance and Communication
• Establish structured onboarding governance and maintain visibility to milestones and risks.
• Lead customer onboarding check-ins and prepare status summaries.
• Escalate risks promptly to prevent customer-impacting issues.

Customer Education and Mastercard Navigation
• Orient customers to Mastercard’s organizational structure, support model, and engagement processes.
• Clarify escalation paths and introduce relevant teams as needed to solution business and strategy related requests.
• Educate customers on post-launch routines and prepare them for account management transition.

Transition to Long-Term Account Management
• Lead the structured handoff to the long-term Account Manager post go-live.
• Develop transition materials and confirm all implementation outcomes and open items.
• Facilitate introductions and ensure continuity of objectives and relationships.

All About You

Key Skills and Competencies
• Relationship Management: Quickly build trust with new customers, represent Mastercard professionally, and manage stakeholder relationships. Must demonstrate executive presence, active listening, customer empathy, confidence-building communication, and handle ambiguity.
• Onboarding & Delivery Acumen: Collaborate effectively with delivery teams by understanding the implementation lifecycle, tracking milestones, managing issues and risks, and communicating delivery status in business terms. Comfortable working across technical, product, and operational teams.
• Commercial & Business Acumen: Understand customer business objectives, revenue drivers, contract scope, commitments made during sales, and identify opportunities for growth and account expansion.
• Communication & Executive Storytelling: Simplify complex topics for customers and internal leaders. Demonstrate strong written and verbal communication, executive-ready reporting, meeting facilitation, and tailored messaging for diverse stakeholders.
• Cross-Functional Leadership: Influence teams without direct authority through matrix leadership, internal alignment, conflict resolution, decision facilitation, accountability, and drive collaboration across Sales, Product Delivery, Support, Operations, and Account Management.
• Customer Success Mindset: Focus on successful onboarding and long-term customer outcomes. Proactively identify risks, monitor customer health, drive adoption, continuous improvement, and recognize moments shaping customer perception.

Experience Profile
• Experience in account management, customer success, onboarding, implementation, product delivery, or client relationship management.
• Background in working with new customers or launching new products, preferably within complex matrix organizations.
• Strong customer-facing governance and stakeholder management experience; familiarity with payments, financial services, technology platforms, or network-based businesses is preferred.
• Proven ability to support executive-level client interactions.

Ideal Candidate
• Relationship-driven, bridging Sales, Delivery, and Account Management.
• Comfortable with ambiguity, skilled in managing expectations, and disciplined in organizing complex onboarding activities.
• Creates confidence and clarity, ensuring smooth transitions and setting the foundation for long-term customer success.

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.

Pay Ranges

O'Fallon, Missouri: $136,000 - $224,000 USD

Purchase, New York: $156,000 - $258,000 USD