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

Senior Counsel

Overview:

Mastercard Asia Pacific global markets legal team is responsible for supporting the Asia Pacific business and negotiating and drafting contracts with customers and key stakeholders, managing issues related to licensing, franchise, marketing and promotions, products and services offerings, regulatory and legal affairs, mergers acquisitions and joint ventures, restructurings, dispute resolutions, and other day-to-day operational issues.

Role

• The role will be based in Tokyo, Japan.

• Responsible for all legal aspects of the business covering primarily Japan and Korea and also responsible for other work, including project based work and/or pan-region work, which will be assigned.

• Review and negotiation of contracts with customers, merchants and suppliers.

• Supporting applications for regulatory licenses and monitoring regulatory developments in countries assigned to him/her and responsible for on-going compliance with applicable laws and regulations.

• Assist senior management teams in assigned countries in the management of legal and commercial risks.

• Instruct and oversee a network of external legal advisors in assigned countries.

• Assisting issues related to privacy law, data protection, anti-money laundering.

• Dealing with jurisdictional and commercial complexities in the region that impact the Mastercard's business (accordingly, the nature of the legal function includes a commercial and strategic dimension).

• Supporting merger acquisition and joint venture activities.

• Assisting and supporting Public Policy and Franchise Department.

• Conducting regional training/monitoring of global Law Department policies and contracts such as contract training.

• Working with global staff when agreements are required for implementation of projects in the Asia Pacific region.

• Oversight/coordinate company corporate secretarial services for assigned countries.

All About You:

• Bachelor of Laws or Juris Doctor from an established and reputable law school.
• Post-graduate qualifications (eg. Masters at Law or LLM in an English environment) from an established university.
• Familiarity with law and regulations in the banking and payments space will be considered favorably.
• Minimum post-qualification experience of 9 years.
• Relevant post-qualification experience in general commercial legal matters in a reputable law firm and an MNC. In-house experience in an MNC is strongly desired.
• Fluent in English. Fluency in Japanese will be viewed favorably.
• Must be able to work independently and as part of a team.
• Must be able to strike a balance between the two principal objectives of being a facilitator to the business and protecting the interests of the company.
• Must be able to contribute and operate effectively within a diverse multicultural organization.
• Quick learner, stress resistant, ability to grasp complex new business concepts, good commercial acumen and creative approach to problem-solving.
• Knowledge of banking or financial services industry: ideally cards, payments, settlement etc.
• Experience in providing legal advice to an organization involved in sponsorship, loyalty rewards, advertising, marketing, promotions, gaming and lotteries, licensing, franchising etc.
• Experience in handling competition law issues.

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.