Title and Summary

Director, Solutions Architect

Customer Solution Center Solution Architect Overview:
Customer Solution Center is a structure which enables Mastercard to develop better solutions & bundles for prioritized customer segments in markets. It is basically the housing for all Mastercard capabilities, and it aims to drive Mastercard growth, influence and revenue by creating and selling compelling data-driven, scalable needs-based solutions to new and existing customers by tapping Mastercard's extensive toolbox of product and service offerings.
Customer Solution Center Solution Architect is the main partner to Frontline during solutioning to maximize the impact of solutions for the client. Solution Architect is a curator of solutions and aggregator across products for segments during solution bundling and helps AM 'tell the story' to client. They play a critical role in ensuring relevancy and driving differentiation across all segments resulting in better relationships, market share and revenue.

Solution Architect Reports to Customer Solution Center Lead (CSCL)
Key Responsibilities
• Understands value chain of assigned segments to identify trends, needs and opportunities for Mastercard
• Has a good understanding of Mastercard Products, Services and corporate strategy
• Collaborates with account teams to identify customer needs and opportunities; recommends needs-based solutions in coordination with Products, Services and Marketing
• Main partner to AMs and BDs in developing and quantifying value proposition for integrated, customized solutions across products / services
• Iterates with Frontline at different stages (e.g., value proposition creation, proposal development) to ensure solution meets client-specific needs
• Bridges gap between Frontline sales team and product/solution expertise
• Pulled into deals by CSCL when solution is complex or requires customization (e.g., requires combination of multiple products, service, or platforms)
• Works with the CSCL to identify the right "squad" from a solutioning perspective to ensure the appropriate expertise is assigned to a client opportunity/RFP
• Engages relevant expertise (from Sales Specialist and Solution Specialist) within the CSC, and across other CSCs (engage other SA's assigned to other segments) as needed
• Creates bespoke solutions & proactively builds solutions for known market needs. Solutions across the Mastercard toolbox, knitting together assets in bundles that can be readily deployed to address key customer "pain points."
• Identifies enabling partners i.e. external parties such as fintechs, for solutioning when capabilities are not present internally within MA
• "Rinses and repeats" successful solutions and sales approaches
• Develops business requirements document in collaboration with product specialists and technical architect.
• Offer ongoing management support to client via the AM post implementation
• Shares best practices with Solution architect community
• Ensure to provide input to the product groups and segment leads to enhance their product and segment strategy to meet the needs of the segment

All About You:
• Deep understanding and experience of product development, product management, consumer experience and problem solving.
• Good understanding of Mastercard products and services.
• Ability to comprehend the business and market context to drive innovative solutions
• Strong understanding of customer's evolving strategic needs, the current and potential future market environment.
• Able to architect integrated solutions by combining MasterCard's products and services in ways that meet the customer's key strategic needs. Deep knowledge of which solutions work in which environments.
• Good understanding of technical basics, APIs, process flows.
• Highly collaborative; strong communicator, natural integrator with demonstrated ability to develop and deliver products and solutions for customer needs.
• Strong product development discipline; able to manage for differentiation, consumer experience, quality, and economics.
• Ability to rally and gain backing from internal stakeholders in order to build organizational support for the proposed solution.
• Ability to understand in depth, analyze, and select current and emerging technologies that are pertinent to the co brand issuers and merchants
• Demonstrated ability to analyze both quantitative and qualitative data, and derive meaningful implications and recommendations from said data

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.