Lead Product Manager-Technical

About the Role

Mastercard's Global Credit Card Authorization team is seeking a Lead Product Manager – Technical (PM-T) to drive the evolution of our authorization platform. This role sits at the intersection of technology, product, and payments, powering secure, real-time transaction decisioning at global scale. Product Manager – Technical (PM-T) roles at Mastercard are deeply technical and partner closely with Software Engineers, Technical Program Managers, User Experience, and cross-functional stakeholders to translate business needs into scalable, high-impact platform capabilities. As a Lead PM-T, you will own the end-to-end product lifecycle for critical authorization services, defining platform building blocks and ensuring they are performant, resilient, and reusable across Mastercard's global network. This is a hybrid role based in O'Fallon, MO, with an expectation of three days per week onsite.

Responsibilities

• Own and define platform building blocks, including requirements, technical specifications, and user experience considerations.
• Define and execute product strategy and roadmap for credit card authorization capabilities.
• Apply the Working Backwards methodology to drive clarity of product vision, customer value, and measurable outcomes.
• Decompose complex business and technical requirements into well-defined user stories with clear acceptance criteria.
• Prioritize and maintain a well-groomed product backlog that balances near-term delivery with long-term platform strategy.
• Lead elaboration and refinement sessions, ensuring alignment for accurate estimation and delivery planning.
• Partner closely with engineering teams to deliver scalable, low-latency, and highly resilient systems.
• Continuously innovate on behalf of internal and external customers, improving authorization performance, reliability, and approval rates.
• Define how new capabilities integrate into the broader Mastercard platform ecosystem.
• Leverage data and performance metrics to inform decisions and optimize customer experience.
• Identify potential commercialization opportunities and collaborate with product development teams to bring them to market.
• Serve as a domain expert for authorization platforms, driving long-term evolution beyond individual initiatives.
• Communicate product vision, priorities, and outcomes to senior leadership and global stakeholders.

Qualifications

• Previous experience as a Technical Product Manager or Product Manager in payments, fintech, or other high-scale, real-time systems.
• Proven track record of leading large-scale technical programs from concept through delivery, with measurable business impact.
• Demonstrated ability to influence and align cross-functional stakeholders across multiple teams and organizations.
• Deep expertise in Agile/SAFe methodologies, with experience leading multiple teams across complex programs.
• Technical proficiency within the payments domain (Authorization, Clearing, Settlement).
• Systems-level technical understanding, able to partner with engineering on architecture, APIs, and platform design decisions.
• Comfortable leveraging modern tools and platforms such as MS Copilot, MS Project, Monday.com, Jira, Confluence, Aha!, Figma, Power BI, Easy BI, or similar.
• Analytical and data-driven mindset, defining KPIs, dashboards, and metrics to measure program success and optimize outcomes.
• Strong business acumen: understands ROI, cost optimization, and revenue impact of programs.
• Skilled in cross-org strategic planning, shaping roadmaps, prioritizing initiatives, and making trade-offs across speed, cost, and quality.
• Proactive problem-solver, able to navigate ambiguity, evolving requirements, and complex technical challenges.
• Experienced in organizational change and adoption, driving consistent process improvements and operational excellence.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to translate technical concepts into clear business context.
• Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, Information Technology, or a related field. Equivalent practical experience may also be considered.

Pay

O'Fallon, Missouri: $130,000 - $221,000 USD

Schedule

Hybrid role based in O'Fallon, MO, with an expectation of three days per week onsite.