Senior Counsel in City of Westminster

We are looking for an experienced lawyer to join our legal team, providing support and advice to the Real Time Payments business with the predominant focus on supporting Vocalink Limited, although support may also extend to other parts of the RTP division as needed. If you are highly motivated, intellectually curious, analytical and enjoy tackling a broad range of business and legal challenges and have a keen interest and passion for the world of payments, this is the perfect opportunity for you.

Responsibilities

• Commercial: Put in place and manage the full lifecycle of commercial relationships and contracts with customers, suppliers and partners, including change, understanding and dispute management.
• General: Identify and, where appropriate, work with appropriate legal and business teams within the wider MA Group/external counsel to manage a wide range of other legal issues including privacy, regulatory, employment, litigation, property and corporate matters.
• Representing Legal: Represent the legal function on a day‑to‑day basis and as a key contributor (primary and deputy) at governance forums such as Exco, board and its committees (risk, audit, etc.).
• Collaboration with Internal Legal SMEs: Work effectively with other subject‑matter experts across the broader legal team (regulatory, privacy, intellectual property, etc.) as necessary.
• Stakeholder Management and Collaboration: Build and maintain strong relationships with internal stakeholders across the business, including commercial, account management, finance, strategy, operations, risk, compliance, Treasury and product teams.
• External Counsel Coordination: Instruct and manage external legal advisors within agreed policy and budget.
• Information Security: Apply Mastercard’s security policies and practices, ensure the confidentiality and integrity of accessed information, report any suspected security violations or breaches, and complete all periodic mandatory security training in accordance with Mastercard guidelines.

Qualifications

• Qualified lawyer with a strong academic background and experience.
• Ability to identify key legal issues, put them into the context of the business you support, and articulate those issues clearly with potential solutions or options.
• Ability to quickly understand and maintain knowledge of complex products, services, and regulatory/legal frameworks.
• Ability to identify regulatory, competition law, data privacy and intellectual property issues and work with other teams to resolve them.
• Ability to apply experience to new situations or areas of law.
• Strong drafting, writing, oral communication, and negotiating skills.
• Strong experience in relationship building, stakeholder management and partnering.
• Can‑do attitude, self‑motivated and able to drive delivery against objectives.
• Excellent organisational skills and attention to detail.
• Prior experience with commercial contracting, technology and/or working in a regulated industry or the payments sector generally is critical.
• Prior experience of working in a regulated environment is considered a strong asset.
• Experience as an in‑house lawyer in a multinational company is desirable but not essential.

Don't meet every single requirement? Every person is unique. If you're a qualified lawyer, excited about this role, looking to make an impact in a dynamic environment and you believe you can bring something special to our team, we'd love to hear from you.