Director of SME Specialist Sales (Fintech Issuers, UK & Ireland)

Responsibilities

• We are seeking a commercially focused and highly collaborative Director, SME Specialist Sales – to support Mastercard’s SME agenda across the UK&I Division
• This Director-level role will partner closely with UK&I account teams, business development, product and services colleagues to identify, shape and win high-value SME opportunities with fintech issuers, embedded finance platforms, expense management providers and other digital-first partners
• The successful candidate will bring deep knowledge of fintech issuing models, strong sales discipline and the ability to translate Mastercard’s SME capabilities into clear client propositions that accelerate revenue growth and strengthen Mastercard’s position in the SME segment
• Support the execution of the UK&I SME fintech growth strategy in close partnership with account teams, business development and key internal stakeholders
• Act as a specialist SME sales partner to account teams, bringing fintech issuer expertise, market insight and disciplined opportunity management to priority client engagements
• Identify SME growth opportunities with fintech issuers, qualify pipeline, shape client propositions and support deal conversion from early origination through to execution
• Work closely with Mastercard Services to identify data, loyalty, cyber, consulting and optimisation opportunities that enhance fintech issuer value propositions
• Build strong relationships with fintech issuer stakeholders and internal partners to unlock SME issuing, commercial card, embedded finance and spend management opportunities
• Represent Mastercard as an SME fintech issuer specialist in relevant UK&I client conversations, internal forums and industry engagements
• Understand the priorities, pain points and growth ambitions of fintech issuers serving SME customers, and translate these into actionable Mastercard sales opportunities
• Create differentiated SME value propositions for fintech issuers, drawing on Mastercard’s payment, data, loyalty, services and commercial card capabilities
• Support strategic account plans for priority fintech issuer clients, ensuring SME opportunities are clearly identified, sized, prioritised and pursued
• Drive adoption of Mastercard solutions that help fintech issuers grow SME portfolios, improve customer engagement, deepen usage and expand commercial payment flows
• Develop compelling business cases and client narratives that demonstrate the value of Mastercard solutions in helping fintech issuers serve SME customers more effectively
• Maintain rigorous pipeline discipline, including SFDC management, opportunity tracking, forecasting and reporting against agreed UK&I SME fintech issuer sales priorities
• Build trusted working relationships with account teams, product, services, legal, franchise, marketing and implementation colleagues to deliver coordinated support for fintech issuers
• Help build internal SME fintech issuer knowledge by sharing client insights, use cases, win themes and emerging market trends with relevant teams
• Apply disciplined sales methodologies and best practices aligned with Mastercard’s Sales Transformation programme
• Support complex client engagements with strong commercial judgement, consultative selling skills and clear stakeholder management
• Track progress against pipeline, revenue and strategic account objectives, taking action to improve focus and outcomes where needed
• Maintain strong knowledge of the UK&I fintech issuer and SME payments landscape, including regulatory developments, competitive threats, distribution shifts and emerging technologies
• Monitor SME fintech issuing, commercial card, spend management, embedded finance, acquiring and alternative distribution trends across the UK&I market
• Identify opportunities for Mastercard to add value within the SME fintech issuer ecosystem, including partnerships with expense platforms, embedded finance providers, ISVs and other digital-first channels
• Monitor competitive activity in fintech issuing, SME payments and commercial card propositions, and develop effective responses with product, account and divisional teams
• Collaborate with product, marketing, loyalty, data and services teams to ensure Mastercard solutions address evolving fintech issuer, SME client and end-customer needs
• Provide regular market intelligence and pipeline updates on fintech issuer opportunities to UK&I leadership and the European SME leadership team

Qualifications

• Do you have strong fintech SME banking experience and the ambition to help scale one of the most strategically important growth areas in payments?
• Strong influencing skills with the ability to work across account, product, services and divisional teams without direct authority
• Proven track record of building pipeline, influencing stakeholders and supporting sales conversion with fintech issuers or digital-first financial services clients
• Experience in financial services, payments technology, fintech issuing or commercial payments, with a proven record of driving sales growth in complex B2B environments
• Strong understanding of the UK&I payments landscape, fintech issuing models, card issuing, commercial cards, acquiring and SME payment solutions
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret complex data and generate actionable insights
• Experience working in or selling to fintech issuers, embedded finance platforms, expense management providers, accounting software companies or other SME-focused digital partners
• Experience engaging senior stakeholders at fintech issuers, financial institutions, payment service providers or technology-led partners
• Strong commercial acumen with the ability to create compelling value propositions for fintech issuers targeting SME customers
• Demonstrated understanding of the SME market in the UK&I, including the needs of small businesses, mid-market clients and the fintech issuers that serve them
• We are seeking a commercially focused and highly collaborative Director
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