Description
Mastercard's Communications team plays a critical role in building trust, strengthening reputation, and enabling business growth across Asia Pacific. As Director, Communications (West Southeast Asia), you will lead communications for the West Southeast Asia division, supporting both enterprise priorities and divisional business objectives.
Key Responsibilities:
- Lead integrated internal and external communications for the West Southeast Asia division, aligning enterprise priorities with divisional business goals, market opportunities, and stakeholder needs.
- Serve as a trusted communications advisor to divisional and market leaders, providing counsel on executive visibility, leadership communications, media engagement, employee engagement, and reputation.
- Develop and deliver communications plans that support Mastercard's business, technology, innovation, acceptance, security, public affairs, and corporate priorities across multiple markets.
- Translate complex business, technology, and regulatory topics into clear, credible, and audience-relevant narratives for employees, media, customers, partners, policymakers, and other stakeholders.
- Drive executive and thought leadership programmes across speaking platforms, media opportunities, owned channels, social content, and internal forums.
- Lead employee communications that connect divisional teams to Mastercard's strategy, culture, priorities, and change agenda, working closely with People & Capability, business, and regional communications partners.
- Manage proactive and reactive media relations, issues preparedness, crisis response, and reputational risk mitigation in partnership with regional, global, legal, franchise, public policy, and business teams.
- Build strong agency, media, and stakeholder relationships, ensuring high-quality execution, disciplined message management, and consistent delivery across markets.
- Use insights, analytics, external trends, and AI-enabled tools to improve planning, content development, measurement, and communications effectiveness while maintaining accuracy, governance, and sound judgement.
- Lead a small team, fostering a collaborative, high-performing culture while supporting individual growth, capability building, and execution excellence.
Requirements:
- Significant experience in corporate communications, strategic communications, public affairs, or agency leadership, ideally with exposure to technology, financial services, payments, or another highly regulated sector.
- Proven ability to advise senior executives, anticipate reputational issues, and develop communications strategies that advance business priorities and protect trust.
- Strong track record delivering integrated internal and external communications across multiple markets, cultures, and stakeholder groups.
- Excellent writing, editing, storytelling, and presentation skills, with the creativity to turn complex business, technology, and regulatory topics into compelling, audience-relevant narratives.
- Responsiveness, sound judgement, and business acumen, with the ability to move quickly and thoughtfully in fast-changing, highly matrixed, and regulated environments.
- Curiosity, adaptability, and a bias for learning, with the confidence to ask the right questions, connect dots across the enterprise, and identify new ways to strengthen communications impact.
- Strong collaboration and influencing skills, including the ability to build trusted relationships, navigate ambiguity, and align stakeholders without direct authority.
- Resilience, discretion, and composure under pressure, particularly when managing media, agencies, issues, crises, and stakeholder communications at pace.
- Comfort using data, analytics, modern communications technologies, and AI-enabled tools for research, planning, content development, and performance measurement.
- Fluency in English is required; additional Southeast Asian language capability would be advantageous.