Title and Summary
Director, Customer Engagement Manager - Onboarding
Overview
The Customer Engagement Manager – Onboarding is responsible for managing newly signed Mastercard customers from late-stage sales execution through initial onboarding and successful transition to steady-state account management. This role serves as the primary customer relationship lead during the customer’s early Mastercard lifecycle, ensuring a seamless handoff from Sales, close alignment with Product Delivery, and a high quality onboarding experience.
The role provides relationship management, commercial awareness, and executive communication with strong onboarding discipline, operational coordination, and cross-functional engagement with Product Delivery, Implementation, Product, Support, and other internal Mastercard teams.
The Customer Engagement Manager – Onboarding acts as the customer’s guide through Mastercard during the early relationship stage, helping the customer understand Mastercard’s operating model, implementation process, stakeholder ecosystem, governance structure, escalation paths, and long-term success model. Once the customer is live and operationally stable, this role facilitates a formal transition to the long-term Customer Account Manager.
Role Responsibilities
Late Stage Sales Engagement and Deal Readiness
• Engage in late-stage sales to clarify customer objectives, solution scope, and expectations.
• Review commitments, identify risks, and ensure alignment between customer expectations and delivery capabilities.
• Document non-standard commitments and potential onboarding challenges early.
Customer Relationship Ownership During Onboarding
• Serve as the primary relationship lead for customers during onboarding.
• Establish trust, credibility, and clear communication routines with customer stakeholders.
• Monitor customer sentiment and address concerns proactively throughout the onboarding process.
Product Delivery Partnership
• Align customer expectations with implementation plans by partnering closely with Product Delivery.
• Track and escalate risks, issues, and blockers impacting onboarding or satisfaction.
• Ensure business objectives remain connected to technical and operational activities.
Governance and Communication
• Establish structured onboarding governance and maintain visibility to milestones and risks.
• Lead customer onboarding check-ins and prepare status summaries.
• Escalate risks promptly to prevent customer-impacting issues.
Customer Education and Mastercard Navigation
• Orient customers to Mastercard’s organizational structure, support model, and engagement processes.
• Clarify escalation paths and introduce relevant teams as needed to solution business and strategy related requests.
• Educate customers on post-launch routines and prepare them for account management transition.
Transition to Long-Term Account Management
• Lead the structured handoff to the long-term Account Manager post go-live.
• Develop transition materials and confirm all implementation outcomes and open items.
• Facilitate introductions and ensure continuity of objectives and relationships.
All About You
Key Skills and Competencies
• Relationship Management: Quickly build trust with new customers, represent Mastercard professionally, and manage stakeholder relationships. Must demonstrate executive presence, active listening, customer empathy, confidence-building communication, and handle ambiguity.
• Onboarding & Delivery Acumen: Collaborate effectively with delivery teams by understanding the implementation lifecycle, tracking milestones, managing issues and risks, and communicating delivery status in business terms. Comfortable working across technical, product, and operational teams.
• Commercial & Business Acumen: Understand customer business objectives, revenue drivers, contract scope, commitments made during sales, and identify opportunities for growth and account expansion.
• Communication & Executive Storytelling: Simplify complex topics for customers and internal leaders. Demonstrate strong written and verbal communication, executive-ready reporting, meeting facilitation, and tailored messaging for diverse stakeholders.
• Cross-Functional Leadership: Influence teams without direct authority through matrix leadership, internal alignment, conflict resolution, decision facilitation, accountability, and drive collaboration across Sales, Product Delivery, Support, Operations, and Account Management.
• Customer Success Mindset: Focus on successful onboarding and long-term customer outcomes. Proactively identify risks, monitor customer health, drive adoption, continuous improvement, and recognize moments shaping customer perception.
Experience Profile
• Experience in account management, customer success, onboarding, implementation, product delivery, or client relationship management.
• Background in working with new customers or launching new products, preferably within complex matrix organizations.
• Strong customer-facing governance and stakeholder management experience; familiarity with payments, financial services, technology platforms, or network-based businesses is preferred.
• Proven ability to support executive-level client interactions.
Ideal Candidate
• Relationship-driven, bridging Sales, Delivery, and Account Management.
• Comfortable with ambiguity, skilled in managing expectations, and disciplined in organizing complex onboarding activities.
• Creates confidence and clarity, ensuring smooth transitions and setting the foundation for long-term customer success.
Pay Ranges
O'Fallon, Missouri: $136,000 - $224,000 USD
Purchase, New York: $156,000 - $258,000 USD
