Managing Consultant, Specialised Product Delivery (Research Solutions) – Advisors Research Center (ARC)

Our Purpose Mastercard powers economies and empowers people in 200+ countries and territories worldwide. Together with our customers, we’re helping build a sustainable economy where everyone can prosper. We support a wide range of digital payments choices, making transactions secure, simple, smart and accessible. Our technology and innovation, partnerships and networks combine to deliver a unique set of products and services that help people, businesses and governments realize their greatest potential. Title and Summary Managing Consultant, Specialised Product Delivery (Research Solutions) – Advisors Research Center (ARC) All About Us Mastercard’s Data & Services organization is a key differentiator, providing services that help customers grow through expertise, data-driven insights, and execution. Within Data & Services, Advisors & Consulting Services (A&CS) delivers projects and platforms for clients globally, staffed flexibly across geographies and skills. The Advisors Research Center (ARC) is a global research capability that provides primary and secondary research support across quantitative and qualitative methodologies, partnering with internal stakeholders and external vendors to deliver insight-led outcomes. All About the Role (Role Overview) The Managing Consultant, SPD (Research Solutions) is responsible for driving end-to-end scoping, proposal development, vendor engagement, and delivery governance for ARC market research engagements (client and internal). The role acts as a central “connector” across stakeholders to translate needs into structured research scopes, delivery plans, and portfolio reporting (e.g., dashboards, revenue/pipeline views). This role operates in a cross-functional environment, coordinating with internal stakeholders (e.g., A&CS teams, ARC researchers, reporting stakeholders) and external research partners (e.g., panel/recruitment suppliers), including commercial and contracting coordination where required ________________________________________ Roles & Responsibilities Client & Stakeholder Management (Research Intake → Scope & Pricing) • Serve as a primary point of contact for inbound research needs coming from Pre-Sales and Sales team members, scoping market research requirements for client and internal engagements. • Translate stakeholder objectives into structured research approaches (e.g., quant/qual/mixed), sample parameters, and deliverable expectations, working closely with delivery team and supporting creation of kickoff materials where applicable. Proposal Development & Pipeline Management • Coordinate inputs from delivery teams and stakeholders to develop proposals aligned to engagement objectives and constraints. • Support opportunity-to-delivery handoffs by maintaining clarity on scope, resourcing, and delivery plan elements (as applicable to the engagement). Vendor Engagement, Feasibility & Fieldwork Procurement • Run feasibility checks and manage RFQ/RFP-style exchanges with external vendors for recruitment/panels and fieldwork components (e.g., incidence assumptions, LOI considerations, sample feasibility, revised cost requests). • Coordinate vendor updates and internal alignment on next steps to progress execution. Hand over vendor engagement to delivery team once project kicks off. Contracting / Supplier Onboarding Coordination (as needed) • Coordinate with Legal, Sourcing, and Privacy stakeholders on supplier onboarding and contracting workflows (e.g., consolidating comments, progressing iterations, tracking open items). • Manage clause-level escalation and closure support with suppliers when required, including communicating closure-critical items and maintaining momentum on timelines. Delivery Governance, Ways of Working & Knowledge Hygiene • Support project governance and “ways of working” (e.g., ensuring project spaces/artifacts are appropriately housed and accessible) and help reinforce consistent delivery frameworks. • Participate in recurring portfolio cadences (e.g., pipeline and business review calls) to maintain shared visibility across active work and upcoming needs. Portfolio Reporting & Dashboards (Revenue / Pipeline Visibility) • Maintain reporting views and dashboards used for ongoing business visibility (e.g., revenue, backlog, weighted pipeline, locked revenue), including stakeholder-specific breakdowns and slide requirements • Coordinate inputs required to keep reporting accurate and consumable for recurring leadership/stakeholder updates. Enablement & Internal Communications (ARC Offering) • Contribute to internal enablement and workshop materials describing ARC’s engagement model, offerings, and pricing/packaging concepts where relevant. ________________________________________ Required Skills & Competencies • 8+ years of experience in research-related agency • Research operations & program management: translating briefs into scopes, timelines, governance packs, and delivery plans. • Commercial/ vendor management: RFQs, feasibility, cost/ scope trade-offs, Length of Interview (LOI) and sampling discussions. • Contracting coordination: cross-functional alignment with Legal/ Sourcing/ Privacy. • Analytics & reporting: dashboarding and KPI visibility (revenue/ pipeline/ backlog) • Collaboration & documentation: producing decks, trackers, and written minutes/ next steps. • Familiarity with financial services, payments, retail, technology or other data-rich industries ________________________________________ Success Measures (objective, role-aligned) • Quality and timeliness of scopes/ proposals produced; pipeline conversion to active work. • Vendor consolidation and reduction of 3P to Labour ratio • Vendor feasibility and commercial closure efficiency (cost/ scope alignment). • Dashboard accuracy for revenue/ pipeline reporting. • Growth in strategic markets and penetration in new markets. Corporate Security Responsibility All activities involving access to Mastercard assets, information, and ne…