Vice President, Learning & Development - Skill Acceleration

Mastercard•Purchase, NY

About The Position

At Mastercard, the pace of change across technology, AI, and the nature of work requires a fundamentally new approach to how we build, renew, and redeploy skills at scale. The Vice President of Skill Acceleration is a critical enterprise leadership role within Learning & Development, accountable for defining and driving Mastercard’s end to end strategy for accelerating upskilling and reskilling across the employee lifecycle. This role owns the enterprise skill acceleration agenda—from onboarding and early career development through ongoing skill development, AI-driven reskilling, and workforce redeployment. The VP will ensure that learning translates directly into business performance, workforce agility, and internal mobility, enabling Mastercard to continuously evolve its capabilities in line with strategic priorities. The ideal candidate is a proven learning strategist and trusted strategic partner with a strong track record of translating upskilling into measurable business outcomes. They bring a compelling point of view on the future of skills, deep passion for accelerating the pace of learning at scale, and the ability to lead complex, global portfolios in a matrixed organization. This role will report directly to the Chief Learning Officer and lead a global team of experienced learning professionals. This role sits at the intersection of strategy, skills, and the future of work at Mastercard. The VP of Skill Acceleration will play a defining role in ensuring the organization can adapt faster than the pace of change, unlocking the full potential of our people while driving tangible business impact.

Requirements

Must have extensive experience in learning, talent, or workforce development leadership, with demonstrated success designing and leading large-scale upskilling and reskilling strategies
Must possess the proven ability to translate learning strategies into measurable business outcomes, not just learning activity or participation
Be able to articulate a strong point of view on the future of skills, including the impact of AI and emerging technologies on roles and workforce models
Be a highly effective people leader with experience leading senior leaders and multidisciplinary teams in complex, global, matrixed environments
Have exceptional stakeholder influence and communication skills, with the ability to operate as a trusted advisor to senior business and HR leaders
Abide by Mastercard’s security policies and practices
Ensure the confidentiality and integrity of the information being accessed
Report any suspected information security violation or breach, and
Complete all periodic mandatory security trainings in accordance with Mastercard’s guidelines

Responsibilities

Define and lead a multi-year enterprise strategy for upskilling, reskilling, and skill acceleration that spans onboarding, early career, advanced skill development, and workforce redeployment, with clear alignment to Mastercard’s business strategy and growth priorities
Establish a cohesive, end-to-end skills development ecosystem, ensuring experiences are integrated, persona-centric, and designed to accelerate time-to-impact at each career stage
Bring a strong, forward-looking perspective on how AI, automation, and emerging technologies are reshaping skills, roles, and workforce needs, and translate that insight into actionable learning strategies
Serve as a strategic advisor and thought partner to senior business leaders, HR partners, and Talent teams on how skill acceleration can drive productivity, innovation, internal mobility, and business outcomes
Ensure all major initiatives are explicitly tied to business-relevant outcomes, such as speed to proficiency, business performance lift, retention, role readiness, and redeployment effectiveness
Partner closely with stakeholders across HR and the business to enable data-informed reskilling and redeployment pathways across the enterprise
Lead the end-to-end portfolio across onboarding, early career development, AI upskilling & reskilling, and advanced skill development, ensuring clarity of ownership, prioritization, and sequencing
Drive disciplined execution—from needs identification and experience design through delivery, adoption, and continuous improvement—while maintaining flexibility as business needs evolve
Oversee the budget and learning asset portfolio, with a relentless focus on optimizing return on investment and scaling what works
Define and track enterprise-level success metrics that clearly connect skill acceleration to business performance and workforce outcomes
Partner with Global Skilling, Talent Management, and People Analytics teams to strengthen skills data, evaluation, and decision-making, using evidence to refine strategy and inform investment choices
Continuously bring in external best and next practices, evolving Mastercard’s skill acceleration approach in line with market shifts and learner expectations
Lead, develop, and inspire a high-performing team of learning professionals, setting a strong standard for strategic thinking, learner-centricity, and impact orientation
Foster a culture of innovation, inclusion, and continuous improvement, embedding the Mastercard Way across all skill acceleration initiatives

Benefits

insurance (including medical, prescription drug, dental, vision, disability, life insurance)
flexible spending account and health savings account
paid leaves (including 16 weeks of new parent leave and up to 20 days of bereavement leave)
80 hours of Paid Sick and Safe Time, 25 days of vacation time and 5 personal days, pro-rated based on date of hire
10 annual paid U.S. observed holidays
401k with a best-in-class company match
deferred compensation for eligible roles
fitness reimbursement or on-site fitness facilities
eligibility for tuition reimbursement
Pay Ranges Purchase, New York: $221,000 - $353,000 USD