A long way to go - Account Executive Mastercard Employee Review

2.0
19 Feb 2015
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Compensation above average, work/life balance

Cons

Leadership, leadership, leadership. These guys were hired 25 years ago to take banking clients golfing and they are still there. Granted, the company still operates on high margins despite the challenges, but very few people can see what's coming. For as long as the leaders are the same, nothing will change. Leadership has no people management skills, no clear objectives, very poor technical and business skills. Poor career management, very emotional and subjective decision-making, silo thinking. Highly bureaucratic and insecure. Simply no HR. Overall a very immature company who keeps on repeating mistakes: hiring old, expensive people from similar industries

Explore other reviews about Mastercard

5.0
23 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

People are highly intelligent and things seem to operate efficiently

Cons

Large ship so changes are hard to make

4.0
27 May 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Mastercard does a great job fostering an inclusive and supportive environment. There are genuinely good people throughout the organization, and leadership often invests in employee engagement through events, recognition, and culture-building initiatives. I enjoyed many of the relationships I built while working there, and there are teams that truly care about collaboration and supporting one another.

Cons

Compensation at the director level did not feel competitive compared to the level of responsibility expected. Career advancement can also be extremely challenging due to how top-heavy the organization is with senior leadership roles. There are a large number of Senior Vice Presidents, sometimes without clear scope or experience aligned to the title, which creates limited room for high-performing employees to grow. At times, it felt like senior leaders were being hired primarily to manage or communicate with other senior leaders, rather than drive meaningful operational impact. In product and go-to-market roles especially, priorities are often heavily driven by funding decisions. It can be frustrating when projects suddenly shift in importance or remain underfunded for long periods of time while awaiting senior leadership review. This sometimes leaves highly talented employees in limbo, unable to move initiatives forward despite strong momentum or market opportunity. The organization can also be very comfortable with the status quo, which creates a slower pace that many employees seem accustomed to. For people who are highly motivated and eager to drive change, it can feel difficult to navigate the number of roadblocks and layers of approval required to move initiatives forward.

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