Associate Consultant, Launch Program 2027 - United States

Mastercard; Arlington (TX); On-site; USD 81,000 - 109,000; Full time

Job summary

Mastercard’s Launch Program in Arlington, VA is a 18-month development track designed to build experts in Advisors & Consulting Services. You’ll work on real challenges, with mentorship, structured learning, and cross-team collaboration to accelerate your career.

The role targets graduates with a Spring 2027 degree and emphasizes data-driven problem solving, client interactions, and exposure to industries such as financial services and retail. Arlington-based, on-site program.

Qualifications

• Undergrad or accelerated master's with expected graduation Spring 2027.
• Must be eligible to work in the United States without employer sponsorship.
• Strong problem solving, analytical and quantitative skills.
• Experience using data analysis or querying tools (e.g., SQL, SAS, Excel or Tableau).
• Proven leadership or teamwork experience through work or extracurricular activities.

Responsibilities

• Collaborate within small teams to help some of the world’s biggest brands answer and implement solutions for their most challenging strategic questions.
• Create meaningful contributions through ownership of deliverables and building external client relationships.
• Focus on technology and data, gaining exposure to industries including financial services, retail, restaurants, hospitality and more.

Skills

Passion

Analytic Excellence

Business Interest

Rapid Growth

Teamwork

Integrity

Diverse Perspective

Communication

Education

Undergraduate or accelerated master’s degree with expected graduation Spring 2027

Tools

SQL

SAS

Excel

Tableau

Job description

Our Purpose

Mastercard powers economies and empowers people in 200+ countries and territories worldwide. Together with our customers, we’re helping build asustainableeconomy where everyone can prosper. We support a wide range of digital payments choices, making transactionssecure, 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

Associate Consultant, Launch Program 2027 - United States

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS POSTING IS FOR MASTERCARD’S ARLINGTON, VA (Washington, DC) JOB LOCATION ONLY

Why join Mastercard’s Launch Program?

Over the course of this 18-month program, you’ll build specialized expertise through hands-on experience, structured learning, and mentorship from industry leaders. You’ll work on real business challenges, applying your skills to projects that create meaningful impact.

Along the way, you’ll deepen your knowledge of Mastercard’s business, collaborate with teams across the organization, and develop the technical, analytical, and professional capabilities needed to accelerate your career. By the end of the program, you’ll have a strong foundation in your chosen field and the confidence to continue to grow here at Mastercard.

About the team

Mastercard’s Advisors & Consulting Services (A&CS) team helps clients drive impact through data-driven insights, hands‑on implementation, and a collaborative, tech‑enabled culture. We invest in talent through global engagements, continuous learning, and programs like the Global Ambassadors Program, while fostering purpose through volunteerism, pro‑bono work, and innovation that benefits both clients and communities.

What you’ll do

As an Associate Consultant, you will: collaborate within small teamsto help some of the world’s biggest brands answer and implement solutionsfor their most challenging strategic questions.

create meaningful contributions through ownership of deliverables and building external relationships with clients.Focusing ontechnology and data, you will gain broad exposure to a range of industries, including financial services, retail, restaurants, hospitality, and more.

Specialization Tracks

We are looking for passionate and talented professionals who share our vision for helping our customers with their most urgent business needs. Track placement will indicate the types of projects where you will spend most of your time; however, we encourage and enable working across tracks to allow team members to acquire diverse skills and experiences. We are currently hiring for the Business Experimentation Track.

Business Experimentation

Leverage Mastercard’s industry-leading predictive analytics platform, Test &Learn®, and SQL to run data-backed business experiments for our clients. Consultants focus on data science-based solutions to provide insights on various business initiatives, including product launches, marketing campaigns, customer loyalty, and pricing across various industries that touch many Fortune 500 companies. Partner directly with clients to share findings and help determine which ideas are effective, as well as where, when, and how to implement them.

Sampling of questions we help our customers answer:

Where should a retailer open new stores to maximize profitability and minimize the cannibalization of nearby omnichannel sales?

What bonus should be provided to someone opening a credit card account to entice them to use the card regularly?

Team members will typically support 2-4 clients concurrently and develop a deep understanding of client business challenges through longer term engagements (typically lasting 1-2 years).

What we’re looking for

-Undergraduate or accelerated master’s degree with an expected graduation date Spring 2027

-This role is not eligible for Mastercard’s work authorization sponsorship. As such, candidates must be eligible to work in the United States, now as well as in the future, without employer sponsorship. For example, students or recent graduates in the United States on an F1 visa (including those with CPT or OPT authorization) are not eligible for this role.

We recruit for and value the following core competencies:

Passion: Actively seeks responsibility and takes pride in delivering the highest quality results and recommendations to our clients. Proven record of leadership in a work setting and/or through extracurricular activities.

Analytic Excellence: Demonstrates a strong aptitude for structured problem solving, analytical, and quantitative skills. Experience using data analysis or querying tools (e.g., SQL, SAS, Excel or Tableau) is an asset (particularly for Performance Analytics or Business Experimentation tracks).

Business Interest: Clear interest in the world of business, and intuition for the way that companies make decisions.

Rapid Growth: Eagerness to learn quickly, both through Mastercard’s structured training curriculum and organic development opportunities.

Teamwork: Willingness to work within small teams to produce outstanding deliverables, with a will to win attitude.

Integrity: Outstanding record of academic achievement. Commitment to Mastercard’s values of honesty and integrity with a willingness to embrace and learn from mistakes.

Diverse Perspective: Brings a unique skillset or approach to the table in every client engagement or internal activity.

Communication: Ability to communicate complex ideas effectively. Excellent written and verbal communication skills.

Salary: $95,000/year

Mastercard is a merit-based, inclusive, equal opportunity employer that considers applicants without regard to gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, disabled or veteran status, or any other characteristic protected by law. We hire the most qualified candidate for the role. In the US or Canada, if you require accommodations or assistance to complete the online application process or during the recruitment process, please contact [e-mail] and identify the type of accommodation or assistance you are requesting. Do not include any medical or health information in this email. The Reasonable Accommodations team will respond to your email promptly.

Corporate Security Responsibility

• 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.

In line with Mastercard’s total compensation philosophy and assuming that the job will be performed in the US, the successful candidate will be offered a competitive base salary and may be eligible for an annual bonus or commissions depending on the role. The base salary offered may vary depending on multiple factors, including but not limited to location, job-related knowledge, skills, and experience. Mastercard benefits for full time (and certain part time) employees generally include: 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; and many more. Mastercard benefits for interns generally include: 56 hours of Paid Sick and Safe Time; jury duty leave; and on‑site fitness facilities in some locations.