Craig Bester

Director, Deal Management Finance (Uk & i, Nordics & Baltics) @Mastercard

Reading, GB
MOBILE NUMBERS
+91 *********19

Signup · Get unlimited contacts

WORK HISTORY

Mar 2024 — Present

Director, Deal Management Finance (Uk & i, Nordics & Baltics) @Mastercard

View department →

London, GB

Senior commercial finance partner supporting complex, multi year customer agreements across multiple European markets• Provide financial insight on pricing, incentive structures, deal economics, and investment trade offs• Influence short and long term performance through disciplined forecasting, risk assessment, and deal governance• Built improved visibility of the deal pipeline to strengthen decision making cadence and transparency• Lead and develop a geographically distributed finance team operating under sustained commercial pressure

EDUCATION

1992 — 1997

University of South Africa/Universiteit van Suid-Afrika

B.Compt

1986 — 1990

Grey College

High School

SKILLS

Financial AccountingCritical ThinkingManagementSelf LearningIT Contract NegotiationLead ChangeFinancial ModelingBusiness PlanningStrategyCommunicationDeal ShapingBusiness StrategyRisk GovernanceNew Business DevelopmentOutsourcingProject FinanceAccount ManagementChange ManagementTeam LeadershipBusiness Case DevelopmentLeadership DevelopmentLeadershipCompetitive PricingElevating PerformancePricing AnalysisBusiness AnalysisMentoringFinancial RiskContract PricingBid PricingTeam ManagementProject ManagementProgramme GovernanceKnowledge ManagementForecastingManagerial FinanceJob CoachingInternal ControlsPeople ManagementFinancial Reporting

ABOUT CRAIG BESTER

Senior commercial finance leader and Chartered Accountant with extensive experience supporting growth, pricing, and complex commercial decisions across payments, technology, and global services businesses.Currently Director, Deal Management Finance at Mastercard (Europe), partnering with business and finance leaders across the UK & I, Nordics and Baltics to provide clear, practical financial insight across multi‑year, multi‑market customer agreements. Focused on enabling better decisions around pricing, incentives, investment, and long‑term value creation in regulated, high‑pressure environments.Known as a trusted finance business partner, translating complexity into decision‑ready insight, balancing commercial ambition with margin sustainability, risk, and execution reality. Comfortable operating across forecasting, deal economics, performance management, and governance without losing commercial pace. Previously held senior divisional and regional finance roles, including end-to-end P&L leadership and finance partnering across complex, multi-market operating structures. Strong track record of leading teams through change and ambiguity while maintaining judgement, quality, and business credibilityRoles -| DFO | CFO | Vice-President Finance | Senior Finance Director | Vice-President Deal Management | Vice-President Pricing| Vice President Finance DirectorSector Experience - Payments | Technology | IT Services | Travel | Customer Loyalty | Consulting | Professional ServicesKey Skills - Commercial Finance Leadership | Finance Business Partnering | Pricing & Deal Economics | Payments & Scheme Economics | Forecasting & Financial Planning | Financial Governance & Risk | Senior Stakeholder Management | Leading Teams Through Change | Building High‑Performing Teams

This profile is compiled from publicly available professional sources. Unifers is not affiliated with or endorsed by LinkedIn. Request removal of this profile.

Craig Bester — Director, Deal Management Finance (Uk & i, Nordics & Baltics) at Mastercard in Reading, GB | Unifers