About Us Visa is a world leader in payments technology, facilitating transactions between consumers, merchants, financial institutions and government entities across more than 200 countries and territories, dedicated to uplifting everyone, everywhere by being the best way to pay and be paid.
At Visa, you'll have the opportunity to create impact at scale — tackling meaningful challenges, growing your skills and seeing your contributions impact lives around the world.
Join Visa and do work that matters – to you, to your community, and to the world. Progress starts with you.
Job Description
The Director, Implementation, is a critical people manager responsible for owning the overall efforts of Visa Client Implementation resources to on board new Visa clients, implement new products at existing clients and enhance Visa products and services. You will be a trusted internal and external client services advocate, working proactively with Client Success and other CS and Visa teams to promote faster product adoption through effective project readiness (alongside CSM and Product / Solutioning teams) and flawless project execution on time, within budget against agreed scope outcomes agreed with the client.
You are expected to provide thought leadership and strategic guidance to their teams ensuring a consistent high level of professionalism, adherence to Visa project standards and processes and active and regular monitoring project execution, managing risks and constraints before escalations, and as such maintain high customer satisfaction and revenue objectives of Visa.
Implementation is a revenue generating function for client services, and for this reason we require a Director -Implementation with astute financial knowledge and experience in managing actuals against targets.
- Provide leadership and management for a team of individual contributors implementation consultants/ senior consultants who are responsible for implementation and integration of a variety of Visa products to all Visa clients and geographies across Europe, sometimes requiring connectivity with other regions outside Europe.
- Deploy and improve process and procedures that align to the global and regional strategies and apply working knowledge of Visa and Visa products alongside systems to ensure effective and efficient project implementation.
- Actively maintaining and expanding current knowledge of technologies, products, services, methods and applications and implementing new approaches and practices as required.
- Provide leadership and direction for complex cross regional or cross-functional client projects and work towards achieving customer and key stakeholder satisfaction of deliverables.
- Develop, coach, mentor and motivate staff to maximize team engagement, productivity and performance, complete employee performance reviews and salary evaluations.
- Effectively and continually monitor teams’ performance and provide feedback, coaching and upskilling or management or poor performance in a continuous and timely manner, building a strong, highly productive team.
- Set goal and KPIs for the team and provide direction and execution to drive Visa’s digital strategy and fortify Visa’s digital lead position in the payment eco-system.
- Provide Subject Matter Expertise on Client processing issues, environments, interfaces and business priorities and implementation strategy.
- Be able to lead and manage large or complex projects programmes, cross-functional, cross regional work to achieve business goals.
- Build strong relationship with the clusters and clients and act as an escalation point for the team and the respective markets.
- Build strong partnership with Product, Sales and Client Services internal stakeholders.
- Drive efficiency and effectiveness on deliverables to ensure Client Implementation Services operate at the highest level of performance, maximum client satisfaction, as well as protect brand adherence and trust for clients.
- Encourage a culture of continuous learning across the team and lead by example by developing and maintaining the latest knowledge of new products and technology within Visa and across the ecosystem.
- Influence internal and Client decision makers for product adoption, processing strategy changes, new service implementation, etc.
- Requires interaction with resources at all levels of the organization, both internally at Visa and externally with the Client, ranging from individual contributors to executives. Must be able to influence decisions through a combination of negotiation and consultative input.
- Identify and recommend opportunities for process improvement for implementation of Visa products services, resulting in shorter cycle times, improved efficiency, reduced costs and increased customer satisfaction.
This is a hybrid position. Expectation of 3 days in office.
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree or advanced degree (for example Master’s, MBA, JD, or MD) preferred.
- Experience in project management and/or technical roles, ideally supported by a certification such as PMI, PRINCE2, or equivalent.
- Strong programme and project management experience, with delivery expertise across Agile and Waterfall methodologies.
- Experience in the payments ecosystem or financial services industry, with in-depth knowledge of industry trends, competitors, threats, regulatory environments, and regional market dynamics.
- Proven experience leading cross-functional and/or cross-regional teams and projects across multiple geographies.
- Previous people leadership experience is essential, with a strong track record of coaching and developing team members to support both skill growth and career progression.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills in English, including the ability to explain complex technical concepts and processes in clear business language tailored to clients and internal stakeholders.
- Strong analytical skills, with the ability to extract, synthesize, and interpret data to develop practical business solutions and provide sound recommendations.
- Proven ability to influence audiences at multiple levels, including senior executives, by representing technical and business issues clearly and credibly in support of strategic plans.
- Ability to lead cross-functional teams through high-impact, complex, ambiguous business challenges, including issues without clear precedent.
- Strong ability to prioritize, manage multiple deadlines, and support teams in balancing competing demands effectively.
- Willingness to travel outside home location as required for client and business needs.
- Knowledge of Artificial Intelligence (AI) concepts and applications, and how they can be used to create value for Visa and its clients.
Core Leadership and Client Skills
- Building client relationships – establishing credibility and trust-based partnerships, while working closely with Client Success teams to understand market and client needs.
- Client engagement – communicating clearly and effectively throughout all implementation stages to support consistent, high-quality delivery.
- Proactiveness – anticipating issues, removing obstacles early, and driving plans to resolution before escalation is required.
- Critical thinking – taking ownership of problems and developing creative, effective solutions to complex challenges.
Technical and Industry Knowledge
- Good knowledge of the rules, regulations, and policies governing the payments ecosystem across Europe and globally.
- Understanding of how other functions integrate with Implementation within payment schemes and broader financial or technology industries.
- Working knowledge of payments systems, including client connectivity, authorization, clearing and settlement, message formats, and APIs.
- Demonstrated knowledge of the breadth of Visa systems, products, and services.
- Knowledge of key technical specialties across the Visa product suite.
- Technical knowledge of Visa and/or card processing schemes is desirable.
Visa is an EEO Employer
Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or protected veteran status. Visa will also consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with EEOC guidelines and applicable local law.