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
Job overview
Visa is seeking a high-performing Senior Manager - Sales to drive business development and market expansion across South Africa and Southern Africa. This strategic, client-facing role will advance Visa Government Solutions’ public sector growth agenda by building senior government relationships, originating high-value opportunities, and positioning Visa as a trusted partner in public sector payments.
The successful candidate will bring strong working experience with the public sector, consultative sales, payments, and stakeholder management, with a solid understanding of public sector operations and procurement. Working with internal and external stakeholders, this role will help execute Visa’s regional strategy, develop locally relevant opportunities, and support public sector solutions that deliver commercial value and measurable public impact.
Sitting within Visa’s CEMEA Government Solutions team, this role will collaborate closely with colleagues across Government Affairs, Product, Solutions, Marketing, Communications, Client Services, and country teams. Operating in a matrix environment, the successful candidate will lead through influence, manage strategic initiatives and priority accounts, and support partnerships that help governments improve efficiency, transparency, service delivery, and citizen outcomes through innovative payment solutions.
Responsibilities:
- Execute Visa’s Government Solutions sales strategy across South Africa and selected Southern Africa markets, identifying priority clients, solution opportunities, and growth areas that support revenue, market expansion, and broader strategic objectives.
- Build, manage, and advance a strong pipeline of public sector opportunities, developing account plans, sales strategies, business cases, and value propositions that position Visa competitively and connect commercial outcomes to measurable public sector impact.
- Establish and strengthen relationships with key public sector stakeholders, including national, provincial, and local government agencies, ministries, regulators, and public institutions, to understand priorities, shape opportunities, and navigate procurement processes through bid and award stages.
- Originate opportunities that help governments use digital payments, wallets, and payments data to strengthen service delivery, improve decision-making, and drive better outcomes across sectors such as social protection, agriculture, health, education, mobility, and public finance.
- Lead or support RFP development, proposal coordination, and opportunity execution, ensuring disciplined pipeline management, high-quality submissions, and timely progression of strategic pursuits.
- Identify and engage ecosystem partners, including issuers, processors, program managers, fintechs, GovTechs, and technology providers, to strengthen Visa’s government solutions offering and support scalable, locally relevant payment programs.
- Collaborate closely with internal stakeholders across VGS Centre of Excellence, VGS CEMEA Commercialization and Go-to-Market, Visa Government Affairs, Product, Solutions, Marketing, Communications, Client Services, and regional and country teams to align on outreach, opportunity development, market education, and proposition roadmaps.
- Provide market insight and client feedback to help shape Visa’s solutions and support the positioning of Visa’s capabilities in payments intelligence, digital acceptance, wallet-enabled service delivery, and public sector transformation.
- Representing Visa with professionalism and sound judgment, proactively resolving issues that may affect sales performance, stakeholder engagement, or solution delivery, while leading through influence in a matrix environment.
- Support strategic accounts, priority pursuits, and multi-stakeholder initiatives across the region, with travel as required based on client, partner, and business needs.
This is a hybrid position. Expectation of days in office will be confirmed by your hiring manager.
Visa requires at least 3 days in office, expectations of these days will be confirmed by your Hiring Manager.
Qualifications
Bachelor’s degree in business, Finance, Economics, Public Policy, Public Administration, Technology, or a related field required; MBA or relevant Masters’ degree an advantage.
5 - 8 years of relevant experience in business development, enterprise sales, account management, or government solutions sales, ideally in payments, financial services, fintech, technology, or the public sector. Experience with South African and/or Southern African public sector institutions an advantage. Strong understanding of public sector institutions, procurement, and government decision-making, with a proven ability to influence stakeholders and originate opportunities in complex sales environments.
Strong consultative sales, relationship management, and business case development skills, with the ability to clearly articulate the value of digital payments for both commercial and public sector outcomes.
Strong financial and commercial acumen, with excellent negotiation, communication, presentation, stakeholder management, and problem-solving skills.
Excellent written and spoken English required; French is an advantage.
Experience with government payment programs, public finance digitization, digital disbursements, wallets, social payments, procurement payments, or related infrastructure would be an advantage, as would familiarity with how payments data, transaction insights, and digital platforms can improve decision-making and service delivery.
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.