Visa Inc. is a global payments technology company that connects consumers, businesses, financial institutions and governments in more than 200 countries and territories, enabling them to use digital currency instead of cash and checks. 

Visa does not issue cards, extend credit or set rates and fees for consumers. Visa’s innovations enable its bank customers to offer consumers choices: Pay now with debit, ahead of time with prepaid or later with credit products. From the world’s major cities to remote areas without banks, people are increasingly relying on digital currency along with mobile technology to use their money anytime, make purchases online, transfer funds and access basic financial services. All of which makes their lives easier and helps grow economies.

Behind the Visa brand are our talented employees who continuously raise the bar with innovative solutions and products that deliver the convenience and security of digital currency to more people all over the world.

The newly formed Regional Category Director (RCD) role will be a recognized expert within Visa, responsible for aligning to the global category strategy whilst also contributing to the development of local functional category strategies for the Visa Product business area within AP.

The individual contributor will work within Visa Global Sourcing and cross-functionally with Visa Product teams to lead initiatives, act as a subject matter expert and manage relationships with relevant internal and external stakeholders, particularly suppliers/service providers and clients within the financial services sector.

Business alignment

The RCD will have strong financial acumen, understand the financial impact of the category, revenue impact through direct sourcing activities, TCO (total cost of ownership) over project lifecycle, budget allocation and utilization. Align with business strategy to drive profitable business growth, improve supplier performance and reduce third party risk whilst challenging the status quo, considering industry best practice, continuous improvement and innovation to maximise return on investment.

Analyse, understand and present data (spend, budget, supplier mix) to identify and develop category pipeline opportunities in collaboration with business owners. Agree activities and savings targets with budget holders and finance managers, deliver, track and report on an ongoing basis.

Technical Expertise

Solid understanding of procurement as a strategic enabler to business growth. Application of the art and science of procurement to align best practices on category development and management. Implementation through the 7-step sourcing methodology including but not limited to supplier selection, managing commercial negotiations, contract and supplier performance management.

Implements SLA’s, monitors, tracks and reports on procurement metrics, updating functional and executive management regularly on supplier performance, issues faced with service delivery, improvement opportunities, and initiating contract amendments / remediation plans to resolve disputes and improve the service levels delivered. Knowledge sharing with internal stakeholders to improve contract experience across suppliers.

Assists business project managers and operations with supplier on-boarding, invoice processing and payment reconciliations. Engages with continuous controls monitoring teams to audit service delivery.  

Relationship Management

Builds strong relationships with internal business stakeholders including finance, operations, legal, compliance and risk teams to drive the category forward in an efficient manner whilst complying to regulatory and operational requirements, and builds external relationships with suppliers and partners to enable effective service delivery and continuous improvement.

Establishes communication channels to encourage formation of clear project scope and milestones, clear understanding of project strategy and expectations. Acts as single point of contact for all category sourcing initiatives and related enquiries for the region.

Interacts and aligns with global sourcing and global product teams to develop and drive global solutions with local implementation. Engages across all levels with regional and local business teams (including country management teams) to create awareness of the category, projects planned, seeking feedback for consideration whilst understanding user experiences across the various AP countries.

Key competencies

• • Strong analytical skills

  • Strong project management skills

  • Good verbal and written communication and presentation skills

  • Solid interpersonal skills

  • Self-directed and motivated.

  • Logical based reasoning and recommendations

  • Service-delivery oriented

  • Entrepreneurial spirit

  • Results driven discipline

  • Project lifecycle management

• 12+ years of solid experience within the financial services industry or payment network and products, spanning the areas of strategic sourcing, category management, commercial management, contract management or procurement management.

• Strong knowledge of financial services retail products, payment cards, loyalty solutions, banking benefits, travel platforms, concierge services and marketing/promotion related to the financial services/retail banking/ payments industry.

• Proven track record of successful category management, and execution in a fast-paced environment.

• Experience working across multiple AP geographies.

• Sound proven experience in driving key initiatives in AP markets including the execution of RFx activities.

• Past experiences in challenging the status quo by developing business cases for change through leveraging business acumen, market intelligence, and insights to drive a broad strategic impact across an organization.

• Demonstrated contract negotiation experience, including development of negotiating plans and strategies for creative production.

• Strong relationship-management skills and collaborate with functional leads, senior-to-exec management, and grow relationships with key influencers by building credibility and trust.

• Excellent communication skills ; written, oral and presentation skills and an ability to synthesize information and make concise recommendations through insights and data.

• Ability to independently identify and pursue multiple initiatives simultaneously and deliver superior results.

• Highly motivated; demonstrates a "can-do" approach in being proactive with work assignments.

• Bachelor degree of relevant studies required. MBA, or advanced degree preferred. Professional accreditation in sourcing or procurement is a plus.