Vice President, Country Manager, Levant Cluster

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

Team Summary

The Levant team leads Visa's business across a diverse and evolving payments landscape, partnering with financial institutions, fintechs, merchants, governments, and regulators to accelerate digital commerce and payment innovation. The team is responsible for delivering growth across Consumer Payments, Commercial & Money Movement Solutions (CMS), and Value-Added Services (VAS), while strengthening Visa's position as the preferred payments and technology partner across the region.

The Country Manager reports to the Group Country Manager for North Africa Levant & Pakistan (NALP) and will be a member for the NALP leadership team.

What a VP, Country Manager, Levant Cluster does at Visa:

The Country Manager for Levant cluster is Visa’s senior market leader responsible for driving Visa’s strategy, commercial performance, and long-term growth across the Levant markets.

The role will lead the development and execution of the cluster strategy, deliver against Visa’s Consumer Payments, Commercial and Money Movement Solutions (CMS), and Value-Added Services (VAS) priorities, and ensure the effective management of Visa’s business and resources across the geography.

Responsibilities:

Market & Strategic Leadership

• Define and execute a Levant specific market strategy aligned to Visa's regional priorities.

• Drive disciplined business planning and execution to achieve sustainable results, balancing near-term performance with long-term growth opportunities.
• Build, strengthen, and execute strategic account plans ensuring sustainable share growth and client partnership expansion across Consumer, VAS, and CMS.

• Identify and capitalize on emerging growth opportunities across the payments ecosystem.

• Responsible for full P&L management, including setting and managing budgets, revenue growth, investments, resource allocation, operating expenses, forecasts, and delivery of agreed profitability KPI's.

Client, Regulator & Ecosystem Engagement

• Develop, cultivate, and maintain executive relationships with issuers, acquirers, processors, merchants, FinTech’s, and ecosystem partners, clearly articulating their perspectives on payments, banking, financial services, and technology innovation.

• Serve as a visible industry advocate and spokesperson for Visa across the region, representing the company at conferences, industry forums, and media engagements and shaping perceptions of Visa’s role in the digital payments ecosystem.

• Engage and influence regulators, Central Banks, and government entities, in close partnership with Government Affairs and regional functions, to support financial inclusion, digital payments growth, and progressive policy & regulatory frameworks.

• Position Visa as the partner of choice through strategic and consultative engagement, representing Visa externally and strengthening the company's brand and reputation in the market.

Cross-Functional & Operational Leadership

• Proactively collaborate with regional functions (finance, product, marketing, corporate relations, merchants, digital, compliance, risk, HR) to ensure functional plans are aligned with the Levant strategic agenda and enterprise priorities.

• Lead and influence cross-functional teams to deliver market and client priorities.

• Oversee operational rigor and management of market office(s) within risk and compliance frameworks.

• Leverage data, analytics and AI-enabled insights to inform strategic decision-making, enhance client engagement, optimize go-to-market strategies, and identify new growth opportunities across consumer, commercial and money movement solutions.

People Leadership

• Inspire and lead diverse and geographically dispersed teams.

• Attract, develop, and retain a high-performing and inclusive team, ensuring robust succession plans and meaningful development opportunities for key roles.

• Champion Visa’s consumer and employer brand in Levant, leading by example on Visa’s Leadership Principles and embedding them in ways of working across the cluster.

Why this is important to Visa:

The Levant cluster of countries represents a significant opportunity for Visa to deepen payment digitization, expand access to digital commerce, and capture growth across consumer payments, money movement, and value-added services. The VP, Country Manager, Levant plays a critical role in delivering Visa's 2030 vision by translating global strategy into local market impact, strengthening Visa's position within an evolving payments ecosystem shaped by fintech innovation, AI, digital wallets, real-time payments, and changing customer expectations. Through leadership of clients, regulators, governments, and ecosystem partners, this executive will help unlock new revenue pools, accelerate digital transformation, and position Visa as the best way to pay and be paid across the Levant region.

This is a hybrid position. Expectation of days in the office will be confirmed by your Hiring Manager.

Qualifications

• 15+ years of leadership experience, including significant commercial, sales, general management, or business leadership responsibility within payments, banking, fintech, technology, consulting, or adjacent industries where digital commerce and innovation are key growth drivers.

• Proven experience leading a country, cluster, business unit, or substantial commercial portfolio, with a track record of developing strategy and driving successful execution in complex and fast-evolving markets.

• Deep understanding of the Levant banking, payments, regulatory and government landscape, with established relationships across key financial institutions, regulators, government stakeholders, and ecosystem partners.

• Strong knowledge of the payments ecosystem, including digital payments, fintech, e-commerce, emerging technologies, competitive dynamics, and evolving consumer and merchant trends.

• Demonstrated success in building and growing executive-level client relationships and identifying new business opportunities by leveraging innovative payment, data, value-added services, and technology solutions.

• Commercially astute with a proven ability to grow businesses, expand market share, and deliver challenging financial and strategic objectives in dynamic and often ambiguous market environments.

• Strong data-driven orientation with the ability to leverage analytics, AI-driven insights, and emerging technologies to inform commercial strategy, client engagement, market prioritization, and business decision-making.

• Familiarity with AI, data platforms, and digital technologies, with the ability to translate these capabilities into tangible business outcomes for clients, partners, and Visa while helping shape the future of the payments ecosystem.

• Proven ability to navigate ambiguity, lead change, and drive innovation while capturing, expanding, retaining, and deepening client relationships.

• Strong strategic, analytical, and financial acumen, with the ability to assess complex business opportunities, market trends, risk considerations, and investment decisions.

• Experience operating successfully within a global matrix organization, influencing across functions while empowering local decision-making and execution.

• A track record of building high-performing, diverse, and inclusive teams and fostering a culture of accountability, collaboration, innovation, and continuous development.

• Outstanding communication, negotiation, and executive stakeholder-management skills, with the ability to influence audiences ranging from C-suite executives and boards to government and regulatory leaders.

• An authentic and resilient leader who brings energy, curiosity, and a hands-on approach to delivering results and driving transformational growth.

• Bachelor's degree required; MBA or other advanced degree preferred.

• Fluency in English is required; Arabic language capabilities are strongly preferred.

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.

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Help us to uplift everyone, everywhere. Whether you’re starting your career, pushing your capabilities or are a seasoned professional, learn how we can partner to reimagine the world.

About Us

At Visa, we are driven by a common purpose – to uplift everyone, everywhere by being the best way to pay and be paid. Our evolving technology keeps us at the heart of the digital economy, connecting people to 80+ million businesses worldwide. Backed by a resilient, proven model, our expanding network fuels growth—for Visa and for your career.

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