Strategic Operations Manager (Sales & Projects)

Visa is a world leader in payments and technology, with over 259 billion payments transactions flowing safely between consumers, merchants, financial institutions, and government entities in more than 200 countries and territories each year. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, convenient, reliable, and secure payments network, enabling individuals, businesses, and economies to thrive while driven by a common purpose – to uplift everyone, everywhere by being the best way to pay and be paid.

Make an impact with a purpose-driven industry leader. Join us today and experience Life at Visa.

Strategic Operations Manager (Sales & Projects) for Strategy and Commercial Operations is accountable for partnering with the Country Manager and the Account Executive Team on the development and execution of the country strategy, for the target setting and aggregated view of the sales pipeline in the country and for ensuring the country meets or exceeds its financial (i.e., Net Revenue and Net Income growth) and scorecard goals. Will play a pivotal role in supporting the successful execution of Visa's Strategy 2030. This role involves overseeing the planning, governance, and management of various strategic initiatives to ensure alignment with the company's long-term goals. The Strategic Operations Manager will collaborate with cross-functional teams, manage budgets, and provide regular updates on progress. Further responsibilities include client engagement approach and the application of performance insights to orchestrate delivery of the strategy.
The role reports into the Country Manager Austria.

Strategy (30%)

• Translates, shapes, and executes the Visa 2030 strategy at a country level as appropriate, through a cohesive, integrated data-led approach for the short/mid/long-term to drive sustained revenue growth, client retention, regulatory engagement, and Visa industry leadership.

• Develops thought leadership as required to drive growth: may include country strategy, board presentations, and other strategic support for business development.

• Leads on orchestration of country business planning cycle linking Multi-year Strategic Outlook (MSO) to Annual Operating Plan (AOP) to Quarterly Business Reviews (QBR). This includes ensuring Value-Added Services (VAS), and Commercial Money Movement (CMS) strategy, as well as Go-To-Market (GTM) plans, are fully integrated.

• Leads on development and execution of cross functional initiatives that are of high strategic impact to business (i.e., market acceleration, GTM initiatives) and represents cluster in cross-functional forums as appropriate.

• Works with Country Manager, functional teams, and specialized sales teams to develop client and country specific business plans and targets aligned to strategy.

Sales/Commercial Operations (40%)

• Supports Country Manager in proactively managing the overall sales pipeline for Austria, working with AEs, Sales Specialists and BD teams to develop joined up plans which ensures pipeline meets or exceeds targets and data is of high quality to enable key sales analytics e.g., splits by country, by client, by revenue buckets.

• Captures and prioritizes client feedback to inform strategy and commercial priorities.

• Act as a point of contact with the Sales Excellence team for sales related queries and analysis.

Other responsibilities (remaining 30% or as required)   

Client Engagement

• Role provides direct client engagement to support strategy development, RFPs, or wider industry engagement.

• As and when needed, supports Country Manager to create the Visa content for QBRs (internally and externally).

• Collaborates with Commercial/Business Development Teams and other key Stakeholders on the strategic components for individual Client RFP responses.

• Supports the Account Executive team in handling deal processes and operational tasks

Planning and Governance: 

• Oversee the planning and governance of the Strategy 2030, ensuring all projects align with strategic goals and are executed efficiently.

• Be responsible for Austria’s operational activities e.g., development of content for executive visits.

• Preparing for and managing internal audits, and risk registers (supported by Ecosystem Risk Team). 

• Identify opportunities to drive process improvement/efficiency across business areas.

Performance Insights

• Responsible for development of key performance governance material e.g., QBR.

• Provide regular updates and reports on the progress of the strategy, highlighting key milestones, risks, and achievements.

Budget Management

• Manage the budget for various projects under the Strategy 2030, ensuring resources are allocated appropriately and financial targets are met.

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

Demonstrable senior executive engagement and influencing skills
Flexibility and ability to adjust on the fly to new demands
Highly analytical, with ability to synthesize deep quantitative and qualitative analysis for executive audiences
Experience managing complex strategic initiatives within cross-functional teams
Commercially focused and a pragmatic self-starter, have the ability to identify opportunities and propose solutions
A sense of urgency, assertiveness, and directness as well as the ability to think longer-term coupled with fast execution of short-term priorities
Proven capacity to be a respected and valued partner at multiple levels within the organization
Prior experience in Corporate Strategy / Strategy Consulting preferred
Payments and Fintech experience is a plus
Solid knowledge of the payments business and financial services

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.