Common
Purpose, Uncommon Opportunity. 
Everyone at Visa works with one goal in mind – making sure that Visa is the best way to pay and be paid, for
everyone everywhere. This is our global vision and the common purpose that unites the entire Visa team.  As a global payments technology company, tech is at the heart of what we do: Our VisaNet network processes over 13,000 transactions per second for people and businesses around the world, enabling them to use digital currency instead of cash and checks. We are also global advocates for financial inclusion, working with partners around the world to help those who lack access to financial services join the global economy. Visa’s
sponsorships, including the Olympics and FIFA™ World Cup, celebrate teamwork, diversity, and excellence throughout the world. If you have a passion to make a difference in the lives of people around the world, Visa offers an uncommon opportunity to build a strong, thriving career. Visa is fueled by our team of talented employees who continuously raise the bar on delivering the convenience and security of digital currency to people all over the world. Join our team and find out how Visa is everywhere you want to be.

Purpose

The MENA Business Planning and Operations (BP&O) team directly
supports the MENA Group Country Manager (GCM) and sets out to facilitate
achievement of financial and business goals for the region.  Closely engaging with all internal stakeholders
(GCM, Country Managers, CEMEA Regional Hub and various functional verticals),
the team provides guidance, oversight and project management across strategic
and BAU priorities of the region.

Principle Responsibilities / Key Results Area

The Director, Business Planning and Operations will support the Head of BP&O MENA in financial planning, decision making, competitive tracking, managing strategic business initiatives, client support programs, management reporting, insights and related areas.  Primary responsibilities of this position are:

1. Ensure strategic projects are executed as per business requirements by:

• Overseeing major strategic project work streams related to Visa business.  This includes tracking of
  progress against agreed milestones, designing and managing a governance structure, highlighting issues, and creating a mechanism for corrective action when required
• Maintaining business landscape knowledge to provide solid foundational context to critical strategic projects
  

2. Collaborate with business line management across MENA.

• Specific project content will vary greatly in sponsor, business or strategic focus, depth, and stakeholders served, ranging from broad co-ordination efforts across multiple countries or functional areas to focused special assignments for senior management that are of high strategic importance
  to Visa’s business in MENA

3. Facilitate the annual business planning cycle; handle cross-functional discussions, review all proposals, and ensure optimal investment of resources in order to finalize the operating plan for MENA

4. Identify, structure, and manage complex business issues to arrive at recommendations that drive corporate objectives.  Drive solving of a range of business problems by collaborating and coordinating with multiple internal stakeholders.

5. Research and analyse internal/ external data, information and trends to present client and market level insights to the MENA leadership team

6. Communicate and generate support for recommendations among business leaders across the
organization

7. Provide frameworks and perspectives relevant to business objectives

8. Maintain tight alignment and work closely with Functional and Country management teams, acting
as a project manager on strategic or pan-regional projects, and bringing timely and useful insight, perspective, analytical support, and research resources

9. Work with minimal direction, usually within a complex and often ambiguous environment, to drive
rigorous, fact-based recommendations to regional management

10. Balance facilitation, influence, and content contribution to help business leaders design their strategies and achieve their goals.  

11. Prepare regular management reporting and presentation documents

Key Competencies

• Strategic thinking, strong analytical skills and financial acumen

• Ability to clearly communicate, verbally and in writing, compelling messages to senior managers and other stakeholders

• Self-confident and hands-on, with the ability to operate in a fast paced and constantly
  changing work environment

• Ability to rally corporate resources and functional experts to drive business objectives

• Strong interpersonal and leadership skills to influence and build credibility with various MENA functions and Country teams, in order to work in a matrix organization

• Project management skills and strong execution ability to deliver against tight deadlines

• Collaborative and resilient

• Ability to learn quickly, deal with complexity and lead change 

• Aptitude to source relevant information and facilitate timely decisions; tolerance for ambiguity

• Ability to quickly assess an opportunity, using industry experience and fact-based analyses 
  

• Good command of MS Excel and MS PowerPoint
  
  

Reporting Relationships

• The position is based in Dubai and reports to the Head of Business Planning & Operations, MENA

• This is an individual contributor role, with no direct reports   
  

• Postgraduate degree in a business relevant discipline  

• Minimum of 10 years work experience in Retail Banking, Management Consulting, Corporate Strategy or a related function

• Experience in and/or exposure to the financial services/payments industry required

• Global or multi-national business experience strongly preferred

• Experience in handling projects with multiple work streams, and coordinating complex cross-enterprise processes with multiple stakeholders at both senior and junior levels