Director, Risk Management South Africa

Company Description

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.

Visa’s Global Risk organization is seeking a leader to build a team of experienced Risk professionals focusing on Visa’s top Technology Risk. This leader will be responsible for providing second line of defense oversight on Technology Risks, ensuring secure and high availability/reliability of Visa Services. Key business partners will include all Technology leaders. This leader should collaborate with leaders from Cybersecurity, Operations & Infrastructure (O&I) and Client Support Services (CSS) to build a Risk management program including risk identification, mitigation, compliance and governance processes.

Job Description

• Ecosystem Risk Management: Maintain a heightened awareness of the country/regional business environment, payment systems, and other risks to clients operating in each market. Stay informed about past and present tactics used to mitigate these risks. Serve as the main advisor to business and risk teams. Monitor local risk-related trends and developments, such as fraud schemes, regulatory changes, and key developments required to enhance the risk profile of partners and clients as well as Visa’s risk posture. Take the lead in protecting the payment ecosystem by proactively managing Visa’s Ecosystem Integrity programs with internal and external stakeholders.
• Business Alignment: Align Visa’s risk-related objectives and activities with Visa’s business goals in the region to optimize long-term growth. Ensure that risk management strategies support and enhance the overall business strategy.
• Risk Relationship Management: Engage key stakeholders, including clients, law enforcement, government, and other relevant entities, to secure support for Visa’s goals and address identified risks. Foster strong relationships to facilitate risk management efforts. Be the primary Visa risk expert advisor to key clients in the market. Drive risk engagement and provide focus to key clients, fintechs, merchants, and emerging payment stakeholders. Develop and execute a client engagement plan and materials to help clients optimize fraud performance, determine the type and frequency of engagements. Maintain a database of key internal and external client contacts and a client engagement calendar. Develop and execute a constructive engagement plan for external payment system stakeholders (law enforcement, government, etc.).
• Thought Leadership: Differentiate Visa by demonstrating thought leadership on risk issues to payment system stakeholders. Utilize insights from local, regional, and global sources to influence and guide risk management practices. Orchestrate client meetings (e.g., sub-regional Risk Executive Councils, meetings) and industry forums (Risk Summits) of payment system stakeholders (e.g., clients, law enforcement, regulators, industry participants) to drive greater awareness and support for Visa’s payment system risk strategy. Be the point of reference in all risk-related engagement with regulatory and industry bodies. Positively influence regulations and risk/security-related practices to ensure a strong payment ecosystem and a growth environment for Visa, its clients, and the industry. Differentiate Visa as a digital payments leader by providing clients and other stakeholders with value-added insights, best practices, conducting onsite market fraud prevention seminars (or webinars), and educational materials.
• Communication: Ensure effective communication and provide marketplace feedback regarding Visa’s risk-related programs, policies, and other activities. Maintain transparency and keep all relevant parties informed about risk management initiatives and outcomes.

This is a hybrid position. Hybrid employees can alternate time between both remote and office. Employees in hybrid roles are expected to work from the office 2-3 set days a week (determined by leadership/site), with a general guidepost of being in the office 50% or more of the time based on business needs.

Qualifications

Basic Qualifications
10 or more years of work experience with a Bachelor’s Degree or at least 8 years of work experience with an Advanced Degree (e.g. Masters/ MBA/JD/MD) or at least 3 years of work experience with a PhD.

Preferred Qualifications
• 12 or more years of work experience with a Bachelor’s Degree or 8-10 years of experience with an Advanced Degree (e.g. Masters, MBA, JD, MD) or 6+ years of work experience with a PhD.
• Degree qualified from a recognized university, post-graduate qualifications preferred.
• Experience in managing fraud risk, transaction monitoring operations, application fraud assessment, and suspicious transaction review.
• Good understanding of and/or experience with money laundering typologies.
• Assessed impact of regulation on business or operations, responsible for responding to regulatory requirements, and participated or led responses to regulatory supervision or scrutiny.
• Good understanding of and/or experience with the credit risk landscape across the credit lifecycle.
• Experience with maximizing portfolio performance within the confines of local regulation.
• Led the underwriting of merchants for an acquirer or led the underwriting for small and medium business for commercial lending, managed client due diligence operations, and client onboarding process ownership.
• Good understanding of and experience with acquiring risk with hands-on application experience improving the acquiring risk posture of an entity.
• Hands-on experience with merchant or SME credit underwriting and lifecycle management from a risk perspective.
• Good understanding of illegitimate transaction flow typologies, root causes, and key signs.
• Managed third-party risk assessment, responsibility for evaluating risk controls, and reviewer of risk control reporting in the organization.
• Good understanding of the role of different players in the payment ecosystem.
• Good understanding and/or experience with managing third-party risk.
• Self-starter with excellent communication skills, both oral and written.
• Ability to drive results with multiple stakeholders and cultivate strong and trusted relationships with internal stakeholders, clients, partners, and regulators.

Additional Information

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.