Senior Manager, Sales, Visa Government Solutions

What is it all about?

The role is focused on accelerating Visa Government Solutions growth across Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia and Slovenia. It requires building trusted relationships with senior government and public-sector stakeholders at C-level, while also engaging effectively with the operational leaders responsible for day-to-day processes, procurement, implementation and service delivery. The successful candidate will position Visa solutions as a strong fit for new government opportunities by combining strategic stakeholder engagement with a practical understanding of how public-sector processes are managed and executed in each market. 

A significant element of the role is pre-tender business development, both directly with government institutions and through the identification, selection and close management of enabling partners who may bid for these opportunities. Partners may include financial institutions, fintechs, issuer-processors, system integrators and technology providers. Experience with payment products, digital payments infrastructure, card payments, account-to-account payments, disbursements, acceptance solutions, payment processing or related payment capabilities will be a strong advantage. 

The role also requires close collaboration with specialist teams across Visa to bring the right combination of products, expertise and support to government clients. The candidate is expected to engage the global VGS Solutions team as appropriate to leverage global government expertise in solutioning a wide range of use cases, such as welfare disbursement, tax acceptance, government procurement, SME support, public-sector digitalization and citizen payment experiences. Building strong working relationships with Government Engagement, Legal, Communications, Marketing, Client Success, Finance, Risk and Compliance colleagues will be essential. 

This role requires a strong customer focus, commercial discipline and the ability to translate public-sector priorities into practical value propositions. The successful candidate will be a courageous and collaborative leader who can bring innovative Visa solutions to life for government clients, while maintaining the highest standards of policy, ethics, compliance and reputation management. 

• Lead prospecting and new customer acquisition strategies across Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia and Slovenia, focusing on opportunities beyond existing Visa relationships in the core consumer business and building relationships with new public-sector stakeholders. 

• Build and manage relationships with both C-level decision makers and operational leaders responsible for procurement, implementation, payments operations, digital services and customer delivery. 

• Research customer, government and market trends in Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia and Slovenia to identify potential clients, policy priorities, digitalisation programmes and new payment-related opportunities. 

• Assesses deal potential after identifying new opportunities based on strong Visa product / solution knowledge, and maintains cross-functional relationships to pull in specialists / engineers where needed to drive deals forward    

• Anticipates and uncovers ‘hidden’ client needs, giving them confidence that Visa can address their needs and jointly achieve their business objectives   

• Leads with a client-first sales mindset and creates custom, differentiated solutions that grow Visa and clients’ business   

• Maintains awareness of deal margins when negotiating and effectively sells and negotiates based on value to close deals quickly and effectively    

• Leverages internal (e.g., Legal, Finance, Risk & Compliance, Marketing) and external partnerships to bring the best of Visa to clients   

• Senior level B2B sales experience, particularly in digital product or solutions   

• Experience selling to banks, fintechs, public-sector institutions, government agencies, municipalities or ecosystem partners involved in payment products and digital payment services. 

• Deep knowledge of the various sales cycles and stages   

• The successful candidate will effectively lead new customer acquisition activities and effectively manage them throughout the entire sales cycle. In doing so, the candidate can work collaboratively across internal Visa functions to build a Visa network, solve complex problems, and serve as the face of Visa to external partners.   

• The ideal candidate will bring passion for and interest in payments, fintech, public-sector digitalisation and government transformation, with strong client-relationship building skills, senior stakeholder presence and the ability to engage both strategic decision makers and operational teams. The candidate should be proactive, resilient when faced with challenges and able to execute on ambitious goals and commercial targets across multiple markets.