Head of Acceptance Sales, Japan

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.

Job Description

The Head of Acceptance Sales Japan will be an integral part of Japan VAS team, responsible for accelerating the sales expansion of Visa Acceptance Solutions. In this role, you will be responsible for creating and sustaining a strong sales pipeline and effectively driving VAS revenue growth for Visa.

This position will report into Head of Acceptance Sales AP and interact with cross-functional teams in a global environment. Key stakeholders include Account Relationship Managers, Sales, Product Managers, Product Development, Marketing, Customer Service, and Client Project Leads. The ideal candidate is a seasoned sales leader who is motivated self-starter with leadership and management qualities that can work independently in a fast paced, ambiguous environment with limited supervision. He or she must be a fast learner who can quickly absorb the nuances of complex, varied payment offerings. 

This role is heavily client focused and will require a consulting approach and strong client engagement skills to understand the needs and ideate the right solutions.

Key responsibilities include:

• Develop and execute a multi-year product strategy for the Acceptance VAS business, which considers nuances relevant to Japan market, e.g., market structure (including fintech and marketplace ecosystem), existing and emerging payment acceptance methods, local regulation, mix of digital payments, and opportunities for inorganic growth
• Create new sales and revenue generating opportunities as appropriate via a robust pipeline
• Expand existing relationships/partnerships through the selling of Visa Acceptance Solutions
• Utilize a consultative sales approach that ensures that the client’s business objectives are met and that the performance metrics of their payment portfolios are maximized
• Continuously review payment landscape and recommend, develop, and implement new and creative approaches to grow Visa’s Acceptance business
• Assist marketing and product development in launching new products or expanding the penetration of existing products within current and new accounts
• Provide operational or technical leadership within sales
• Ensure implementation of annual goals and plans
• Foster productive relationships at all levels with the client and the Visa organization
  Develop an understanding of the merchants’ and payment service providers’ business
• Actively participate and lead various ad-hoc internal projects as assigned
• Participate in sales meetings and training activities
• Develop a comprehensive understanding of all Visa products and services, with particular focus on Acceptance Solutions

Qualifications

What do you need:

• 10 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
• 12-15 years of experience as sales, with at least 5-7 years of team management experience, selling complex system integrated business applications. Ideal candidate will have deep knowledge and experience with managing sales execution and pipeline with cross functional, global teams
• Solution focused connect the dots and leverage Visa best practices, unafraid to make timely decisions in ambiguous, high pressure situations, quick to adjust/recover and reset priorities in changing circumstances.
• Excellent verbal and written communication and presentation skills in both Japanese and English

What may also help:

• Willingness to learn and execute effective sales strategies for new payment products and services
• Exposure to payment industry, ideally in the seller-side ecosystem
• Able to motivate staff and influence their tasks to align with Visa’s wider organizational goals and priorities
• Strong organizational skills and ability to navigate through ambiguity by adequately assessing tradeoff/impact analysis. Able to adapt quickly to changing priorities, assignments, and roles.
• Team player. Able to communicate with technical and business experts at all levels of the organization, for both internal and external audiences.
• Solid analytical, quantitative and problem-solving skills. Ability to think and communicate strategically.
• Excellent Microsoft Project and presentation skills.
• Travel is required. Approximately 10%.

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.