Head of Network Access Solutions - Visa Direct

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

We are seeking a dynamic and strategic leader to define, build, and scale access models and licensing configurations for Visa Direct clients that wish to originate domestic and cross border transactions to various end points. This leader will be responsible for shaping Visa Direct’s approach to direct, sponsored, and embedded access, building the internal infrastructure to support these models, and creating a client-facing consulting practice to guide clients to the optimal approach for their use case.

This role will collaborate across product, legal, compliance, risk, operations, sales, and client services to deliver scalable solutions that meet regulatory requirements while unlocking new use cases and markets.

Key Responsibilities

Strategy & Framework Definition

• Define a cohesive framework for client access models (e.g., direct licensing, sponsored access, partner and embedded solutions).
• Establish criteria and segmentation to help clients identify the most suitable model based on their business, regulatory profile, and operational maturity.
• Define and document licensing pathways, risk tolerances, and compliance boundaries for each model.

Operational Implementation

• Design and implement internal processes, tooling, and governance structures to support each access model at scale.
• Partner with product, legal, risk, compliance and operations to streamline onboarding and servicing under each model.
• Define staffing and team structure required to support internal and external stakeholders.

Client Advisory & Enablement

• Build a consulting practice that engages clients early in the lifecycle to assess needs and recommend the appropriate access model.
• Develop playbooks, diagnostic tools, and engagement frameworks to ensure consistent and high-quality advisory delivery.

Cross-Functional Collaboration

• Work closely with Visa’s legal, compliance, and risk teams to ensure all models are regulatory-compliant across jurisdictions.
• Collaborate with marketing and sales enablement to develop collateral and training materials.

Qualifications

Basic Qualifications:

• 12 or more years of work experience with a Bachelor’s Degree or at least 10 years of work experience with an Advanced degree (e.g. Masters/MBA /JD/MD), or a minimum of 5 years of work experience with a PhD

Preferred Qualifications:

• 15+ years of experience in fintech, payments, banking, or consulting with a focus on money movement, licensing, or embedded finance.
• Deep understanding of money transmitter regulations, payment rails, and access models (direct, sponsor bank, BaaS, etc.).
• Proven experience building scalable programs or frameworks across functions.
• Strong leadership and people management skills, with experience hiring and managing cross-functional teams.
• Exceptional communication and stakeholder engagement skills, with the ability to influence at all levels.
• Proficiency in payments, processing, and product management with an emphasis on money movement, particularly in cross-border and real-time payments.
• Familiarity with Visa Direct, RTP, ACH, SWIFT, and/or cross-border payment flows.
• Knowledge and expertise in the North American ecosystem, regulatory framework, and cross-border compliance requirements.
• Demonstrated ability to implement strategic initiatives, business and operational models within a complex, multinational, and matrixed organization.
• Capable of inspiring and influencing others without direct authority and demonstrates professionalism and leadership to cultivate trust and respect with partners.
Additional Information
Work Hours: Varies upon the needs of the department.
Travel Requirements: This position requires travel 5-10% of the time.
Mental/Physical Requirements: This position will be performed in an office setting. The position will require the incumbent to sit and stand at a desk, communicate in person and by telephone, frequent