The Product and Payment Services Risk (PPSR) organization at Visa oversees Visa’s strategic pillars and underlying business units. For Visa’s Global Products pillar, this includes Global Data Office, Growth Products, Global Products and Initiatives and Platform & Products initiatives. PPSR is focused on overseeing product builds, pipeline and portfolio execution and tackling risks inherent in each area.
The Director, Product & Payment Services Risk serves as the primary Risk Business Partner (RBP) to Visa’s Platform and Product team. This leader drives a strong, proactive risk culture by operationalizing enterprise and operational risk frameworks, providing credible challenge, and enabling business leaders to make informed, risk‑aware decisions.
This role requires a highly analytical, product‑savvy, data‑driven leader who can navigate ambiguity, influence senior stakeholders, and translate complex risk themes into actionable insights. The ideal candidate blends deep risk expertise with strong product intuition, and the ability to simplify risk for executives through storytelling and analytics.
The role will have significant impact and senior leadership exposure with the successful candidate responsible for embedding risk management within the 1st line of their covered areas. This role will ensure identification, assessment, and monitoring of risks related to products, services and operations in line with Visa’s risk frameworks and appetite, while driving the strengthening of key controls across multiple teams. The role will be at the forefront of Visa’s innovation practices, ensuring operational excellence is deployed across key processes and controls.
Risk Business Partner Leadership
- Provide risk leadership by providing objective perspective, credible challenge, and forward‑looking risk insights.
- Build trusted, influential relationships with senior product and business leaders.
- Bring an independent point of view on risk‑reward tradeoffs, ensuring that strategic decisions are consistent with Visa’s risk appetite.
- Partner with other second-line programs and teams (e.g. Model Risk Management, Third Party Lifecycle Management, Ecosystem Risk, Data Governance & AI, Compliance etc.) to support roll out and implementation of appropriate risk management activities.
- Providing an aggregated view of the Platform and Product Risk Profiles through developing a bottom up (e.g., key PRRs, operational risk themes, KRIs, risk events, control testing) and top down (key risks from senior leadership) view on risks to feed quarterly Risk Profiles and leadership discussions for the business unit.
- This will include providing oversight and constructive challenges to Platform and Products business unit as well as cross-functional stakeholders (e.g. Client Services, Finance, Compliance, Legal and Technology) in their management of risk, while making recommendations on control enhancements or other actions required to drive risk mitigation and reduce exposure.
- The individual will be regarded as a trusted business partner that can consult executive management to make key risk decisions, leveraging the expertise across business teams, other second line risk management teams and cross-functional subject matter experts. The candidate is to be viewed by the organization as knowledgeable, capable, competent, and an agent for change.
Product Risk Review leadership
- Partner directly with product teams to understand roadmaps, identify risk‑relevant initiatives, and provide early advisory support.
- Evaluate product features, process flows, and ecosystem implications to assess inherent and residual risks.
- Lead Product Risk Reviews (PRRs) independently, ensuring risks, controls, mitigations, and post‑launch monitoring plans are well‑defined.
- Provide constructive yet firm challenges to First Line decisions when risks are underestimated or not adequately mitigated.
- This role requires practical & strategic understanding of the payments industry, business environment and demonstrated experience assessing risks associated with business imperatives, strategies and operational processes. This individual must work collaboratively with cross functional and geographically diverse teams to execute against a common goal of protecting the enterprise.
RCSA Program Leadership & Portfolio management
- Lead and scale the global RCSA program for the Global Products team alongside RBPs for individual product lines.
- Drive end‑to‑end RCSA execution: scoping, risk identification, control assessment, testing standards, evidence quality, and issue remediation.
- Deliver portfolio‑level insights on key operational risks, control gaps, and emerging themes.
- Strengthen operational resilience through continuous improvement and enhanced control design.
Risk Governance, Oversight & Portfolio Management
- Transform complex, cross‑product risk data into clear, consumable insights that help senior leaders understand exposure, trends, and decision implications.
- Build and maintain portfolio‑level analytics, including KRIs, thematic trends, and risk profiles to surface emerging risks and drive proactive action.
- Create executive‑ready dashboards and visual storytelling using tools like Tableau or Power BI, translating raw data into compelling narratives.
- Identify early‑stage risk patterns across product lines and provide actionable, data‑driven recommendations to mitigate exposure.
- Synthesize diverse risk signals into cohesive strategic viewpoints, ensuring alignment with enterprise frameworks and elevating critical themes for leadership attention.
This is a hybrid position. Expectation of days in the office will be confirmed by your Hiring Manager
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
- Bachelor’s degree in a science or business field preferred, with 10–12+ years of relevant experience in financial services or product organizations.
- Strong business acumen, including commercial or client‑facing experience, and deep understanding of the payments industry, regulatory environment, and competitive landscape.
- Advanced knowledge of risk management practices, controls, and enterprise‑wide risk methodologies, with practical experience applying the Three Lines of Defense model.
- Proven ability to assess strategic, operational, and regulatory risks across complex products, processes, and global teams.
- Experience reducing residual risk levels through strong analytical and data‑driven assessment of critical business processes spanning multiple teams and geographies.
- Excellent time management, problem‑solving, communication, and facilitation skills, with experience delivering in global and regional environments.
- Strong ability to build trusted relationships and influence stakeholders at all organizational levels within a global matrix structure.
- Ability to operate independently in a dynamic environment, balancing strategic thinking with hands‑on execution and consistently delivering on commitments.
- Demonstrated executive presence with the ability to engage, influence, and advise senior leaders across product and other cross-functional teams.
- Skilled at communicating complex risk themes to executives and driving cross‑functional alignment without direct authority.
- Strong judgment to balance partnership and independence, providing constructive, well‑supported challenge to First Line decisions and escalating concerns when needed.
- Demonstrated leadership of end‑to‑end RCSA execution, including scoping, risk identification, control assessment, testing standards, evidence quality, and issue remediation.
- Ability to deliver portfolio‑level insights on operational risks, control gaps, and emerging themes, strengthening operational resilience through improved control design.
- Proficiency with tools such as MS Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OpenPages (GoRO), Tableau, and Power BI for risk analytics and executive‑ready storytelling.
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, frequently operate standard office equipment, such as telephones and computers.
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.
Visa will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with applicable local law, including the requirements of Article 49 of the San Francisco Police Code.
U.S. APPLICANTS ONLY: The estimated salary range for this position is 145,100 to 232,200 USD per year, which may include potential sales incentive payments (if applicable). Salary may vary depending on job-related factors which may include knowledge, skills, experience, and location. In addition, this position may be eligible for bonus and equity. Visa has a comprehensive benefits package for which this position may be eligible that includes Medical, Dental, Vision, 401 (k), FSA/HSA, Life Insurance, Paid Time Off, and Wellness Program.
