Senior Director - Head of Risk GCC

Responsibilities

Visa's Global Risk organization seeks an experienced Senior Director to lead its Risk team for the GCC region, focusing on Digital Payment Risks across the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Oman. The role involves:

• Leading Visa’s risk management strategy across GCC markets.
• Proactively identifying, assessing, and mitigating payment risks.
• Providing strategic advice to payment ecosystem partners aligning with Visa's growth objectives.
• Driving cross-functional teams to manage strategic, regulatory, compliance, and third-party risks.
• Advancing Visa’s risk roadmap initiatives and thought leadership.
• Frequent collaboration with senior internal stakeholders from business, finance, operations, government engagements, analytics, and risk value-added services.
• Extensive external engagement with clients, partners, government, and industry stakeholders.
• Leading and guiding a team of risk managers supporting the GCC subregion.

Purpose & Key Responsibilities:

• Lead risk-related interactions and build market trust.
• Ensure Visa's risk-related policies and frameworks support business needs.
• Engage stakeholders to mitigate fraud and data compromise events.
• Support a range of risk-related activities including fraud, credit, AML, KYC, and emerging technology deployment.
• Foster executive-level communication and feedback regarding risk initiatives.

Requirements

• Leadership team experience reporting to a Chief Risk Officer of a large financial institution (preferably GCC or similar markets).
• Minimum of 5 years as functional head for underwriting operations (SME, Retail, Corporate Lending): accountable for application processing, credit decisioning, and disbursal.
• Minimum of 5 years' responsibility for credit risk policy within SME, Retail, or Corporate banking (underwriting, portfolio management & collections).
• Experience presenting portfolio performance to board, audit, and risk committees.
• Strong operating knowledge of fraud, operational risk, compliance, AML, and KYC risks.
• Led programs for regulatory compliance and has been accountable for compliance audits in lending domain.

Preferred Qualifications

• Master’s degree required, with 15+ years of progressive experience in financial services.
• At least 5 years of relevant senior leadership experience.
• Executive-level influence both internally and externally.
• Excellent communication skills and the ability to synthesize complex information.
• Meticulous with deep analytical skills and a strong track record of thought leadership.
• Ability to manage multiple initiatives, multitask, and deliver under tight deadlines.
• Proven ability to drive change and build consensus across cross-functional teams.

Benefits

Visa is an Equal Employment Opportunity Employer. All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or protected veteran status.

Visa also considers qualified applicants with criminal histories in accordance with EEOC guidelines and applicable local law.

About the Company

Visa is a global leader in payments and technology, enabling over 259 billion transactions securely for consumers, merchants, and institutions in more than 200 countries and territories. Visa's mission is to connect the world with innovative, secure, and reliable payments, helping individuals, businesses, and economies thrive while uplifting everyone, everywhere. Join Visa for an impactful, purpose-driven career and experience Life at Visa.