Senior Director, Innovation and Strategic Partnerships, Hong Kong

About Us

Visa is a world leader in payments technology, facilitating transactions between consumers, merchants, financial institutions and government entities across more than 200 countries and territories, dedicated to uplifting everyone, everywhere by being the best way to pay and be paid.

At Visa, you'll have the opportunity to create impact at scale - tackling meaningful challenges, growing your skills and seeing your contributions impact lives around the world.

Join Visa and do work that matters - to you, to your community, and to the world. Progress starts with you.

Job Description

Team Summary

Visa Hong Kong’s Innovation and Technology Partnerships team is a client-facing function that drives Visa’s innovation and ecosystem partnerships strategy. The team focuses on building and scaling relationships with next-generation technology partners, including fintechs, platform providers, and emerging digital ecosystems, while actively identifying future-facing opportunities that can shape the evolution of payments.

Beyond partnership development, the team plays a critical role in co-creating and commercializing new solutions. This includes working closely with internal stakeholders, as well as external partners, to design, pilot, and scale innovative use cases for focused verticals. The team leads end-to-end solution development, from ideation and market validation to go-to-market execution, ensuring that innovations are translated into tangible business outcomes.

In parallel, the team continues to drive business development and strategic engagement across both established and emerging technology players in Hong Kong and the broader region. It equips the organization with compelling sales narratives, scalable solution frameworks, and structured partnership models, enabling Visa to remain the partner of choice for technology companies while positioning the firm at the forefront of future payment innovation.

What a Senior Director, Innovation and Strategic Partnerships, does at Visa:

As the leader of Visa Hong Kong’s Innovation and Technology Partnerships team, the role will set the strategic direction for Visa’s engagement with the next generation of technology partners, ensuring the team is focused not only on near-term commercial opportunities but also on future-facing innovations that can shape the payments ecosystem. This includes identifying and prioritizing high-potential partnership areas across fintech, Web3, digital platforms, and other emerging technology sectors, while aligning these opportunities with Visa’s market priorities and broader regional strategy.

The role should also drive solution development by bringing together internal and external stakeholders to co-create, pilot, and scale new capabilities that address client needs and unlock new flows. This requires close partnership with product, advisory, risk, legal, and regional teams to turn strategic ideas into commercially viable solutions and repeatable partnership models. In parallel, the leader should build a strong business development engine for the team, equipping internal stakeholders with clear narratives, partnership frameworks, and go-to-market support, while ensuring Visa is seen as the partner of choice for technology companies in Hong Kong and beyond.

At a leadership level, the role should continuously scan the market for emerging trends, assess their relevance to Visa, and translate these into actionable partnership and innovation priorities. The leader should also represent Visa credibly with founders, executives, ecosystem partners, and internal senior management, helping position Visa at the forefront of payment innovation while delivering measurable business and strategic outcomes.

Why this is important to Visa

This role sits at the intersection of payments, technology, and innovation, offering a unique platform to engage with a rapidly evolving digital payments ecosystem. It brings together strategic partnership development, ecosystem building, and solution creation across a diverse range of industries, providing the opportunity to work on initiatives that shape how businesses and consumers interact in an increasingly digital world. With broad exposure to market trends, cross-industry collaboration, and end-to-end execution, the role enables candidates to drive meaningful impact while building a well-rounded perspective on the future of commerce and technology.

Qualifications

What you will need:

• Strategic leadership and ecosystem vision - Proven ability to define and execute partnership strategies in fast-evolving technology landscapes (e.g. fintech, Web3, digital platforms), with a strong perspective on future payment trends and their commercial implications.
• Deep understanding of emerging technologies and business models - Strong familiarity with next-generation technology ecosystems (including digital wallets, embedded finance, stablecoins, and platform-based commerce) with the ability to translate these into relevant payment use cases and partnership opportunities.
• Track record in partnership development and deal execution - Demonstrated success in structuring and scaling strategic partnerships with technology companies, including navigating complex, multi-stakeholder environments and driving commercially meaningful outcomes.
• Solution development and commercialization expertise - Experience in leading end-to-end solution development, from ideation and co-creation to pilot and scale, working cross-functionally to bring innovative propositions to market and embed them into scalable business models.
• Strong cross-functional leadership and stakeholder management - Ability to mobilize internal teams across product, sales, advisory, risk, legal, and regional functions, aligning diverse stakeholders to deliver integrated solutions and partnership outcomes.
• Market scanning and innovation prioritization - Strong analytical and strategic thinking skills to identify emerging trends, assess market relevance, and translate insights into clear priorities and actionable initiatives.
• Client engagement and executive presence - Credibility in engaging with founders, C-suite executives, and senior stakeholders across the ecosystem, with the ability to position Visa as a strategic partner in innovation and growth.
• Commercial acumen and business development mindset - Strong focus on driving tangible business impact, with the ability to build compelling value propositions, sales narratives, and repeatable partnership frameworks that support revenue growth and flow expansion.
• Regional and global mindset - Experience operating across Hong Kong and broader APAC ecosystems, with an appreciation for how to scale partnerships and solutions beyond the local market.
• Leadership and team development - Proven ability to build, mentor, and lead high-performing teams, fostering a culture of innovation, collaboration, and accountability.
• 15+ years relevant industry experience. Business development, business-to-business payments, strategy consulting experience highly desirable.
• Fluent English, Cantonese and Mandarin.

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.