Director - Acceptance - Global Clients, Merchant, Tech Partners, and Acquirers (GCMTA)

About the role

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 Role Summary The Director - Acceptance is responsible for driving the growth, strategy, and execution of merchant acceptance and acquiring partnerships across the UAE market. This role leads efforts to expand payment acceptance, deepen strategic relationships with acquirers, and accelerate transaction volume and revenue growth across priority merchant segments. This role is focused on driving revenue growth and expanding Visa's business with key acquirers in the UAE, with clear ownership of commercial outcomes, portfolio performance, and P&L delivery. Operating at a senior leadership level, the individual will influence regional strategy, manage C-level relationships, and deliver measurable business impact across acceptance and acquiring ecosystems.

Responsibilities

• Acceptance Growth & Market Expansion
• Drive the strategy and execution to expand card and digital payment acceptance across priority merchant segments.
• Identify and unlock new revenue streams across e-commerce, digital acceptance, and emerging payment flows (AFT/OCT, tokenization, new commerce models).
• Proactively identify acceptance gaps in the market and originate opportunities to expand merchant coverage.
• Lead initiatives to increase penetration of acceptance solutions (e.g., digital invoicing, Pay-by-Link, e-commerce enablement).
• Partner with sales and product teams to eliminate barriers to acceptance and improve merchant adoption.
• Acquiring Strategy & Strategic Partnerships
• Own and grow strategic relationships with key acquirers, PSPs, PayFacs, and ecosystem enablers in the UAE.
• Originate and scale opportunities by expanding ecosystem integrations across acquirers and digital partners.
• Lead development and execution of joint growth strategies and business plans with acquiring partners.
• Influence acquiring ecosystem evolution, including pricing models, localization, and regulatory alignment.
• Revenue Growth, Commercial Ownership & P&L
• Own and deliver full commercial performance, including:
• Revenue growth
• Payment volume expansion
• Portfolio profitability
• Maintain end-to-end P&L ownership, ensuring optimization of ROI across all initiatives.
• Lead pricing strategy, incentive design, and deal structuring to maximize revenue outcomes.
• Apply an enterprise-wide perspective to drive holistic portfolio growth across acceptance and acquiring ecosystems.
• Client Engagement & Executive Influence
• Engage directly with C-level stakeholders across acquirers and key ecosystem partners.
• Position acceptance and acquiring solutions as strategic enablers of growth, efficiency, and digital transformation.
• Lead executive discussions, negotiations, and large-scale commercial partnerships.
• Establish strong client engagement cadence (QBRs, growth planning sessions, executive reviews).
• Product, Innovation & Solution Expansion
• Collaborate with product and technology teams to:
• Develop and commercialize new acceptance and acquiring solutions
• Scale emerging payment capabilities (tokenization, new flows, digital commerce)
• Ensure localization of solutions aligned to UAE market needs.
• Drive end-to-end execution of growth initiatives, ensuring measurable revenue impact.
• Strategic Execution & Delivery
• Translate strategy into clear execution roadmaps with defined milestones, ownership, and KPIs.
• Ensure delivery of key initiatives (e.g., acceptance expansion, tokenization adoption, new use cases).
• Manage internal dependencies (product readiness, risk, legal, pricing approvals) to accelerate time-to-revenue.
• Maintain strong forecasting discipline, with clear visibility into:
• Pipeline
• Risks
• Revenue upside
• Leadership & Organizational Impact
• Influence cross-functional teams (Sales, Product, Risk, Marketing) to deliver integrated outcomes.
• Represent the function in leadership forums and strategic planning discussions.
• This is a hybrid position. Expectation of days in the office will be confirmed by your Hiring Manager.

Requirements

• 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
• 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 experi

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