Vice President, Head of Sales Operations, CEMEA

Role Overview

Vice President, Head of Sales Operations, CEMEA at Visa. This is a senior leadership role based in the CEMEA region, sitting at the intersection of commercial strategy, operational excellence, sales transformation, data, technology, and AI innovation.

Company Overview

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. The company is dedicated to uplifting everyone, everywhere by being the best way to pay and be paid.

Role Purpose

To drive the operational and strategic capabilities that enable commercial growth, accelerate market penetration, improve seller productivity, and strengthen organizational effectiveness across the CEMEA region. The successful candidate will lead the development of scalable operating models, performance management frameworks, sales planning processes, technology strategies, analytics capabilities, and AI-enabled solutions that drive business outcomes and improve commercial execution.

Key Responsibilities

Commercial Strategy, Sales Planning & Organizational Effectiveness

• Lead the development and execution of CEMEA's sales operating model, ensuring alignment with Visa's growth strategy and long-term business objectives.
• Drive regional sales strategy development in partnership with the CEMEA President and Regional Leadership Team.
• Design and evolve customer segmentation, account coverage, and client prioritization frameworks that maximize commercial growth opportunities.
• Establish market and territory strategies that optimize resource deployment and seller effectiveness.
• Develop and govern account planning methodologies that strengthen client engagement and pipeline development.
• Lead annual and multi-year sales planning processes, including resource allocation, investment prioritization, and organizational capacity planning.
• Assess market opportunities, competitive dynamics, and growth trends to inform commercial strategy.
• Partner with Country Managers and functional leaders to continuously enhance organizational effectiveness and sales structures.
• Drive clarity, consistency, and scalability across regional commercial operating models.

Commercial Performance Management

• Lead quota setting, target allocation, and sales performance management processes across the region.
• Partner with Global Sales Operations, Finance, and Human Resources to design and implement incentive compensation and performance frameworks.
• Develop and govern KPIs, performance scorecards, sales productivity metrics, and executive dashboards.
• Provide actionable insights that improve revenue growth, seller productivity, client expansion, and pipeline conversion.
• Lead monthly, quarterly, and annual business reviews with senior executives.
• Deliver forecasting insights and performance analyses that support strategic decision-making.
• Identify performance risks, resource gaps, and growth opportunities to improve commercial outcomes.
• Drive operating rigor and governance across all levels of the sales organization.

Sales Process Excellence & Commercial Transformation

• Serve as executive sponsor and business owner for end-to-end sales processes, including lead generation, opportunity management, pipeline governance, forecasting, deal management, and contracting workflows.
• Establish best-in-class sales standards, methodologies, and governance frameworks.
• Lead large-scale transformation initiatives that improve seller experience, customer experience, and revenue conversion.
• Simplify and automate core workflows to increase selling capacity and reduce administrative burden.
• Drive forecasting accuracy and pipeline discipline across the region.
• Oversee contracting and VIK management.
• Partner with Product, Finance, Legal, Technology, and Operations teams to optimize lead-to-cash processes.
• Ensure successful implementation and adoption of new operating models, tools, and commercial processes.
• Champion continuous improvement initiatives that enhance commercial effectiveness and business performance.

Sales Enablement, Capability Building & Productivity

• Partner with Global Sales Enablement teams and CEMEA Leadership Team to develop and execute capability-building strategies that are fit for purpose for CEMEA needs.
• Lead onboarding, training, and role-based development programs for sales professionals and leaders.
• Drive adoption of leading sales methodologies, playbooks, and best practices.
• Establish robust knowledge management frameworks and content governance standards.
• Support execution of strategic go-to-market initiatives and regional sales plays.
• Develop programs that improve commercial acumen, leadership capability, and sales effectiveness.
• Build frameworks that enable consistent execution and performance across markets and functions.

Sales Technology, Data, Analytics & Artificial Intelligence

• Own the regional sales analytics and business intelligence agenda.
• Deliver executive-level insights, dashboards, and reporting that support strategic growth, productivity, and investment decisions.
• Drive standardization of metrics, reporting frameworks, and data governance processes.
• Champion CRM optimization and adoption across the region.
• Partner with global teams to define and execute the regional Sales Technology roadmap.
• Lead implementation and adoption of commercial productivity tools and digital capabilities.
• Serve as the regional executive sponsor for Sales Technology, Data, and AI initiatives.
• Develop and execute a multi-year AI strategy that enhances decision-making, forecasting accuracy, pipeline management, and seller effectiveness.
• Identify opportunities to leverage automation, machine learning, generative AI, and AI agents to improve efficiency and commercial execution.
• Ensure strong data quality, governance, and foundational data readiness capabilities across the sales ecosystem.
• Foster a culture of AI fluency and digital innovation across the organization.

Executive Leadership & Stakeholder Management

• Act as a trusted advisor to the Regional President and CEMEA Leadership Team on growth strategy, commercial performance, resource allocation, and transformation priorities.
• Represent CEMEA within Global Sales Operations leadership forums.
• Influence and align senior stakeholders within a highly matrixed global organization.
• Translate global priorities into regional execution plans while ensuring local market relevance.
• Drive enterprise-wide transformation initiatives that improve growth, operational efficiency, and client outcomes.
• Shape strategic investment decisions by providing data-driven recommendations and insights.
• Serve as the voice of commercial operations across the region.
• Build, lead, and develop a high-performing, diverse Sales Operations organization across multiple geographies and cultures.

Qualifications & Experience

Required

• Bachelor's degree in Business, Finance, Economics, Engineering, Data Analytics, or a related field.
• 15+ years of experience in Sales Operations, Revenue Operations, Commercial Operations, Strategy, Management Consulting, Financial Services, Payments, Technology, or related disciplines.
• Demonstrated success leading regional or global sales operations organizations within complex, matrixed environments.
• Deep expertise in sales planning, territory design, account coverage, quota management, performance management, pipeline governance, forecasting, and commercial transformation.
• Proven track record of driving large-scale operational improvement and business transformation initiatives.
• Strong understanding of CRM platforms, sales technology ecosystems, analytics, automation, and artificial intelligence applications.
• Experience influencing senior executives and leading cross-functional change agendas.
• Strong strategic, analytical, communication, and leadership capabilities.
• Experience leading diverse, geographically distributed teams.

Preferred

• MBA or advanced degree.
• Experience within payments, fintech, financial services, technology, or related industries.
• Demonstrated success implementing AI-enabled business solutions and commercial transformation initiatives.
• Global or multi-regional leadership experience.

Skills & Competencies

• Strategic planning and commercial strategy development.
• Sales operations and revenue operations expertise.
• Sales process design and optimization.
• Performance management and accountability.
• Data analytics and business intelligence.
• CRM platform expertise and optimization.
• Artificial intelligence and automation capabilities.
• Change management and transformation leadership.
• Cross-functional stakeholder influence and alignment.
• Financial acumen and resource allocation.
• Executive presence and communication.
• Team leadership and talent development.

Additional Information

• 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.