Strategic Sr. Portfolio Manager (Product)

Visa Direct is a payment service that Visa provides to clients (sending and receiving financial institutions, processors, merchants, and service providers) to facilitate fund transfers/disbursements to Visa accounts around the world using push payment technology. Visa Direct consumer and business applications include person-to-person (P2P) transfer, person to micro‑business transfer (e.g., payouts to shared economy providers), funds disbursement (e.g., insurance claim disbursements), and more. The push payments market is estimated to be more than 80 Trillion of payment volume globally. The Visa Direct Product team is responsible for identifying and driving strategic enhancements to the Visa Direct platform. The portfolio team works closely with Product and Technology teams to drive prioritization and governance on investment decisions that align with Commercial Money Movement Solutions (CMS) and Visa Direct Strategy.

Essential Functions

We are looking for an experienced Senior Strategic Portfolio Manager who will manage all aspects of strategic planning supporting Product Managers through the process to drive the strategic build of the Product Portfolio and its roadmaps ensuring the value is clear and aligned to strategy. Additionally, you play a key role in maturing the portfolio processes for Visa Direct by partnering with Technology PMO. The right candidate is a self‑starter, ready to learn and experiment, and able to work both independently and as part of a team. The candidate possesses an incredible ability to collaborate well with others and drive projects forward.

This role will be responsible for:

• Driving the strategic planning, reporting and analysis for Visa Direct’s Portfolio of Products in its quarterly and annual cadences.
• Collaborating with stakeholders (Business Owners, Product Managers, Project Managers, and others) in the creation and documentation of strategic product initiatives and their work items.
• Ensuring correct prioritization and funding at each planning cycle.
• Embedding and driving agile portfolio management practices and continuous improvement, ensuring consistency and standards across different product portfolios.
• Generating thought leadership and data insights to drive strategic planning.

This position requires working with teams that follow Agile practices as well as traditional methodologies. This is NOT a technical program management role. This role supports and works directly with the Visa Direct global product managers to bring the product vision to life and deliver upon it. This is a hybrid position based in London Paddington office. This requires 3 days per week (Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays) attendance in the London office.

Basic Qualifications

• 5 or more years of relevant work experience with a Bachelors Degree or at least 2 years of work experience with an Advanced degree (e.g., Masters, MBA, JD, MD) or 2 years of work experience with a PhD.

Preferred Qualifications

• 6 or more years of work experience with a Bachelors Degree or 4 or more years of relevant experience with an Advanced Degree (e.g., Masters, MBA, JD, MD) or up to 3 years of relevant experience with a PhD.
• Superior analytical and problem‑solving skills to synthesize and communicate complex information effectively.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills, ability to quickly master new systems and/or processes, and the capacity to stay organized while managing competing priorities.
• Ability to independently drive projects through to completion.
• Drive complex deliverables in collaboration with product owners and cross‑functional stakeholders at all levels.
• Prior hands‑on experience in a product development environment leveraging Agile practices and expert knowledge of Portfolio Management or FP&A.
• Ability to function effectively in a fast‑paced environment and manage multiple projects simultaneously.
• Ability to plan and prioritize multiple tasks effectively, and to independently drive projects through to completion.
• Strength in building partnerships working collaboratively in a matrix with minimal guidance, proven influencing skills.
• Proven ability to create OKRs that are data driven, help create and apply frameworks that ensure the prioritization of the highest valuable items, build vision roadmaps, and drive strategic planning events.
• Ability to embrace change and ambiguity in an ecosystem that is rapidly evolving.
• Ability to analyse large data sets, interpret ambiguous situations, and make recommendations.
• Payment domain or FinTech experience is a major plus.

Additional Qualifications & Experience

• JIRA, Jira Align and PowerBI
• SharePoint / Wiki
• Advanced‑level knowledge of Microsoft Office Suite applications

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.