Vice President, Corporate Development

Visa’s Global Corporate Development team is responsible for helping shape Visa’s strategy, source and execute M&A and investments, and develop and implement value creation plans in partnership with business and regional leaders for Visa globally. As the payment landscape evolves, the CDMA organization partners with Consumer, VAS, and CMS business leaders, regional presidents, and corporate strategy to evaluate, analyze, and prioritize Visa’s M&A and larger strategic investments.

The VP, Corporate Development will lead activities including identifying, evaluating, and executing public and private company acquisitions, joint ventures, minority investments, and other strategic initiatives. The stronger candidate will benefit from payments industry familiarity and proven strategic thinking. This role will require a balance of leadership and support for all aspects of the transaction evaluation and execution, from idea generation through valuation, due diligence, negotiation/transaction structuring, executive discussion, approval, and integration and value creation planning and implementation, as appropriate.

A leading candidate will have an investment track record with responsibility for successfully deploying capital and leading multiple acquisition or investment transactions from identification through closing and have a firm understanding of a deal process as well as typical points of friction in a transaction, and a demonstrated history of resolving them. S/he also must be skilled at leading cross-functional teams through detailed processes including articulation of strategic investment rationale as well as key potential risks, identification of the levers that will drive shareholder value creation, execution of diligence to test thesis and considerations, negotiation of definitive documentation, and implementation of the integration and value creation plan. S/he must be collaborative by nature and a strong leader – one who is continually refining and improving practices. The successful candidate will become a trusted partner to Visa’s global business leaders.

Responsibilities

• Serve as key member of the Global Corporate Development leadership team, owning Visa’s growth strategy through identification, assessment and execution of potential mergers, acquisitions, investments and joint ventures.
• Build a high-performance culture through attracting, developing, motivation, and retaining a team of corporate development professionals in support of the Corporate Development strategy.
• Actively investigate industry trends and specific opportunities for growth within Visa’s existing businesses and expansion into new areas, absorb information and form a persuasive point of view grounded in data, and articulate this view effectively with a variety of stakeholders, including executive management.
• Partner with Senior Business Leaders on strategy development and realization, and identify opportunities in a progressive, systematic and routine fashion. Build relationships with each business unit to keep an ongoing flow of ideas that is aligned with their objectives.
• Manage detailed global diligence processes, partnering closely with Visa colleagues and external advisors to understand complex businesses in a short period of time. Use seasoned judgment to prioritize efforts and escalate critical findings effectively.
• Articulate clear rationales and risks associated with proposed transactions through spoken and written communications with deal sponsors, functional leadership, and senior executives, considering Visa’s overall interests.
• Manage Visa's global industry engagement and deal/investment relationships with Investment Banking, PE, and VC firms. Serve as the primary Visa interface with partner companies and the point of coordination for all co-investment and other activities with these companies.

S/he must be collaborative by nature and a strong leader – one who is continually refining and improving practices. The successful candidate will become a trusted partner to Visa’s global business leaders.

Basic Qualifications

• 12 or more years of work experience with a bachelor’s degree or at least 10 years of experience with an Advanced degree (e.g. Masters/ MBA/JD/MD) or at least 8 years of work experience with a PhD.

Preferred Qualifications

• 15 years of relevant work experience including multiple completed buy-side M&A transactions and/or equity investments including identification, negotiation, and execution, experience identifying, assessing, and constructively addressing deal issues related to legal, regulatory, accounting, and tax.
• MBA or relevant graduate degree or similar academic/professional experience.
• Experience leading a team in a geographically diverse environment, particularly multi-national business experience.
• Deep knowledge and understanding of payments, software, technology and/or financial service industries.
• Experience working in a demanding environment with highly motivated and driven professionals.
• Ability to handle projects with multiple workstreams, with proven leadership success over a wide variety of functional business problems.
• Superior analytical and problem-solving skills, with demonstrated intellectual and analytical rigor, including financial and valuation analyses.
• Ability to structure and manage complex cross-enterprise projects and processes with multiple stakeholders at both senior and junior levels.
• Excellent presentation skills and executive presence, including strong oral and writing capabilities, ability to clearly communicate compelling messages to senior managers and external business partners.
• Strong leadership skills with a team-oriented and collaborative approach to achieving impact, balanced with strong independent thought leadership.
• Enthusiastic work ethic, passion for learning, and acute professional curiosity, able to solve problems with balance of independence and well-solicited input.