Director, Government Affairs

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:

The Government Affairs (GA) team seeks to ensure broad alignment between Visa’s business objectives and public policies that affect the payments industry. Externally, the GA team engages a wide range of stakeholders to raise awareness of, and build support for, policies that expand access to, and usage of, digital payments in Australia, New Zealand & the Pacific Islands (AuNZPI).

Internally, GA works closely with colleagues across the company, including Risk, Legal, Compliance, Product, Sales, Social Impact & Sustainability, Communications, and Global Policy and Regulatory Affairs. 

What a Director, Government Affairs does at Visa: 

Based in Sydney, the Director, Government Affairs, works on setting strategic direction, building consensus, and coordinating engagement with regard to Visa’s regulatory relationships in Australia.  

Reporting to the Head of Government Affairs, AUNZPI, the successful candidate will support Visa’s external engagement with regulatory bodies, such as the Reserve Bank of Australia. This will include managing outreach and engagement with regulators in Australia as well as developing strategic narratives, submissions, and other content for regulators. 

Internally, the Director will partner closely with the Head of GA for AUNZPI, the local GA team, and the Asia Pacific GA team as well as Visa colleagues in-market, and the regional and global market support centres to help develop and implement Visa’s business strategy to grow digital commerce and the future of payments in Australia and, where required, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands.  

More broadly, in this role, you are expected to: 

• Develop and implement an overall regulatory strategy for Australia in close coordination with the AUNZPI Head of GA, along with other Visa peers and colleagues in the market and across the wider organization. 

• Monitor the regulatory landscape in Australia for threats and opportunities to Visa’s business and communicate this intelligence to locally-based business leaders, functional colleagues, and global management. 

• Manage Visa’s relationships with regulators in Australia, and working with the AUNZPI Head of GA ensure all public sector engagements across the business are compliant with Visa’s Political Participation, Lobbying, and Contributions (PPLC) policy. 

• Keep regulator stakeholders informed about the value of Visa, including through regular policy discussions and technical briefings with Visa subject matter experts presenting to regulators. 

• Establish and maintain appropriate contact with counterparts at other industry participants, including client banks. 

Why this is important to Visa:

We believe that inclusive economies uplift everyone, everywhere, which drives our mission to connect the world and enables individuals, businesses and economies to thrive.  As an officially-recognised ‘Inclusive Company’, Visa works with all of our partners in Australia, New Zealand & the Pacific Islands to expand access to the most innovative payment technology powering global commerce.

This role is essential to growing our regulatory relationships and displaying Visa’s thought leadership work in payments security and emerging technologies. 

Through these efforts, we are meaningfully deepening our partnership with regulators who are shaping the regulatory and operating environment for digital payments.  

Projects you will be a part of: 

• Build or further enhance close engagement with regulatory bodies in Australia 
• Help shape regulatory reporting and other submissions to regulators in Australia
• Provide regulatory advice on, and advocacy support for, new business initiatives 
• Help shape Visa’s long-term strategy for AuNZPI, as well Asia-Pacific and Global GA more broadly, contributing to in-market business and functional leadership teams.

This is a hybrid position. Expectation of days in office will be confirmed by your hiring manager.

Qualifications

What you will need:  

We are looking for an individual who brings strong leadership skills, exceptional maturity and attention to detail, along with the ability to effectively manage multiple urgent business priorities and significant regulatory developments simultaneously.  

As a candidate, you should have: 

• 12+ years of government affairs/regulatory experience and achievement in Australia
• Thorough knowledge of the Australian Government and regulators and how they operate; strong understanding of Australian regulators’ core policy motivations. 

• Demonstrated ability to build and maintain strong professional relationships with internal and external stakeholders at senior and executive management levels. 

• The highest standards for ethical conduct, confidentiality and integrity, with a strong professional reputation in the industry. 

• Good judgment and experience handling confidential and material, non-public information. 

• The ability to operate effectively in a challenging, fast-paced environment with limited supervision. 

• Experience in setting priorities and engaging successfully with internal and external stakeholders. 

• A strong ability to work collaboratively with others across geographic boundaries. 

• A proactive and solution-oriented mindset, always looking for ways to add value and assist the broader Visa team. 

• Excellent presentation skills, including strong oral and written communication. 

• Willingness to travel as required, where and when appropriate. 

• Willingness to undertake other duties on the AuNZPI GA team, as needed. 

What will also help:

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent required, graduate degree preferred 

• Combination of corporate and regulatory experience, ideally in Australia 

• Working knowledge of payments industry in Australia  

• Influencing and negotiation skills 

• Complex analytical abilities and outstanding written skills 

• Team building and management experience  

• Excellent stakeholder management  

• Executive presence 

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.