Senior Risk Manager

Visa is a world leader in payments and technology, with over 259 billion payments transactions flowing safely between consumers, merchants, financial institutions, and government entities in more than 200 countries and territories each year. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, convenient, reliable, and secure payments network, enabling individuals, businesses, and economies to thrive while driven by a common purpose – to uplift everyone, everywhere by being the best way to pay and be paid.

Make an impact with a purpose-driven industry leader. Join us today and experience Life at Visa.

What’s it all about?

As a Senior Risk Manager for Central Europe, you will be central to developing and delivering on Risk Europe’s strategy, integration and deployment plan for tailored Visa Risk capabilities that enable clients to improve risk and fraud mitigation capabilities:

1.  Support development and execution of a comprehensive risk plan that is consistent with local market landscape, market priorities and global risk strategy:

• Under the direction of the Director Risk Management in Central Europe, the role has responsibility for payment fraud prevention, management of fraud, security and risk in the external Visa payment infrastructure in one or more countries.
• Support both internal and external risk management programs
• Support client forums (security summit, Risk Executive Councils, working groups, etc.)
• Promote & support client adoption of Visa risk products / solutions / initiatives

•    Support relationships with issuers, acquirers, merchants, payment processors, service providers, regulators, and law enforcement to: 

• Identify opportunities to enhance the payment ecosystem and advance risk management best practice.
• Support constructive relationships with local market regulators and law enforcement agencies
• Resolve fraud & data breach events
• Provide stakeholder training

•    Support the appropriate regulatory supervision framework in market:

• Support 2nd Line accountabilities in the execution of the Global Supervision Risk framework for identifying, monitoring, and managing supervisory relationships where appropriate
• Partner with business and functional teams to engage with government stakeholders, foster sound conditions to operate, and create insights on regulatory and supervisory topics for effective business responses
• Provide regular and ongoing reporting, metrics and information related to regulatory and supervisory management

•    Support innovation initiatives by assisting Visa and its clients mitigate risks and embrace new technology improvements:

• Assess emerging/innovation risks and new business models 
• Leverage local insights to contribute to Risk thought leadership 
• Guide clients through payment innovation complexity

•    Prepare reports, briefings, and other written products to update executive management on risk activities, issues, and opportunities:

• Convey risk-related trends and developments to local General Manager and leadership team through regular reporting
• Synthesize marketplace feedback regarding the effectiveness of Visa’s risk management strategy and programs, benchmark Visa’s performance relative to other payment networks and participants.
• Guide Visa’s proactive risk communications and collaboration across all of these stakeholders so as to advance the safety, security and long-term growth of the Visa payment system.

This role reports to the Director Risk Management for Central Europe, within Visa Europe’s risk management function. The position is in Frankfurt, Berlin or Munich in Germany.

What we expect of you, day to day:

Job Purpose:

Visa owns the most recognizable global brand in the financial services industry. Maintaining trust in that brand and differentiating Visa from competitors will be the Risk leader’s key responsibilities. Risk management is emerging as one of the key pillars of Visa’s strategy of championing security and deepening partnerships. The senior risk manager plays a critical role to support the enterprise and operational risk activities of the company. 

This role will be entrusted with a broad portfolio of responsibilities including Strategic Risk Management and Ecosystem Risk (Fraud & Data Security) for the Central Europe markets.  As a key member of the market Risk team, this role will advise Visa’s Central Europe Country Managers, the market executive team and hub & global functional leads on strategies related to complex operational, financial, legal and regulatory risk exposures.

In addition to overseeing Strategic Risk Management, the Risk Manager will be responsible for maintaining the integrity of the payment ecosystem, which includes issuing and acquiring banks, merchants, cardholders, and service providers such as processors, device manufacturers, and payment gateways.  In this capacity, this role will work in conjunction with Visa Government Engagement, Regulatory Risk team, and other internal and external key stakeholders.

Key Accountabilities:

• Support the development, coordination and integration of new strategies across key stakeholders globally, in Europe and in cluster, to include resource requirements across functions, business impact evaluation and scale capabilities.
• Provide ongoing and ad-hoc support for client fraud and risk events including analysis, communication and resolution in cooperation with internal and external stakeholders.
• Form key stakeholder relationships across Visa Europe to develop an in depth understanding of the current end-to-end risk client lifecycle including onboarding, credit risk and ecosystem risk monitoring. Provide recommendations to tailor the existing client lifecycle to meet specific opportunities for fraud services.
• Support business development of fraud services strategy/activities/products by being able to articulate current risk control environment, assist in assessing any new risks that may arise from new strategy/activities and consider these in the wider context of the overarching risk appetite
• Support the embedding of fraud services by working with data & analytics to collect and analyse information on the sector, including any noticeable trends, root causes, and potential solutions.
• Develop awareness of the wider regulatory environment and key external developments for the new payments flow sector including any events that may require legal consideration, regulatory engagement or a change to Visa Rules.
• Write reports and proposals to key audiences: Risk Committee (ERC), Board Risk Committee (BRC) Regulators (e.g. Bank of England, ECB etc) outlining key progress/trends/findings emerging from due diligence activity on the new payment flows sector
• Support, train and provide strategic direction to the Visa risk team and provide subject matter expert advice on any large-scale client outreach strategy, complex client queries and client facing materials that can be used in client educational sessions, client bank forums, wider industry and sector audiences as needed.

This is a hybrid position. Hybrid employees can alternate time between both remote and office. Employees in hybrid roles are expected to work from the office 2-3 set days a week (determined by leadership/site), with a general guidepost of being in the office 50% or more of the time based on business needs.

• Knowledge of Central Europe and wider European payments and / or financial services industry and the major trends affecting key stakeholders, including the regulatory, political and market environment, payment products and services, economic and competitive landscape technology and the rising threat of data breaches.
• Knowledge, understanding and experience of risk management practices in finance and the payment industries.
• Knowledge of fraud management in the finance and payment industries, including investigation of individual fraud events and analysis of trends utilizing data.
• Track record in synthesizing complex information to produce impactful management information and analysis, and support informed executive decision making.
• Understanding of technologies and capabilities that assist in fraud monitoring, controls, fraud reduction, fraud exploit identification and cybersecurity capabilities to reduce financial risk.
• Track record in synthesizing complex information to produce impactful management information and analysis, and support informed executive decision making.
• Knowledge and understanding of relevant financial and payment industry regulation.
• Experience in preparing, reviewing and delivering executive level communications, both in writing and verbally.

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.