Senior Director, Head of Risk, Singapore, Malaysia & Thailand (SMT)

Position Summary

The Head of Risk, Singapore, Malaysia & Thailand (SMT) is responsible for fraud and risk management across Visa Singapore, Brunei, Malaysia and Thailand. Their responsibility is to maintain trust in the Visa brand, championing security in the industry and differentiating Visa in the eyes of clients, key industry stakeholders and regulators.

As a vital member of the SMT cluster Leadership team and the Asia Pacific (AP) Risk Leadership team, this position will advise the cluster Country Managers, the Group Country Manager Regional South-East Asia (GCM Regional SEA), the SMT and Risk Leadership team and the relevant hub & global leads on strategies for handling complex operational, financial, legal, and regulatory risk exposures.

The Visa SMT Risk team is supported by the resources of the AP Risk function across Asia Pacific as well as Global market support centres. These resources range from other sub-regional Heads of Risk, in-market Risk Managers, analysts and highly skilled Risk specialists in the areas of compromise management, data security, fraud analytics, and corporate risk

What a Head of Risk (SMT) does at Visa:

Reporting to the Asia Pacific Regional Risk Officer (AP RRO) and the GCM Regional SEA, the Head of Risk SMT is entrusted with a broad portfolio of responsibilities, including Strategic Risk Management, driving responsible business growth, Credit Settlement Risk, Ecosystem Risk (Fraud & Data Security) and Corporate Risk. The Head of Risk SMT will interact and represent Visa with direct and indirect Clients, Governments and Regulators, Banking and Law Enforcement agencies across each market, in individual, small group and large forum settings including C-level stakeholders.

Key Responsibilities

• The Head of Risk SMT drives Strategic Payments Fraud Risk Management by being the main Risk advisor to the GCM Regional SMT. In setting the Risk Strategy, they will develop comprehensive Country Risk Plans, security priorities and execute strategies to prevent fraud, enhance user authentication, safeguard sensitive data, identify and respond to data breaches and prevent the misuse of the payment system for unlawful purposes. The Head of Risk is responsible for representing Visa’s Credit Settlement Risk policy to protect Visa against financial loss in the case of a failure of an issuing or acquiring bank.
• To protect the Payments Ecosystem, they have responsibility for championing security in the industry and maintaining the integrity of the payments ecosystem in SMT. This complex and fast evolving ecosystem includes issuing and acquiring banks, merchants, cardholders, and service providers such as processors, device manufacturers, and payment gateways. This sub-region includes some of Visa’s fastest growing markets. One such key initiative is the development and implementation of Security Roadmaps for all key markets in the subregion. Security Roadmaps are a set of market-specific initiatives and goals agreed collaboratively with clients and industry stakeholders to drive improvements in the security posture of the industry – underpinning Visa’s reputation in security.
• The Head of Risk is also responsible for protecting Visa as the 2nd line of Defense by proactively governing corporate risks, frameworks and supervisory regulatory requirements. They understand the balance in supporting Visa growth in current and new business models whilst protecting Visa in an increasingly complex payments environment.

Why this is important to Visa:

Visa owns the most recognizable global brand in the financial services industry. The key responsibilities will be to maintain trust in that brand, championing security in the industry and differentiating Visa in the eyes of clients and key stakeholders.

As a key member of the SMT Leadership Team, the Head of Risk will advise the Group Country Manager, the SMT Leadership Teams and hub & global functional leads on strategies related to complex operational, financial, legal and regulatory risk exposures.

What you will need:

The ideal candidate is a seasoned senior payments fraud and corporate risk leader with 15+ years of experience in leadership positions across technology products/ solutions, or similar years of experience in a leadership position within a financial institution.

Candidates with payments experience, especially in payments fraud/risk within networks, processors, financial institutions are preferred.

Relevant Industry Exposure

• Demonstrated approach to payments fraud risk management contributing to brand and business growth
• Track record for successfully identifying and mitigating enterprise and operational risk for a complex, global company in a regulated industry
• Strong personal base of knowledge with respect to payments risk management, industry practices, trends, and issues

Deep Collaboration and Communication Skills

• Proven ability to pro-actively influence, collaborate, and work in matrix environment across all levels and functions of the business
• Collaborates seamlessly cross-functionally to deliver insights that drive key business strategies and decisions
• Works in tandem with clients and external stakeholders for the benefit of the ecosystem – financial institutions, processors, fintechs, regulators, and other industry stakeholders

Proven People Leadership Experience

• Solid general management background, with a proven track record in strategic thinking, financial planning, risk management, relationship building and project leadership
• Leads courageously with a track record of developing diverse talent, setting high standards for the team, challenging the status quo and enabling others to succeed
• A high degree of self-confidence, humility and energy essential to succeed in a fast paced and evolving industry

Results Driven Execution Approach

• Intellectually curious; finds stories in the data, asks the right questions, demonstrated track record of mining data and intelligence for game-changing insights that generate big impacts
• Gets things done; relentlessly focuses on results; aligns efforts with business objectives
• Decides quickly and moves fast, not afraid to fail fast when required

Multinational Experience and Top-Tier Education Background

• Global and deep knowledge of the payments industry and the major trends affecting the major stakeholders
• Extensive international experience or work experience in a multinational corporation preferred
• Undergraduate degree from top-tier institution required. Graduate degree with a focus on general management will be preferred

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.