Director, Fleet & Direct-to-Corporate (Japan)

Job description

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 Visa Commercial Solutions (VCS) is a rapidly expanding team dedicated to delivering innovative payment solutions for businesses and governments worldwide. By partnering with Financial Institutions and Fintechs , VCS offers seamless experiences that streamline critical business processes such as expense management, compliance, and vendor payments. The goal is to enhance cash flow, productivity, and efficiency for clients. VCS provides tailored products for all business sizes, featuring automated payment processing, expense tracking, and detailed reporting, all within a secure and globally recognized payment network. This empowers businesses to manage finances more effectively, reduce costs, and gain valuable insights into spending patterns. What a Fleet & Direct‑to‑Corporate Lead , does at Visa: The Director, Fleet & Direct-to-Corporate (Japan) is a pivotal leadership role responsible for driving Visa’s Fleet & Mobility strategy and Direct-to-Corporate commercial solutions in Japan. This individual will own the end-to-end market strategy, solution design, and go-to-market execution for both Fleet and Commercial Solutions, ensuring cohesive delivery, innovation, and growth across both domains. Role Overview This role serves as the strategic leader overseeing Visa’s entry and expansion in Japan’s Fleet & Mobility and Direct-to-Corporate sectors. The Director will engage with large Japanese and multinational corporates, ecosystem partners, and internal cross-functional teams to shape demand, validate use cases, and build scalable solutions that drive Visa’s commercial business. Key Responsibilities Strategy & Market Entry: D efine and lead the integrated strategy for Fleet & Mobility and Direct-to-Corporate solutions, prioritizing launch markets and segments. Shape market entry plans, including approach for Fleet and Commercial Solutions, target segments, ecosystem readiness, and commercial models. Act as the voice of the market and clients, translating their needs into clear product and solution priorities across both business lines. Go-to-Market & Solutioning: D esign and execute unified go-to-market strategies, value propositions, and sales motions for Fleet, Mobility, and Corporate solutions. Work with market teams to build and convert a robust sales pipeline, identifying early pipeline opportunities and lighthouse wins. Lead solutioning and early-stage deployments, collaborating hands-on with ecosystem partners to deliver live capabilities and compelling end-to-end propositions. Partnerships & Ecosystem Development: Bu ild and manage strategic partnerships with issuers, acquirers, processors, fleet providers, energy/oil companies, FMS/CMS platforms, fintech enablers, and large corporates. Identify , structure, and drive multi-market partnership opportunities aligned to Visa’s core capabilities for both Fleet and Commercial Solutions. Product & Commercial Leadership: Co llaborate with global and regional product teams to define roadmaps, launch priorities, and localization needs for both business lines. Apply strong understanding of issuer, acquirer, and merchant economics to ensure profitable and scalable solutions. Shape commercial models, deal structures, and pricing to accelerate time-to-revenue and support scalable growth. Market Insight & Customer Advocacy: Enga ge directly with corporates to identify unmet needs across T&E, B2B procurement, virtual card solutions, and fleet requirements. Provide analysis, insight, and ongoing monitoring of market trends, regulations, pricing, and competitive positions. Act as the regional voice of the customer, feeding market learnings into product strategy, localization, and future expansion plans. Leadership & Influence: Serve as a thought leader for Fleet & Mobility and Direct-to-Corporate solutions, championing innovation across paym ents, virtual cards, mobile, telematics, and future mobility. Partner closely with Account Executives and cross-functional teams (Product, Sales, Legal, Risk, Marketing) to deliver coordinated outcomes. Engage senior stakeholders internally and externally to drive alignment, execution, and growth. Influence and align internal stakeholders across a matrixed organization to accelerate execution and ensure successful delivery. This is a hybrid position. Expectation of days in office will be confirmed by your hiring manager. Qualifications What you will need: Full professional fluency in Japanese (written and verbal); business‑level proficiency in English 12+ years of relevant experience (flexible for candidates with strong B2B partnership or commercial card product backgrounds), ideally within payments, transaction banking, or commercial card sales Proven ability to engage and influence senior corporate decision‑makers (CFO, Treasury, Procurement, Travel, Fleet) through a strong understanding of client needs, buying dynamics, and value drivers Demonstrated success developing and executing integrated sales and business development strategies that secure enterprise‑level decisions and drive sustainable revenue growth Strong track record of originating, structuring, and closing complex, multi‑stakeholder deals, with a solid understanding of commercial, pricing, and economic considerations across the value chain Ability to bridge partner‑led business development and direct corporate engagement to create end‑to‑end solutions and accelerate time to market Proven ability to operate effectively in a highly matrixed organization, influencing across Product, Sales, Legal, Technology, Risk, and Finance Strategic mindset with the ability to identify new use cases, challenge incumbent models, and translate market and regulatory insights into actionable growth initiatives Strong executive communication, stakeholder management, and negotiation skills, with credibility across senior internal and external audiences Highly self‑directed and resilient, comfortable operating in ambiguous, long‑horizon environments while maintaining disciplined execution Collaborative, pragmatic leader with strong relationship‑building skills and the ability to work effectively across cultures and geographies What will also help: Strong academic credentials; MBA or equivalent is a plus Deep understanding of commercial payments, with senior‑level experience across Fleet & Mobility and corporate payment solutions Experience building and scaling strategic partnerships across Fleet & Mobility ecosystems Experience driving corporate T&E and B2B purchasing programs, particularly with Large and Middle‑Market enterprises Hands‑on experience with expense management platforms, ERP integrations, data solutions, central travel account (CTA) products, virtual cards, and fleet payment models 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.