Senior Manager, Acceptance Development

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 What is it all about? Visa is looking for a commercially minded and relationship-driven Senior Manager, Acceptance Development to help accelerate acceptance growth across Romania, Croatia, Slovenia, and Bulgaria (RCSB). In this role, you will work at the intersection of payments, partnerships, and business development, helping merchants and acquirers unlock new opportunities to grow electronic payments adoption. You will collaborate with leading acquirers, payment service providers (PSPs), merchants, fintechs, and internal Visa stakeholders to identify opportunities, drive strategic acceptance initiatives, and strengthen Visa's position as the preferred payments partner in the region. From developing business cases and scaling innovative acceptance solutions to supporting market-wide growth initiatives, you will play a key role in expanding the reach and impact of digital payments across the cluster. This is an exciting opportunity for someone who enjoys building partnerships, influencing stakeholders, identifying new growth opportunities, and delivering measurable business results in a dynamic and fast-paced environment. What we expect of you, day by day: Partner with internal Visa teams to identify, develop, and execute opportunities that drive acceptance growth across the RCSB cluster. Build and maintain strong relationships with acquirers, payment service providers, merchants, and other ecosystem partners to support sustainable market expansion. Serve as the primary point of contact for key acquiring partners, helping strengthen engagement and grow Visa's acceptance footprint. Take ownership of strategic acceptance development initiatives across Romania, Croatia, Slovenia, and Bulgaria, ensuring successful execution and delivery against business objectives. Identify, assess, and prioritize new business opportunities, including cross-selling and upselling Visa products and Value-Added Services (VAS). Analyze market opportunities and segment clients, industries, and merchant categories to focus efforts on the highest-growth potential areas. Support the implementation and management of commercial agreements with acquirers and other market participants involved in acceptance initiatives. Act as a subject matter expert on acquiring and acceptance solutions, providing guidance and insights to clients and partners. Partner closely with Account Managers and other cross-functional teams to drive business development and deepen client engagement through Visa's acceptance and acquiring capabilities. Support Visa preference initiatives and marketing activities, ensuring effective execution of key client programs and acceptance campaigns. Monitor market trends, competitor activity, and emerging payment technologies to identify new opportunities for growth. Drive multiple projects simultaneously, delivering high-quality outcomes on time and in line with stakeholder expectations. Build strong internal and external relationships that contribute to Visa's broader growth strategy and market leadership ambitions. Visa requires at least 3 days in office, expectations of these days will be confirmed by your Hiring Manager. Visa requires at least 3 days in office, expectations of these days will be confirmed by your Hiring Manager. Qualifications What we're after... Bachelor's degree in Economics, Finance, Business, Technology, or a related field. An advanced degree (Master's or MBA) is an advantage. Strong experience in merchant acceptance, acquiring, merchant services, payments, financial services, consulting, or business development, ideally in a client-facing commercial environment. Deep understanding of the payments ecosystem, including acquirers, payment service providers, merchants, payment facilitators, acceptance technologies, transaction flows, and third-party partners. Demonstrated success developing and executing acceptance growth strategies that increase electronic payment adoption, merchant sales volume, market share, and Visa preference. Proven ability to build and manage strategic relationships with acquirers, PSPs, merchants, and partners, acting as a trusted advisor to senior stakeholders. Strong commercial acumen, with the ability to identify, quantify, and prioritize business opportunities across merchant segments, acceptance solutions, cross-sell and upsell initiatives, and Value-Added Services. Good understanding of merchant needs across physical, digital, and omnichannel commerce, including eCommerce, contactless payments, mobile acceptance, Tap to Phone, Pay by Link, and emerging acceptance solutions. Ability to translate business strategies into clear priorities, action plans, and measurable outcomes while collaborating effectively across markets and functions. Strong analytical, problem-solving, and storytelling skills, with the ability to leverage data, market insights, and client information to develop compelling business recommendations. Excellent communication, presentation, and influencing skills, with confidence engaging senior stakeholders, including executive and C-level audiences. Collaborative and relationship-oriented approach, with the ability to build strong partnerships across Sales, Product, Client Services, Digital, Risk, Legal, Marketing, VCA, and Acceptance teams. Self-motivated and proactive, with a strong sense of ownership, attention to detail, and commitment to delivering high-quality results. Strong presentation and PowerPoint skills, with the ability to synthesize complex information into clear and compelling narratives. Experience working with data and Excel is an advantage. Knowledge of Visa products, acceptance solutions, transaction processing, merchant analytics, risk, compliance, and interchange management is a plus. Ability and willingness to travel across the cluster and wider European region as business needs require. Fluent English communication skills, both written and verbal. Additional local language skills are considered an advantage. 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.