Sr. Director, Sponsorships Commercialization

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 Role Overview: The Senior Director, Sponsorships Commercialisation – Asia Pacific, is a senior leadership role responsible for end-to-end commercialisation of Visa’s global and regional sponsorship assets across Asia Pacific. This role will lead the strategy, monetisation, and execution of sponsorship-led client marketing programs, transforming sponsorships into a scaled, Marketing Services revenue-generating, Brand building and Core Revenue supporting functon. You will drive commercial outcomes, establish operational rigor, and partner with regional and market teams to embed sponsorships into client growth strategies. As a member of the AP Marketing Services leadership team, you will act as a trusted advisor to senior stakeholders, shaping how Visa maximizes return on its sponsorship investments while delivering measurable revenue growth and client impact. What a Senior Director, Sponsorships Commercialisation does at Visa: Strategic Leadership & Commercial Growth: Own the commercialisation strategy for Visa’s sponsorship portfolio across Asia Pacific, translating global assets into scalable, revenue-generating client propositions that also strategically drive Visa Brand awareness and core consumer revenue. Drive incremental revenue, pipeline development, and contribution margin through sponsorship-led solutions Position sponsorships as a core lever in client growth strategies, aligned to Visa’s business priorities and client needs Identify and scale new revenue streams (e.g., gaming, emerging platforms, new partnership models) End-to-End Sponsorship Commercialisation: Lead the monetisation of sponsorship assets across key properties (e.g., Olympics, FIFA World Cup, NFL, Formula 1), ensuring strong ROI and measurable business outcomes Establish clear frameworks to price, package, sales assets and sell sponsorship-led marketing solutions to clients. Partner with Sales, Account Executives, and Client Marketing teams to embed sponsorships into client engagements and go-to-market plans Drive forecast accuracy, pipeline visibility, and revenue tracking across all sponsorship initiatives Execution Excellence & Operational Rigor: Build and lead a commercialisation engine that drives consistent, high-quality execution across markets Oversee end-to-end delivery including client engagement, activation planning, onsite execution, and performance tracking Institutionalize processes across contracting, legal, governance, and financial management to support scaled delivery Drive internalization of capabilities to reduce external agency reliance and improve cost efficiency and control Client & Stakeholder Leadership: Serve as the senior sponsorships advisor to regional leadership, country teams, and key clients Build strong partnerships across Marketing, Sales, Product, and global sponsorship teams to align strategy and execution Influence senior stakeholders to prioritise sponsorship-led opportunities and investments Represent AP in global forums, shaping sponsorship strategy and ensuring regional needs are reflected Team Leadership & Capability Building: Build, lead, and develop a high-performing Sponsorships Commercialisation team across Asia Pacific Create a strong culture of commercial accountability, performance, and execution excellence Coach and mentor team members and broader Marketing Services teams on sponsorship strategy and commercialisation Drive capability uplift across markets to ensure consistent execution standards and best practice sharing Why this is important to Visa: Sponsorship investments are a critical component of Visa’s brand and business growth strategy. As these investments scale, Visa must unlock stronger commercial outcomes, moving from activation-led models to a disciplined, revenue-driven approach. This role is central to delivering that transformation—ensuring sponsorships become a differentiated, scalable growth engine that drives measurable impact for both Visa and its clients. Visa requires at least 3 days in office, expectations of these days will be confirmed by your Hiring Manager. Qualifications What you will need: Proven senior leadership experience in marketing, sponsorships, commercialisation, or revenue-driven marketing services Strong track record of driving revenue growth, pipeline development, and commercial outcomes 5+ years of sports sponsorship and partnership experience Deep understanding of client marketing, co-marketing models, and partnership-driven growth Experience working across complex, matrixed, and regional organisations with senior stakeholder influence Strong commercial acumen with ability to translate marketing investment into measurable business outcomes Demonstrated experience leading and developing high-performing, geographically dispersed teams 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.