Head of Government Affairs, Japan

Company Description

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.

Job Description

Team Summary: 

The Government Affairs (GA) team aims to achieve broad alignment between Visa’s business objectives and public policies that affect the payments industry. Externally, the GA team engages a wide range of stakeholders to raise awareness of and build support for policies that expand access to and usage of digital payments in Japan. Internally, GA works closely with colleagues across the company including Communications, Global Policy, Compliance, Visa University, Social Impact, Risk, Legal, Product, and Sales.

This role will report to the SVP, Head of Government Affairs, Asia Pacific and the SVP, Country Manager, Japan.

What a Head of Government Affairs, Japan does at Visa:

Based in Tokyo, the Head of Government Affairs will be responsible for helping to strengthen Visa’s relationships and thought leadership focusing on the future of digital payments in Japan. S/he will help lead Visa’s engagement with regulatory bodies such as the Japan Financial Services Agency (FSA) and Bank of Japan (BOJ) as well as the Ministry of Trade, Economy, and Industry (METI). S/he will partner closely with Visa colleagues in market, regional hub, and global headquarters to help develop and implement Visa’s business strategy to grow digital commerce and the future of payments in Japan. Responsibilities (detailed below) include a wide range of duties from daily communications and engagement to long-term business strategy.

• Lead outreach to policy makers and relevant stakeholders on emerging payments technology issues
• Convene and help lead industry dialogues around emerging issues in financial services technology, such as open banking, real-time payments, data/privacy, and digital currency
• Organise support for industry research and analysis toward policy development
• Draft position papers, issue briefs, and talking points on a variety of financial services/technology policy and regulations
• Work closely with business strategy, sales, policy, product, and legal divisions on commercial and strategic responses to emerging technology and market developments
• Monitor international, regional and domestic trends
• Represent Visa’s perspective and further our mission at industry events
• Liaise with global colleagues and coordinate domestic contribution to global initiatives

Why this is important to Visa: 

Visa is committed to advancing the Government of Japan’s Cashless agenda and helping Japan lead the way towards a future of digital commerce. This critical role is essential to growing and displaying Visa’s thought leadership work in emerging technology. Through these efforts, we will meaningfully deepen our partnership with policy makers who are shaping the regulatory and operating environment for digital payments.

Qualifications

• 15 plus years of professional experience, at least 10 years of which involving government affairs, policy making, business strategy, or communications in the consumer payments, financial technology, or retail banking industries in Japan
• Expert-level knowledge of financial services, background in real-time payments, open data, digital currency and/or distributed-ledger technology a plus
• Experience working with/in the Financial Services Agency, Bank of Japan, and/or Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry preferred
• Outstanding written, oral, and interpersonal communications skills in both English and Japanese
• Demonstrated ability to build influence at all levels within local / international organisations
• Comfortable and effective when engaging at the highest corporate and political levels
• Proven track record of producing comprehensive, succinct, and persuasive policy materials
• Strong judgment/decision-making skills and political acumen
• Ability to multi-task and prioritize work with a strong attention to detail
• Track record hiring, developing and retaining talent whilst leading high performing team

Additional Information

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.