Director – Head of Government Affairs, Korea and Mongolia (KRM)

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.

Team Summary:

The Government Affairs (GA) team seeks to ensure 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 Korea and Mongolia. Internally, GA works closely with colleagues across the company including Risk, Legal, Compliance, Product, Sales, Social Impact, Communications, Global Policy, and Visa University.

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

Based in Seoul, the Director, Head of Government Affairs is responsible for setting strategic direction, building consensus, and coordinating all aspects of Visa’s public sector relationships and policy thought leadership focusing on the future of digital payments in Korea and Mongolia (KRM). 

Reporting to the Senior Director, Japan, Korea and Mongolia (JKM) Head of Government Affairs, and the Country Manager for KRM, the successful candidate (they) will lead Visa’s external engagement with regulatory and policy-making bodies such as Korea’s Financial Services Commission (FSC) and Financial Supervisory Service (FSS), as well as other national government agencies such as the Office for Government Policy Coordination, Ministry of Finance and Economy (MOFE), Ministry of SMEs and Startups (MSS), Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Resources(MOTIR), and the Bank of Korea (BOK), as well as key government stakeholders in Mongolia, including the Bank of Mongolia (BoM). They will also lead outreach and engagement to state and local authorities such as Seoul and Busan City Governments as well as public-private entities such as the Fintech Center Korea (KFCK) and Korea Culture and Tourism Institute (KCTI).  Internally, the Director, Head of GA KRM will partner closely with the Country Managers in Korea and Mongolia and 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 Korea and Mongolia.

Responsibilities range from daily communications and engagement to long-term business strategy, including but not limited to:

Responsibilities:

• Developing and implementing an overall government engagement strategy for KRM in close coordination with the Country Managers and JKM Head of Government Affairs, along with other Visa peers and colleagues in the market and across the wider organization.
• Monitoring the regulatory and political landscape throughout KRM for risks and opportunities to Visa’s business and communicating these insights to locally based business leaders, functional colleagues and global management.
• Managing Visa’s relationships with key government officials in KRM, and working with the Country Managers to ensure all public sector engagements across the business are compliant with Visa’s Political Participation, Lobbying, and Contributions (PPLC) policy. 
• Educating public sector stakeholders about the value of Visa, including through regular policy discussions and technical briefings with Visa subject matter experts presenting to regulators and government officials.
• Recommending, engaging, and managing Visa’s relationships with necessary third-party intermediaries including consultants, industry associations, diplomatic missions and civil society organizations.
• Establishing and maintaining appropriate contact with counterparts at other industry participants, including client banks.

Projects you will be a part of:

• Build and maintain deep partnerships between Visa, our clients, and key government policy makers in KRM
• Create compelling content and leverage public engagement platforms to advance Visa’s role as a thought leader in digital commerce
• Provide regulatory advice on and advocacy support for new business initiatives
• Explore opportunities for new public sector partnerships
• Help shape Visa’s long-term strategy for KRM, as well JKM, Asia-Pacific and Global Government Affairs more broadly, contributing to in-market business and functional leadership teams

Why this is important to Visa:

We believe that inclusive economies uplift everyone, everywhere, which drives our mission to connect the world and enables individuals, businesses and economies to thrive.  As an officially-recognized ‘Inclusive Company’, Visa is working with all of our partners in Korea to expand access to the most innovative payment technology powering global commerce. The Head of GA role is essential to growing our public sector relationships 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.

This is a hybrid position. Expectation of days in office will be confirmed by your hiring manager.

What you will need:

We are looking for an individual who brings strong leadership skills, exceptional maturity and attention to detail, along with the ability to effectively manage several urgent business priorities and significant regulatory developments simultaneously.  As a candidate, you should have:

• 12+ years of government engagement experience and achievement
• Thorough knowledge of the Korean and preferably Mongolian Government and how it operates; strong understanding of core political and public policy motivators for Korean and preferably Mongolian officials and other stakeholders
• Demonstrated ability to build and maintain strong business relationships with internal and external stakeholders at senior and executive management levels
• The highest standards for ethical conduct, confidentiality and integrity, with a strong professional reputation in the industry
• Good judgment and experience handling confidential and material, non-public information
• Ability to operate effectively in a challenging, fast-paced environment with limited supervision
• Experience setting priorities and interacting with internal and external stakeholders
• Strong ability to work collaboratively with others across geographic boundaries
• Proactive and solution-oriented mindset, always looking for ways to add value and assist the team
• Excellent presentation skills, including strong oral and written communication
• Languages – fluent in Korean and English
• Willingness to travel as required, where, when appropriate

What will also help:

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent required, graduate degree preferred
• Combination of corporate and central as well as provincial government experience
• Working knowledge of payments industry in Korea
• Knowledge and experience working with government in Mongolia  
• Influencing and negotiation skills
• Complex analytical abilities with outstanding written skills
• Excellent stakeholder management with experience
• Executive presence

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.