Marketing Services Director

The Marketing Services Director will lead the marketing services strategy and execution for Visa in Central Asia, focusing on client partnerships to achieve business and brand objectives. This role involves strategic planning, program design, and execution of marketing activities with partners like banks, fintech, and merchants. The director will develop and commercialize marketing services, manage the annual planning cycle, and implement bespoke marketing programs. Key responsibilities include relationship management, business growth for strategic clients, and positioning Visa as a marketing expert.

Must Have

• Lead Marketing Services strategy and execution to support Marketing Advisory Services in Central Asia.
• Accountable for leading Marketing Services strategy and execution.
• Ensure effectiveness of marketing strategy through Client partnerships.
• Responsible for strategic planning, finding opportunities, designing programs and execution of Visa marketing activities with partners and clients.
• Responsible for developing and commercializing a suite of Marketing Services.
• Lead RFP response efforts across regional Client opportunities.
• Manage the annual planning cycle through a strategic, bottom-up approach.
• Design and execute long-term bespoke marketing programs for clients.
• Develop and implement strategic marketing and communication plans.
• Run co-branded marketing campaigns with clients.
• Deliver marketing insights & data capabilities to drive deep partnerships.
• Position Visa as marketing expert with clients.
• Identify opportunities in the market through tracking of key payment trends.
• Partner with cross-functional teams to ensure bundled approach in developing services to clients.
• Review implementation of plans on an ongoing basis and provide guidance.
• Effectively manage business relations with the clients to ensure high NPS rate.
• Lead for maintaining and strengthening the Visa Brand Health score.
• Manage the relationship with agencies and partners.
• Manage the admin work and processes related to client contracting.
• Proven leader with a track record of building and developing diverse, top performing and highly engaged teams.
• Independent, self-starter with a proven record of driving complex strategies across large teams.
• Strong relationship building experience along with the ability to collaborate and work across countries and various business units.
• Extensive hands-on digital marketing expertise with major platforms like Meta and Google.
• Demonstrates strong collaboration and influence in matrixed environments.
• Ability to structure and manage complex projects and processes with multiple stakeholders.
• Able to identify issues, conduct analyses, synthesize findings, and make recommendations.
• Personal presence and ability to clearly communicate compelling messages to senior level executives, excellent presentation skills, including strong oral and writing capabilities.
• Proven ability to build and develop a goal-oriented culture.
• Executes decisions with the goals and vision of the company in mind.
• Ability to quickly understand our client’s business strategies and needs.
• Strong critical thinking and problem-solving skills, strong analytic skills.
• Strong financial acumen and ability to partner with all divisions of Finance.
• Multicultural sensitivity and a commitment to drive inclusive culture.
• Fluent in Kazakh, English, Russian.
• Significant experience in marketing, working with top clients on developing and executing co-marketing campaigns.
• More than 15 years in a role related to partnership marketing programs and activities, consulting, solid digital marketing experience.
• Good knowledge of key P&L drivers and leveraging the relevant aspects to build effective business cases.
• Master’s degree in business or a related field with a marketing foundation.

Good to Have

• Prior experience identifying, scoping, pitching, and advising Clients on data-driven marketing strategies preferred in market or region experience.
• Deep understanding of the payments marketing landscape and working knowledge of payment product economics preferred.
• Experience working in or with the bank, knowledge of payments systems and cards industry is an advantage.

Company Description

Visa is a world leader in digital payments, facilitating more than 215 billion payments transactions between consumers, merchants, financial institutions, and government entities across 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.

When you join Visa, you join a culture of purpose and belonging – where your growth is priority, your identity is embraced, and the work you do matters. We believe that economies that include everyone everywhere, uplift everyone everywhere. Your work will have a direct impact on billions of people around the world – helping unlock financial access to enable the future of money movement.

Join Visa: A Network Working for Everyone.

Job Description

1. Purpose:

The role will be accountable for leading the Marketing Services strategy and execution to support the delivery of Marketing Advisory Services in Central Asia. This is a pivotal role ensuring effectiveness of marketing strategy through Client partnerships with the goal of achieving Visa’s and Clients’ objectives in the market. This selected leader must have organizational savvy and interpersonal skills to build fast rapport and credibility. The leader will have a proven track record of success in fast paced environments with demanding timelines and will be equally comfortable interacting with “C suite” executives and junior team members. An exceptional ability to negotiate and close deals, find and create unique opportunities for business with clients, strategic thinker, brilliant presenter and storyteller is essential.

This role reports to the Head of Client Marketing Services for CISSEE.

2. Principal Responsibilities-Key Results Area

Responsible for strategic planning, finding opportunities, designing programs and execution of Visa marketing activities with partners and clients (banks, fintech, merchants etc.) to support the achievement of local business and brand objectives in Central Asia. Relationship management and business growth for top strategic assigned clients across the region as Visa main marketing point of contact.

• Responsible for developing and commercializing a suite of Marketing Services to deliver a sustainable, profitable, and long-term driver for Visa.
• Lead RFP response efforts across regional Client opportunities, including the response, pitch work and ideation to fast-track growth of VIK (Value-in-kind) projects.
• Manage the annual planning cycle through a strategic, bottom-up approach.
• Design and execute long-term bespoken marketing programs for the clients, based on vast expertise in payments and a rich depth of marketing knowledge to scale clients’ business and accelerate business growth.
• Develop and implement strategic marketing and communication plans designed to meet client expectations, run co-branded marketing campaigns with clients by providing insight driven, data focused and actionable recommendations and end-to-end marketing solutions for relevant products and services across the card lifecycle and beyond
• Deliver marketing insights & data capabilities to drive deep partnerships with clients including research, studies and best practice benchmarking through the Visa marketing community
• Position Visa as marketing expert with clients sharing in-depth understanding and analysis of payments industry, consumer trends and competition
• Identify opportunities in the market through tracking of key payment trends, cardholder behavior, and evaluate them to create strategic recommendations for future business propositions
• Partner with cross-functional teams to ensure bundled approach in developing services to clients to better meet clients’ objectives
• Review implementation of plans on an ongoing basis and provide guidance to external and internal stakeholders to ensure that KPIs are achieved
• Effectively manage business relations with the clients to ensure high NPS rate
• Lead for maintaining and strengthening the Visa Brand Health score in line with agreed strategy
• Manage the relationship with agencies and partners to ensure top level execution.
• Manage the admin work and processes related to client contracting

3. Key Competencies:

• Proven leader with a track record of building and developing diverse, top performing and highly engaged teams.
• Independent, self-starter with a proven record of driving complex strategies across large teams.
• Strong relationship building experience along with the ability to collaborate and work across countries and various business units to execute on a strategy and develop a new business.
• Extensive hands-on digital marketing expertise with major platforms like Meta and Google, skilled in developing and optimizing campaigns using advanced targeting and analytics.
• Demonstrates strong collaboration and influence in matrixed environments.
• Ability to structure and manage complex projects and processes with multiple stakeholders at both senior and junior levels.
• Able to identify issues, conduct analyses, synthesize findings, and make recommendations.
• Personal presence and ability to clearly communicate compelling messages to senior level executives, excellent presentation skills, including strong oral and writing capabilities.
• Proven ability to build and develop a goal-oriented culture and continually raise the bar for team achievements.
• Executes decisions with the goals and vision of the company in mind, acts as a representative of the company brand both internally and externally.
• Ability to quickly understand our client’s business strategies and needs and use that to identify opportunities for joint marketing programs that deliver growth for the client and Visa.
• Prior experience identifying, scoping, pitching, and advising Clients on data-driven marketing strategies preferred in market or region experience.
• Strong critical thinking and problem-solving skills, strong analytic skills, ability to translate data and insights into marketing strategies.
• Deep understanding of the payments marketing landscape and working knowledge of payment product economics preferred.
• Comfortable operating in white space, proactively pursuing new ideas/capabilities, building out a playbook approach enabling scalable/ repeatable solutions.
• Strong financial acumen and ability to partner with all divisions of Finance.
• Multicultural sensitivity and a commitment to drive inclusive culture
• Fluent Kazakh, English, Russian

This is a hybrid position. Employees in hybrid roles are expected to work from the office 4 set days a week (Monday - Thursday)

Qualifications

Significant experience in marketing, working with top clients on developing and executing co-marketing campaigns. More than 15 years in a role related to partnership marketing programs and activities, consulting, solid digital marketing experience. Experience working in or with the bank, knowledge of payments systems and cards industry is an advantage. Good knowledge of key P&L drivers and leveraging the relevant aspects to build effective business cases. Masters’ degree in business or a related field with a marketing foundation

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 qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with EEOC guidelines and applicable local law.