Director, Sales Incentive Planning & Performance Management

About this role

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

The Director, Sales Incentive Planning & Performance Management will lead the strategy, governance, and execution of Commercial and Money Movement Solutions (CMS) performance management and sales incentive programs globally.  

This role serves as the connective tissue between sales leadership, finance, HR, sales compensation, business planning, and operations. The Director will ensure that sales goals, incentive plans, performance measurement, and operating processes work together to drive business outcomes.  

The role combines strategic leadership, analytics, operational rigor, and change management. Success requires the ability to influence senior leaders, simplify complexity, build scalable processes, and translate business strategy into measurable seller   objectives   and incentive programs.    

Key Responsibilities:  

Sales Incentive Strategy & Governance 

• Own governance of CMS sales incentive programs globally.   • Partner with Sales, Finance, HR, Total Rewards, and Sales Compensation teams to ensure incentive plans align to business priorities.   • Evaluate and recommend enhancements to plan design, measures, weights, eligibility, and performance frameworks.   • Develop and   maintain   incentive plan governance processes, policies, and decision frameworks.   • Assess effectiveness of incentive programs and recommend changes based on performance outcomes.    

Performance Management Leadership 

• Define and   maintain   consistent compensation performance frameworks across regions and business units.   • Drive transparency and accountability through standardized metrics, scorecards, and executive reporting.   • Establish processes to   monitor   performance against   objectives   and   identify   opportunities for intervention.   • Partner closely with Sales, Finance, and Global Compensation teams to drive transparency, accountability, and performance outcomes.    

Quota, Target Setting & Planning 

• Partner with regional and business leaders to   establish   seller targets and performance expectations.   • Lead annual and quarterly planning processes related to sales goals and performance   measurement.   • Perform scenario modeling and business analysis to evaluate alternative approaches.   • Ensure alignment among company   objectives, business plans, quotas, incentive measures, and seller mapping.   • Support the annual go-to-market planning cycle through clear governance, data-backed recommendations, and practical decision support.    

Analytics & Business Insights 

• Own attainment analysis, payout analysis, and incentive plan effectiveness reporting.   • Develop executive-level reporting and dashboards that provide visibility   into   performance trends.   • Translate complex data into actionable insights and recommendations.   • Support business reviews, planning cycles, and executive presentations through data-driven analysis.   • Build models and reporting that improve visibility into seller performance, compensation outcomes, and plan effectiveness.    

Operational Excellence 

• Simplify and standardize performance management and incentive processes globally.   • Identify   opportunities for automation, AI adoption, and process improvement.   • Drive efficient operating rhythms and reduce manual administration.   • Establish scalable governance processes capable of supporting future growth.   • Manage operational handoffs and dependencies across global and regional teams to improve timeliness, accuracy, and transparency.    

Stakeholder Leadership 

• Serve as a trusted advisor to Sales Leadership, Finance, HR, Sales Compensation, and Commercial Operations.   • Build strong relationships across regions and business units.   • Drive alignment among stakeholders with differing priorities.   • Present recommendations and business insights to executive leadership.   • Lead through influence in a matrixed environment and bring decisions to closure.    

What Success Looks Like 

• Incentive programs are clearly aligned to   CMS   business strategy.   • Performance expectations are transparent and consistently applied.   • Target-setting processes are scalable, efficient, and data-driven.   • Executive leaders have   timely   visibility into business performance, attainment, and payout outcomes.   • Incentive program effectiveness can be measured and continuously improved.   • Automation and process simplification reduce manual effort and improve accuracy.    

Visa requires at least 3 days in office, expectations of these days will be confirmed by your Hiring Manager.  

Qualifications

Basic Qualifications: • 10 or more years of work experience with a Bachelor’s Degree or at least 8 years of work experience with an Advanced Degree (e.g. Masters/ MBA/JD/MD) or at least 3 years of work experience with a PhD

Preferred Qualifications: • 12 or more years of work experience with a Bachelor’s Degree or 8-10 years of experience with an Advanced Degree (e.g. Masters, MBA, JD, MD) or 6+ years of work experience with a PhD • The successful candidate should bring a mix of sales compensation   expertise, commercial judgment, analytical depth, and operational leadership. This role is intended for someone who can own the system, not simply administer the process.   • 12+ years of experience in sales compensation, performance management, commercial operations, sales operations, busines

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