Director, Marketing Services, KSA

About Us

About The Role

Essential Functions

• Leading the Marketing Services relationship for assigned key accounts in Saudi Arabia, building trusted relationships with client stakeholders and maintaining a clear understanding of their business objectives, marketing priorities, and success measures.
• Partnering with Account Executives to identify, qualify, scope, and progress Marketing Services opportunities, contributing to account plans, proposals, statements of work, and pipeline governance.
• Managing multiple client projects simultaneously from initiation through delivery and closure, with clear workplans, milestones, responsibilities, budgets, dependencies, and decision points.
• Applying effective project management disciplines, including risk and issue management, change control, status reporting, quality assurance, governance forums, and timely escalation.
• Coordinating subject-matter experts and delivery partners across Visa Consulting & Analytics, Products, Marketing, Sales, Finance, and other supporting functions to provide a consistent 'One Visa' client experience.
• Ensuring each engagement follows Visa requirements for Compliance, Legal, Sourcing, procurement, information security, privacy, financial controls, and third-party governance, with complete and timely documentation.
• Managing agencies, vendors, and other external partners where required, including briefing, scope control, sourcing processes, delivery oversight, performance management, and budget reconciliation.
• Monitoring project economics, revenue recognition inputs, costs, and margin; maintaining accurate forecasts; and providing concise updates on delivery progress, risks, client feedback, and required decisions.

Workplace

• Visa requires at least 4 days in office; expectations of these days will be confirmed by your Hiring Manager.

Qualifications

• Minimum 12 years of work experience with a bachelor's degree or at least 10 years of experience with an Advanced degree (e.g. Masters/MBA/JD/MD).
• Substantial experience in client marketing, consulting, marketing services, account management, or another client-facing discipline, preferably in Saudi Arabia or the wider GCC.
• Exceptional client stakeholder management skills, with a record of building trusted relationships, managing expectations, and navigating complex client organizations.
• Strong project management capability and experience leading multiple concurrent projects with different stakeholders, timelines, budgets, and delivery models.
• Demonstrated ability to establish governance, identify and mitigate risks, resolve issues, control scope, and maintain delivery quality.
• Experience working with Compliance, Legal, Sourcing, procurement, Finance, Controllership, privacy, information security, and third-party governance processes.
• Strong consultative and commercial skills, including opportunity qualification, solution design, proposal development, scoping, contracting support, and financial management.
• Ability to collaborate effectively with Account Executives, product teams, consultants, marketers, agencies, and delivery partners in a matrixed environment.
• Ability to understand client and market strategies and translate data, insights, and business needs into practical marketing programmes.
• Strong critical thinking, problem-solving, and analytical skills, with an outcomes-driven approach to measurement and reporting.
• Excellent presentation, facilitation, speaking, and writing skills, with the ability to communicate clearly with client and internal stakeholders.
• Understanding of payments, issuer marketing, and cardholder lifecycle marketing, including digital acquisition, engagement, and retention.

Additional Qualifications

• Experience with digital and omnichannel campaign planning, execution, and measurement, including marketing technology platforms.
• High level of personal accountability, attention to detail, and sound judgment, with the ability to operate effectively in a fast-paced environment.
• Fluent spoken and written English and Arabic.
• Experience managing agencies, vendors, budgets, and delivery partners across complex client engagements.
• Strong financial acumen and the ability to maintain accurate forecasts, project economics, and delivery documentation.