Senior Manager, Sales Learning Partner - Europe

The Senior Manager, Sales Learning Partner - Europe will be a key member of Visa University (VU) Global Sales Training organization, reporting to the global Head of Sales Learning. This role is designed to act as a Learning Partner with deep experience across the areas of Stakeholder Management, Learning Execution, Facilitation and Vendor Management. This role will be servicing the Europe Sales, Commercial Money Movement Solutions (CMS), Financial Institutions (FI) and the Enablers, Merchants (EMF), and FinTechs businesses and will support the deployment of our IDDEA Sales Methodology and all its components. The ideal candidate is professionally mature, intellectually curious, and passionate about driving commercial methodologies, and leveraging technology/AI to foster innovative learning experiences. They also have experience with the sales life cycle and consultative selling. Familiarity with the payments industry and FinTechs is a plus.

Essential Functions:Key Responsibilities

Stakeholder Management

• Serve as a Sales Learning enablement business partner for Europe Financial Institutions, (FI), Enablers, Merchants, & FinTech (EMF), and the Visa Direct (CMS) stakeholders.
• Collaborate with the Visa People Teams supporting these organizations to identify Sales learning gaps and create strategic learning plans/roadmaps that will measurably grow and optimize Visas commercial strategy.
• Collaborate with the Visa University Global Commercial teams and regional Sales Excellence peers to provide Europe-specific regional insights and feedback ensuring the voice of the customer is represented in global learning plans.
• Influence and collaborate with multiple senior cross functional stakeholders, including Europe Sales Excellence and Global Sales and Commercial Ops to build a strong coalition of executive sponsors in support of Europe Region Commercial learning priorities and initiatives.
• Partner across Visa University to share best practices and contribute thought leadership that will drive overall capability development, including tools, processes, and technology recommendations.

Consulting Expertise

• Develop strong business acumen to understand organizational goals, tools, and their impact on the learning environment within the Europe region.
• Leverage Sales/industry insights, business acumen, and relevant data in the identification of and confirmation critical performance gaps, and related knowledge needs.
• Demonstrate mastery of adult learning principles and the ADDIE model of instructional systems, through keen ability to advise and influence business partners on the identification of development needs and potential learning approaches.
• Collaborate with and guide stakeholders through the analysis, design/curation, and measurement of learning outcomes.
• Serve as a Master Trainer in Europe responsible for collecting feedback from senior regional stakeholders on the Sales content and providing feedback that influences global curriculum (onboarding, sales skills, enabling skills) design and informs global deployment processes in partnership with the Sales Excellence teams.
• Champion and exemplify excellence in facilitation (in person and virtually) to deliver content (IDDEA, Leader Coaching, Artifacts training, other sales skills programs as needed) in a simple, engaging, and effective way. Foster a safe environment to have productive discussions, promoting and inspiring a culture of learning that encourages continuous performance improvement, innovation, and learner engagement.
• Deploy and manage sales initiatives (e.g. IDDEA Training Experience, Product Accreditations) in region, including audience identification, driving enrolment, completions, and communication strategy and development throughout the duration of the program(s).
• Effectively market Europe regional and VU global solutions to drive overall awareness, positively influence consumption, and grow credibility for Visa University broadly.
• Identify/establish, track, and measure performance metrics that illustrate program impact to drive continuous improvement of the learning roadmap.
• Provide thought leadership and foster collaboration between stakeholders that will contribute to the evolution and application of sales competency models for specific lines of business.
• Champion and drive change management efforts by securing alignment, buy-in, and sponsorship from key stakeholders and cross functional teams in designated lines of business. Deliver exceptional enablement and change strategies that ensure sustainable, long term behavior change. Facilitation, Vendor, and Program Management
• Oversee all aspects of regional vendor management, including sourcing and selecting vendors, collaborating with the Enterprise learning teams to manage delivery.

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

• Deep consulting experience in client-facing roles with increasing responsibility in Sales or Sales training/enablement, including developing sales training programs, coaching sales leaders, and working with sales organization(s) to develop educational training solutions to improve sales competencies
• Exhibits emotional intelligence, resilience, and overall sound judgement in a professional environment. It takes initiative, is a self-starter and accountable, strives for excellence and sets realistic goals and targets
• Experience delivering training or facilitating functional learning programs to senior business partners
• Demonstrated ability to effectively collaborate and consult cross-functionally with senior leaders, business partners, internal and external customers, and colleagues to design and deploy innovative learning and development solutions that will drive business impact
• Demonstrated ability to illustrate program plans, roadmaps, timelines, and overall impact using PowerPoint and other Microsoft Applications is required. The ideal candidate will also leverage Generative AI tools to enhance productivity and deliver compelling, data-driven presentations
• Outstanding communication (written and verbal), business acumen, comfortable interacting with leaders of all levels in an organization. Understands how to adapt communication style appropriately for senior audiences
• Outstanding organizational skills: detail oriented with strong planning skills
• Effective track record of using metrics and analytics to drive decision making and increased value generation (sales, satisfaction surveys, etc.), comfortable calculating ROI of Sales training programs
• Ability to comprehend and translate complex technical concepts into terms that are easy to understand for non-industry audiences in an influential and persuasive manner
• Comfortable with ambiguity and navigating a complex matrixed, rapidly evolving environment
• Masters degree in Instructional Systems, Org Development or related field (preferred)
• Experience as a consultant within a professional services environment
• Experience leading/coaching a Sales and/or client-facing team
• Experience developing sales enablement strategies around solution selling, sales methodology, deal structuring, and client pitches

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.