Director, Data Science

Visa•Atlanta, GA

2d•Hybrid

About The Position

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. To ensure that Visa’s payment technology is truly available to everyone, everywhere requires the success of our key bank or merchant partners and internal business units. The North America Data Science group supports these partners by using our extraordinarily rich data set that spans more than 3 billion cards globally and captures more than 100 billion transactions in a single year. Our focus lies on building creative solutions that have an immediate impact on the business of our highly analytical partners. We work in complementary teams comprising members from Data Science and various groups at Visa. To support our rapidly growing group we are looking for a Director, Data Science who will support clients across banks, merchants & retailers, digital products, marketing, helping them unlock insights and drive innovation through advanced analytics and strategic data applications.

Requirements

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
Advanced knowledge of databases and engineering concepts with hands on experience with one or more data analytics/programming tools such as Hive/SQL/Spark/Python
Expertise in the application of predictive modeling and machine learning techniques
Track record of leading cross-functional efforts including presenting ideas and analysis to various audience levels
Experience with managing project teams and providing direction and thought leadership
Expertise in the application of predictive modeling and machine learning techniques
Track record of leading cross-functional efforts including presenting ideas and analysis to various audience levels
7+ years of analytical experience in applying solutions to business problems in relevant fields such as analytics, business consulting, or other data-driven functions
Knowledge of big data engineering stack including Hadoop, Spark, and other related components
Demonstrated expertise in data science tools and techniques, including advanced proficiency in SQL for data querying and transformation, expert-level knowledge of Python for analysis, modeling, and automation, and a strong foundation in machine learning encompassing model development, evaluation, and deployment.

Nice To Haves

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
Prior experience with a consulting firm delivery consulting services to financial services clients
Demonstrated experience in planning, organizing, and managing multiple cross-functional projects with diverse cross-functional stakeholders
Good business acumen to orient data analysis to business needs of clients
Understanding of Cards/Payments and Banking business model would be a plus
Experience with managing project teams and providing direction and thought leadership

Responsibilities

Provide technical and strategic direction on data science initiatives, including R&D, data governance, system infrastructure, and analytics tool evaluation.
Act as a mentor and advisor to analysts and data scientists across teams, fostering a culture of excellence and continuous learning.
Champion best practices in data analysis, modeling, and reporting to ensure rigor, quality, and business relevance.
Guide team in development of actionable solutions and creation of deliverables that effectively communicate the findings and recommendations
Leverage big data and cutting-edge data mining techniques, provide thought leadership in analytic techniques and business applications to unlock the value of Visa’s unique data set
Lead development of assets supporting scalable analytic approaches capable of being leveraged by data scientists globally.
Make recommendations and build use cases on new sources of value by addressing the biggest gaps in our data sources in relation to revenue potential.
Evangelize new analytic approaches for processing big data through internal training, documentation and by leading technical sharing sessions.
Research industry metrics and business context and bring this context to bear in analyses
Apply Python and SQL for data manipulation, analysis, and automation of workflows.
Develop and deploy machine learning models to solve business problems and enhance predictive capabilities.
Build and experiment with machine learning and Generative AI models by applying a variety of statistical and computational techniques.
Apply AI-enabled tools to streamline everyday work, including data exploration and model development.
Build and automate repeatable analyses and self-service tools to empower business users and reduce manual effort.
Drive sales activities with key clients, collaborating closely with business development teams to identify opportunities, position Visa’s solutions, and support revenue growth.
Maintain and strengthen relationships with key clients to support both ongoing delivery and long-term business development objectives.
Lead advanced internal development initiatives by designing and implementing innovative analytics solutions, frameworks, and tools that push the boundaries of Visa’s data science capabilities.
Act as a strategic partner to sales and account management teams, providing data-driven insights that influence client engagement, and solution design.
Champion internal thought leadership by initiating and driving proof-of-concept projects that showcase the business impact of emerging technologies such as Generative AI and advanced ML techniques.