Director, Research

Visa•San Francisco, CA

6h•Hybrid

About The Position

As part of the global Visa Consulting & Analytics organization, North America Product, Experience Design and Digital (PxDD) is an innovation consulting team that helps Visa’s network clients accelerate their innovation agenda and transform their customer experience. PxDD partners with leading brands across the payments ecosystem—including banks, fintechs, processors, and merchants—to design and deliver differentiated products, services, and experiences grounded in human-centered design. The PxDD team works across strategy, research, design, and technology to solve complex client problems, beginning with deep customer understanding and translating insights into action. We believe in curiosity, creative confidence, experimentation, continuous learning, respectful collaboration, inclusion, empathy, and fun. The Director, Research will help Visa's network of clients accelerate their innovation agenda and transform their customer experience, uncovering customer attitudes, behaviors, and needs through rigorous research approaches. This role is responsible for setting the research vision for client engagements, leading high-impact research work, and managing a small team of researchers. We are seeking expertise in at least one of the following areas: Qualitative research methods Quantitative research methods (including choice-based experiments, concept tests, segmentation and product assessments) Research Operations with a focus on knowledge management

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

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
Undergraduate or Graduate degree in a research-oriented discipline such as Sociology, Anthropology, Psychology, Human Factors, Business, Marketing, or related field
Deep research expertise in consulting, agency, and/or professional services environments
8–10+ years of experience in user research or related fields, including responsibility for scoping, sizing, and leading complex research programs
Prior direct people leadership experience
Strong understanding of human-centered approaches including service design and its application to product and service development
An advocate for ReOps and experience building and maintaining an insight repository
Proven ability to work on complex and often ambiguous problems, to drive results
Excellent project management skills, organization, and ability to manage multiple workstreams at the same time
Excellent executive presence and verbal and written communication skills
Payments, fintech, financial services, or digital technology experience a plus

Responsibilities

Lead innovation consulting engagements from a research lens, owning research strategy, design, execution, synthesis, and insight delivery from scoping through go-to-market
Serve as the senior research lead on engagements, partnering closely with strategy, design, and product leaders to shape integrated, insight-led solutions
Translate complex research findings into clear, actionable insights, journeys, personas and stories that inform product and experience strategies
Manage and mentor a small team of researchers, providing coaching, feedback, and career development
Foster a strong research culture grounded in rigor, curiosity, collaboration, and continuous improvement
Identify and pilot new research methods, tools, and operational approaches to elevate the PxDD research practice
Manage research vendor partners, ensuring quality, consistency, and operational efficiency