Director/ Strategic Initiatives Lead, North America Executive Office

Visa•San Francisco, CA

3d•$192,300 - $307,600•Onsite

About The Position

The North America BizOps team is the engine behind the North America Region & Regional President's agenda. We're eight people with a broad mandate: running the day-to-day management of the North America business, the Regional President's Office and Chief of Staff work, AI transformation, employee engagement, client events, and priority initiatives. If it matters to how North America runs — or where it's headed — we're usually the ones making sure it happens. We're looking for someone who delights in thorny problems and wants to own both sides — setting the strategy and doing the cross-functional work to see it through. This is a high-visibility role building and leading our strategic initiatives arm. You'll sit close to the Regional President and her leadership team, take on the problems that matter most to the region, and own them end-to-end: framing the question, doing the analysis, shaping the strategy, and driving execution across functions until the outcome is real. If you're the person friends and colleagues call when something is messy, ambiguous, or stuck — and you genuinely enjoy that — keep reading.

Requirements

10+ years of work experience with a Bachelor's Degree, or 8+ years with an Advanced Degree (Master's, MBA, JD, MD), or 3+ years with a PhD
Runs multiple things at once, well. You can independently own several initiatives in parallel without dropping quality or detail.
Builds from zero. You're at your best when there's no playbook — you create the structure, the plan, and the repeatable approach others can follow.
AI-native. You use AI tools as a core part of how you work today.
Sharp analytical and communication instincts. You can take messy, complex inputs, find the insight, and turn it into a clear, concise, executive-ready output — written or verbal.
Ramps fast. You get up to speed on new topics and teams quickly, add value early, and don't burden others to do it. You can size up an ambiguous situation, weigh the tradeoffs, and move.
Business sense. You understand how Visa's business and clients work — or you know how to figure it out fast when you don't.
Calm under pressure. Composure, judgment, and attention to detail hold up when the stakes are high and the clock is ticking.
High EQ and strong people skills. You build trust quickly across functions and levels, and have well-honed influencing skills.
Executive presence. You're comfortable in front of senior executives — clear, concise, and credible whether you're presenting, pushing back, or thinking on your feet.
Low ego, high impact. You act with the end outcome and the stakeholder experience in mind. You step in where needed, look for ways to remove friction rather than add it, and care more about the result than who gets credit.
Discreet. You handle highly sensitive information with professionalism and confidentiality.
Expert in Microsoft Office, including advanced Excel and design-worth PPTs.

Nice To Haves

12+ years of work experience with a Bachelor's Degree, 8–10 years with an Advanced Degree (Master's, MBA, JD, MD), or 6+ years with a PhD
Bonus if you've led an AI transformation — spotting the right workflows, defining what success looks like, and driving the change management to make it stick.

Responsibilities

Embedding AI across the North America business. We're in the early innings of standing up a team focused on bringing AI workflows into how our business runs. Your first big initiative is to help define the vision, the operating model, the success metrics, and the connection points across the business — then run the program.
Leading the Regional President's priority initiatives. You'll be the go-to lead for the initiatives the Executive Office decides to drive directly. That means a mix of: Surge work — parachuting into a critical executive priority and driving it through to resolution. Standing priorities — quarterbacking ongoing regional initiatives like AI, business management, goal-setting, people and culture, and major client moments. Optimization — taking on the fuzzy problems where a team or way of working has room to evolve. You'll quickly get smart on the different viewpoints, context, and goals in play, then design and implement something better that actually sticks. Examples include reshaping team operating models, streamlining core regional processes, and rethinking how we develop and move top talent across the business.
Client readiness. Keeping cross-functional client plans tight and always-on for when we need to mobilize quickly across clients in our region. During big moments, acting as the PMO that connects the dots and moves the work forward across teams.