Senior Director, People M&A

Visa•Atlanta, GA

1d•Hybrid

About The Position

The People Acquisitions (M&A) function plays a critical role in enabling Visa’s growth strategy through acquisitions, integrations, divestitures, and global expansion. This role is a senior leadership position with enterprise-wide accountability for all People-related M&A and legal entity set-up (LES) activity across Visa. This is a ground‑floor opportunity to build, lead, and continuously evolve the global People M&A and LES strategy and practice, establishing standards, governance, and ways of working that scale across regions. The role operates with significant visibility across the People Leadership Team and partners closely with senior leaders in Legal, Finance, Corporate Development, Corporate Strategy, and the business to support both inorganic growth and market expansion. The Senior Director, People M&A serves as the global leader for the function, with end‑to‑end accountability for People diligence, deal execution, integration, and new entity readiness worldwide. The role reports to the SVP, Total Rewards and leads a global team responsible for delivering consistent, high‑quality outcomes across all regions.

Requirements

12 or more years of work experience with a Bachelor’s Degree or at least 10 years of work experience with an Advanced degree (e.g. Masters/MBA /JD/MD), or a minimum of 5 years of work experience with a PhD
15+ years of progressive experience with increasing leadership responsibility
Deep experience in People M&A, integration, transformation, or complex change environments
Proven experience building and leading high-performing teams
Strong program and project management capabilities across multiple, concurrent workstreams
Demonstrated ability to operate at both strategic and execution levels
Excellent executive communication skills, with the ability to distill complexity into clear narratives
Strong judgment, attention to detail, and operational discipline
Ability to influence without authority in a global, matrixed organization
High degree of personal accountability and integrity

Nice To Haves

15 or more years of experience with a Bachelor’s Degree or 12 years of experience with an Advanced Degree (e.g. Masters, MBA, JD, or MD), PhD with 9+ years of experience

Responsibilities

Design, own, and continuously evolve the global People M&A and Legal Entity Set-Up (LES) strategy, frameworks, and operating model
Serve as the global People Team lead for all M&A activity, from diligence through integration and stabilization
Define global standards, playbooks, governance, and documentation to ensure consistency, scalability, and risk mitigation
Lead all People Team contributions across the full M&A lifecycle, including Pre-deal People diligence, Transaction execution, Post-close integration, and Divestitures, when applicable
Partner closely with Legal, Finance, Corporate Development, and People COEs to assess risk, design solutions, and enable smooth integrations
Ensure People implications are clearly articulated to deal teams and executive leadership
Own People Team responsibilities related to global legal entity creation, including coordination across employment, benefits, compensation, payroll, mobility, and compliance
Establish repeatable LES processes to support geographic expansion and business scaling
Act as the central point of accountability for People readiness during new market entry
Lead, develop, and coach a global team
Set clear priorities, accountability, and development plans for the team
Ensure the team is appropriately resourced and aligned to deliver simultaneous, high-complexity initiatives
Build and maintain trusted partnerships across the People Team, Corporate Functions, and business leadership
Proactively communicate risks, progress, and decisions to senior stakeholders
Escalate issues early and drive resolution in a complex, matrixed environment
Produce and present materials for executive reviews, steering committees, and People Leadership forums