Sr. Director

Visa•San Francisco, CA

2d•$208,000 - $333,000•Onsite

About The Position

Visa US Marketing is seeking a strategic, analytically strong media leader to lead Visa’s US media investment strategy, audience strategy, and the systems guiding allocation, optimization, and accountability across paid media investments. The role manages a significant annual media portfolio for Consumer marketing and sets allocation strategy, guides investment trade-offs, and owns high-value audience development so media investment is directed toward opportunities with strong business value. The leader works across Brand, Product, Analytics, Finance, Legal, Risk & Privacy, Data Science, Marketing Technology, agency partners, the content leadership team, and Marketing Services Media. The role advances Visa’s media approach by connecting audience intelligence, targeting, and measurement to improve portfolio decisions, accelerate learning, and strengthen business results. The position leads Visa’s US media investment model and audience strategy, including allocation frameworks, investment priorities, audience development, and decision rules. It owns portfolio prioritization and investment recommendations for major sponsorship moments such as the Olympics and FIFA; leads the operating rhythm for internal media experts and agency partners; and builds measurement systems that connect media exposure to business outcomes. The role also advances audience delivery, measurement infrastructure, investment governance, and disciplined budget management, while providing thought leadership on media trends and building a culture of clear decision-making and continuous learning. Visa requires at least three days in the office; the specific days will be confirmed by the Hiring Manager. No visa sponsorship will be provided. Work hours vary according to department needs, and travel is required 5–10% of the time. The position is performed in an office setting and involves sitting and standing at a desk, communicating in person and by telephone, and frequently operating standard office equipment such as telephones and computers.

Requirements

At least 12 years of work experience with a Bachelor’s Degree, or at least 10 years of work experience with an Advanced Degree (e.g., Master’s, MBA, JD, MD), or a minimum of 5 years of work experience with a PhD.
Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience required.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to translate complexity into clear recommendations for senior leaders.

Nice To Haves

15 or more years of experience with a Bachelor’s Degree or 12 years of experience with an Advanced Degree; PhD with 9 or more years of experience.
15 or more years of experience in paid media, media strategy, investment management, audience development, or related marketing disciplines, including meaningful agency-side experience.
Proven success building audience strategies using first-party or near-first-party data, segmentation, cohort frameworks, and advanced activation techniques.
Strong expertise in marketing technology, platform automation, AI-enabled optimization, and applying these tools to improve media performance.
Deep knowledge of media measurement, attribution, testing, incrementality, and executive-level performance reporting.
Experience leading high-performing teams and influencing cross-functional stakeholders in complex, matrixed organizations.
Strong commercial and financial acumen, including experience managing significant media budgets and making data-informed investment decisions.
MBA or advanced degree preferred.
A test-and-learn mindset, strong curiosity, and a bias toward action, innovation, and measurable outcomes.

Responsibilities

Lead Visa’s US media investment model and audience strategy, including allocation frameworks, investment priorities, high-value audience development, and decision rules across brand and performance objectives.
Set the portfolio operating model for making, adjusting, and reviewing investment decisions.
Guide trade-offs across audiences, tentpole moments, and investment priorities to direct media dollars toward opportunities with strong strategic and commercial value.
Own portfolio prioritization and media investment recommendations for major sponsorship moments, including the Olympics and FIFA.
Partner with the content leader to align investment choices with important brand opportunities while retaining ownership of audience strategy, media allocation, investment governance, and performance accountability.
Partner with Marketing Services Media to identify investment opportunities that benefit both the brand and clients while maintaining clear commercial and strategic priorities.
Lead the operating rhythm and decision environment for internal media experts and agency partners, strengthening accountability, prioritization, and execution quality.
Define priority audience cohorts, high-value audience frameworks, and signals used to guide targeting and investment decisions.
Use first-party and near-first-party audience and cohort intelligence to guide investment concentration, targeting, and delivery decisions.
Lead audience delivery systems across addressable media, platform-native buying environments, automated activation, and AI-enabled optimization.
Build measurement capabilities connecting media exposure to business outcomes, including brand outcomes, high-value behaviors, payment volume, and other priority signals.
Partner with Insights & Analytics to define measurement frameworks, testing strategies, incrementality approaches, and learning agendas.
Advance measurement infrastructure by integrating marketing technology, platform data, and internal systems to improve signal capture, attribution, reporting, and decision support.
Establish investment guardrails, KPI frameworks, and operating rhythms that support faster learning, clear trade-offs, and accountability.
Partner with Finance on budget management, forecasting, and assessment of return, efficiency, and scaling decisions.
Provide thought leadership on how signal loss, AI-driven discovery, platform automation, and changing consumer behavior affect media investment and performance.
Use external trends, tools, and market intelligence to assess how leading brands are evolving allocation, targeting, and measurement.
Identify where Visa can create advantage through investment discipline, audience intelligence, closed-loop measurement, and integrated platform systems.
Translate market learning and US experience into recommendations for portfolio governance and future scale.
Build a team culture grounded in clear decision-making, disciplined investment management, and continuous learning.
Create operating clarity across internal teams and partners so media decisions are made faster and with stronger accountability.
Operate effectively in a complex, matrixed organization, building alignment and influence where direct authority is unavailable.