Common Purpose, Uncommon Opportunity. Everyone at Visa works with one goal in mind – making sure that Visa is the best way to pay and be paid, for everyone everywhere. This is our global vision and the common purpose that unites the entire Visa team. As a global payments technology company, tech is at the heart of what we do: Our VisaNet network processes over 13,000 transactions per second for people and businesses around the world, enabling them to use digital currency instead of cash and checks. We are also global advocates for financial inclusion, working with partners around the world to help those who lack access to financial services join the global economy. Visa’s sponsorships, including the Olympics and FIFA™ World Cup, celebrate teamwork, diversity, and excellence throughout the world. If you have a passion to make a difference in the lives of people around the world, Visa offers an uncommon opportunity to build a strong, thriving career. Visa is fueled by our team of talented employees who continuously raise the bar on delivering the convenience and security of digital currency to people all over the world. Join our team and find out how Visa is everywhere you want to be.

The Director, Network Test & Certification Engineering role has overall responsibility and accountability for all aspects of validation testing for network designs and proposed changes for Visa’s networks. This is a critical role that provides leadership and technical expertise for a team of engineers in the development and execution of test plans, the construction and maintenance of lab infrastructure, and the collaboration with the Network Architecture, Network Engineering, and Network Operations teams in designing, building, and operating all of Visa’s existing/future networks to deliver best-in-class network availability, resiliency, security, and performance, leveraging state-of-the-art networking technologies such as virtualization and software-defined networking (SDN).

This position reports to the Senior Director, Global Network Engineering who reports to the Vice President of Global Infrastructure Network Services. The successful candidate will lead a network test engineering team, manage the network lab’s tools and infrastructure, and work closely with the Global Network Architecture, Global Network Operations, and Global Network Engineering design teams within Visa’s Global Infrastructure Network Services organization.

The role is based in Ashburn (VA), where the primary network lab facility is located.

This is an exciting opportunity for a technology leader to make key contributions to help transform Visa’s global networks toward next-generation capabilities. The test team is an integral component of the Network Engineering organization, and is a key trusted partner in validating new network designs and planned changes, as well as in reproducing operational issues and ensuring operational supportability of the networks.

Job Scope and Responsibilities:

• The scope of the role includes all aspects of network validation testing, including functional testing, performance testing, regression testing, interoperability testing, and scale testing. The team is responsible for testing and certification of new designs, software, hardware, and network changes through a formal process that includes definition of test requirements, creation of test plans, execution of the test cases via physical lab testing, virtualized testing, or simulation/emulation modeling, and documentation and review of the results with key stakeholders. The testing team also participates in proof-of-concept and prototype testing in partnership with vendors and the Network Architecture team.
• The Network Test & Certification Engineering team is responsible for testing all networking disciplines, and as a result, the Director position requires broad network expertise in areas as diverse as WAN, LAN/campus, datacenter, cloud, L2/L3 routing and switching, IP/MPLS, routing protocols, load balancing, network management tools, WiFi, VPN, and SDN, as well as modern testing methodologies and automation in both physical and virtual test environments. The successful candidate will provide technical leadership and direction in terms of how best to invest in network lab assets, select testing tools, and leverage vendor capabilities in executing on the mission to validate network designs and proposed changes to ensure successful implementation in production. S/He will develop and implement new initiatives to automate network testing to reduce cycle times and increase reliability, stability, security, and service agility.

More specifically, the primary responsibilities include the following:

• Mentor, manage, and motivate a high-performing team of engineers and set clear priorities to achieve team goals and KPIs.
• Manage the lab tools and physical infrastructure, develop annual capital budget, and work with stakeholders to plan and procure the equipment needed for future projects.
• Allocate resources to incoming workflow and resolve resource contention to ensure that project requirements are met.
• Drive innovation and adoption of new technologies and tools, implement capability improvements, evaluate new vendors, and assist in technology trials.
• Ensure that information security and risk management are embedded within the culture, requiring continuous improvement to a complex set of functions to coordinate security and compliance risks related to information systems and assets.
• Drive coordination, consensus, and execution to meet objectives in a fast-paced and dynamic environment.
• Determine need for new products and systems based on budget, client needs, and improvements in technology.
• Provide subject matter expertise and support to Network Operations teams as needed.
• Lead development of innovation and strategic direction in application of theories and concepts in data network design, configuration, administration, maintenance, testing, monitoring, and/or support.
• Work closely with other departments to proactively ensure network engineering capabilities are capable of handling emerging and future business requirements.
• Ensure service level targets are met, and address all service-level complaints from a testing and certification perspective.
• Ensure network testing processes are conducted according to corporate standards, and in compliance with external standards as defined in company objectives (e.g., ITIL, COBIT, ISO27001/27002 and similar).
• Participate in disaster recovery/business continuity activities, as needed.
• Document and publish performance metrics and KPIs.
• Comfort in working through corporate culture with purpose and energy to promote a unified approach.
• Provide subject matter expertise in interactions with partners and customers, program manage collaboration projects externally and internally.

The ideal candidate is a network engineering leader with substantial experience in network design, configuration, operations, and administration and strong leadership skills. S/He will have relevant experience within a large, complex technology services organization.

The following qualifications are required for the role:

• Prior experience as a manager or senior individual contributor in a network engineering or testing team, implementing next-generation network designs to support large-scale deployments for high-volume, high-availability consumer-facing and/or B2B network interactions.


• Prior experience in improving stability of complex enterprise or carrier networks.


• Prior experience in re-engineering or testing complex Internet architectures for latency-sensitive business services.


• Prior experience in working with highly-effective engineering and operations teams through major technology transitions in multi-vendor environments.


• Proven track record of driving change and transformation in network engineering technologies, tools, and processes through metrics-driven, KPI-based methodologies, and an evidence-based continuous improvement approach to best meet business objectives and priorities.


• Demonstrated technical knowledge of networking technologies and solid understanding of the software-defined networking (SDN) ecosystem.


• Hands-on experience in designing and deploying large scale-out network technologies.


• Experience in managing cost-reduction programs.


• Excellent communicator and able to drive consensus across diverse/global technology teams.


• Must have strong and pragmatic views about open standards and with supporting evidence.


• Demonstrated experience of metrics-driven management with accountability.


• Demonstrated understanding of tools and technologies in network engineering and operations ecosystem.


• Demonstrated consistent and steady growth in career.


• Strong business acumen with experience developing and managing capital budgets.


• Bachelor's degree or higher in engineering or related field.

Visa will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of Article 49 of the San Francisco Police Code.

All your information will be kept confidential according to EEO guidelines.