As the world's leader in digital payments technology, Visa's mission is to connect the world through the most creative, reliable and secure payment network - enabling individuals, businesses, and economies to thrive. Our advanced global processing network, VisaNet, provides secure and reliable payments around the world, and is capable of handling more than 65,000 transaction messages a second. The company's dedication to innovation drives the rapid growth of connected commerce on any device, and fuels the dream of a cashless future for everyone, everywhere. As the world moves from analog to digital, Visa is applying our brand, products, people, network and scale to reshape the future of commerce.

At Visa, your individuality fits right in. Working here gives you an opportunity to impact the world, invest in your career growth, and be part of an inclusive and diverse workplace. We are a global team of disruptors, trailblazers, innovators and risk-takers who are helping drive economic growth in even the most remote parts of the world, creatively moving the industry forward, and doing meaningful work that brings financial literacy and digital commerce to millions of unbanked and underserved consumers.

You're an Individual. We're the team for you. Together, let's transform the way the world pays.

The Senior Director, North America Innovation Solutions Architect will be part of the team that helps our clients win in a competitive marketplace by designing and developing applied innovation solutions. The Visa Innovation team is part of a global innovation network that evangelizes Visa’s global point of view on the future, designs best in class customer-centric experiences, and develops new product solutions to drive industry innovation. We host clients from around the globe and across industries—from financial institutions and merchants to technology partners and government officials—immersing them in customer insights and emerging global trends.  As part of a multi-disciplinary team made up of product, design, research and development, you will blur the lines between strategy and creativity, helping to design and develop new solutions that are desirable for end-users as well as technical feasible and financially viable.  This role reports to the Head of North America Innovation.

The successful candidate will be a seasoned technologist and solution-seller who can partner with Visa clients. The role provides expert advice to business leaders and developers who want to partner with Visa to design and develop new solutions from proof of concept, to minimum viable product, to target state. It requires a unique combination of payments technology architecture, service design and client-facing relationship management skills.  Projects could vary based on user, segment, industry, problem/opportunity defined and/or payments ecosystem partner.  The role will work across multiple client projects as an SME leader and partner with product managers, designers, developers, account executives and other stakeholders. The role will be required to understand both the client’s systems, Visa products and new technologies (e.g., AI, biometrics, etc.) so that recommended applied innovations can accelerate the client’s growth and competitiveness in the marketplace.  

This role will be critical to the success of Visa’s piloting-as-a-service offering which helps our clients transition from user tested prototypes to market tested pilots using the Visa Product Validation Platform. You will work hands-on with Visa clients’ technology teams and deep-dive into user flows with clients.  The role requires the candidate to be highly collaborative, bring a structured and consultative approach to new product development, employ moderation and facilitation skills, have a passion for payments innovation, and have an ability to communicate complex information to both technical and non-technical audiences.

The Innovation Team believes in curiosity, creative confidence, experimentation through making, continuous learning, respectful collaboration, inclusion, empathy, resiliency, and fun!  Lastly, the person should be a “SWAN” – someone who is smart, works hard, ambitious and nice! 

Responsibilities:

Solution Strategy

• Articulate and communicate the vision and strategic direction on how a market-leading, innovative solutions meet customers’ needs and grows businesses
• Provide expert knowledge of a solution and how it is shaping the future including anticipating market trends and customer needs and
• Drives the strategic vision of how technical tools will be used to develop, support and implement products
• Identify the white space, challenges and gaps in the current payment ecosystem
• Provide thought leadership on innovation and technology trends

Technical knowledge

• Provide expert knowledge of the technical aspects of product and solution development
• Create complex conceptual and contextual architectural diagrams 
• Configures products at an advanced level confidently to meet customer needs 
• Anticipates and identifies changing technical knowledge needs based on changes in the business, industry trends and emerging technologies 
• Champion for Piloting-as-a-Service and the Visa Product Validation Platform as a proven approach to accelerating and de-risking our clients’ new product development
• Fluent in all technical tools being utilized in product development

Customer Centricity

• Work with Visa clients to understand their business and technology architecture and then develop innovation proposals for how to address these through customer insights, agile development, payment industry expertise and future proofing
• Develop and lead product demos to inspire and educate partners, banks, sellers, governments, processors, technology partners and people.
• Can speak to both technical and non-technical aspects of the customer experience and solution.
• Thought leader in being the voice of the customer represented in solution design
• Establishes strategies for building meaningful architecture by staying ahead of market trends on customer behavior and directs teams to anticipate the customer's point of view and strategically target new customers 
• Coaches others to understand solution’s value proposition to the customer and ecosystem 
• Articulates potential trends with implementation complications and plans to address these trends and is seen as a leading trusted advisor
• Be as comfortable working with an institutional technologist at one of Visa’s large banking clients as with a technologist at a fintech.

Communications

• Has executive presence in leading conversations with clients and can inspire business leaders and developers
• Communicates across cross functional stakeholders (for varying levels and technical expertise)
• Incentivize cross-functional teamwork by aligning and persuasively articulating cross-functional incentives
• Possess strong diplomacy skills and fosters goodwill between different groups and functions, exhibiting a “one company” mindset 
• Create strategic alliances with relevant stakeholders across organizations to make communication seamless across product development process
• Analytical thinker, creatively confident, team oriented, collaborative, diplomatic, and flexible, with excellent presentation skills, including strong oral and writing capabilities
• Coaches teams to tailor client and technical approach accordingly 

BASIC QUALIFICATIONS:

• 12 years of work experience with a Bachelor’s Degree; 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

​​​​​​​PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• 10+ years payments industry/fintechs/digital tech/solution consulting experience or similar relevant experience
• Have deep knowledge and passion around emerging payments technologies and their potential to change commerce
• Have a strong engineering or architecture background focused on Web technologies, APIs, and machine-to-machine communication over the Internet.
• Be conversant in the predominant programming languages and technologies used by Visa and our clients 
• Proven ability to work on complex and often ambiguous problems, to drive results
• Independent judgment and mature decision-making skills to deal with projects that often have enterprise-wide scope and may have significant cost and time-to-market impacts.
• Great time management and a passion for making commitments happen.
• Collaborative approach in order to seamlessly integrate activities with other teams when needed.
• Resilient in navigating through ambiguity and translating the theoretical to applicable
• Must have a growth mindset that embraces creativity, optimism, ambiguity and failing-fast 

Work Hours:

Incumbent must make themselves available during core business hours. May require occasional meetings outside of core business hours to connect with global partners and clients.

Travel Requirements:

This position requires travel for work 10% of the time (when travel restrictions are not in place)

Physical Requirements:

This position will be performed in an office setting.  The position will require the incumbent to sit and stand at a desk, communicate in person and by telephone, frequently operate standard office equipment, such as telephones and computers.

Visa will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with EEOC guidelines and applicable local law.