Senior Director – AI, Data and Optimization

Visa is a world leader in payments and technology, with over 259 billion payments transactions flowing safely between consumers, merchants, financial institutions, and government entities in more than 200 countries and territories each year. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, convenient, reliable, and secure payments network, enabling individuals, businesses, and economies to thrive while driven by a common purpose – to uplift everyone, everywhere by being the best way to pay and be paid.

Make an impact with a purpose-driven industry leader. Join us today and experience Life at Visa.

The Senior Director of AI, Data and Optimization is a senior leader within the Digital organization, responsible for building, owning, and scaling a modern, AI-led data and personalization platform. This platform will serve as the backbone for delivering real-time insights, advanced testing, and 1-1 hyper-personalized experiences across the customer lifecycle.

This role will function as the AI/Data strategist and product owner of the enterprise’s marketing data & AI ecosystem—working in close partnership with Insights & Analytics, Regional Marketing teams, Sales, IT, and the Chief Data Office—to ensure that the platform is scalable, governed, and widely adopted across the business.

Responsibilities

• Own the vision, roadmap, and execution of a unified, AI-powered data and analytics platform that supports real-time measurement, journey optimization, market research, and personalization.
• Act as the central product owner for the marketing AI, data and insights platform, ensuring it meets the needs of Marketing, Sales, Customer Experience, and other business teams.
• Work closely with IT, Chief Data Office to design and implement platform components, integrate enterprise data sources, and establish data governance, privacy, and compliance protocols.
• Lead the development and scaling of capabilities for:
  • AI transformation of Marketing and Experiences
  • Real-time customer profile unification and segmentation
  • Cross-channel journey orchestration and targeting
  • Advanced analytics and attribution
  • A/B, multivariate, and AI-driven testing
  • Predictive modeling and next-best-action personalization
  • Dynamic content and creative optimization
• Enable hyper-personalization at the individual level, using AI and machine learning to deliver contextually relevant, real-time interactions across digital channels.
• Collaborate closely with regional marketing teams, global campaign owners, and insights & analytics functions to translate business needs into platform features and data products.
• Lead and grow a high-performing team across data science, analytics, engineering, and optimization.
• Build and champion a culture of experimentation and continuous learning, embedding data-driven decision-making and agile testing into campaign and product design workflows.
• Deliver tools, training, and self-service capabilities that enable cross-functional teams to independently use the platform for insights, testing, and activation.
• Measure and report on platform performance, business impact, and ROI to marketing and executive leadership.

This is a hybrid position. Expectation of days in office will be confirmed by your Hiring Manager.

Preferred Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in a technical, business, or marketing-related field. Master’s or PhD preferred.
• 15+ years of experience in data, analytics, or marketing technology leadership roles, with at least 5 years in senior-level positions.
• 5+ years of deep experience into AI including ML, GenAI and Agents. Strong understanding and experience into business application of AI is critical for this role.
• Proven success in building and operationalizing data and AI platforms that support customer analytics, real-time personalization, and business intelligence at enterprise scale.
• Deep understanding of real-time data orchestration, journey analytics, marketing measurement, and advanced testing methodologies.
• Strong experience with modern data and marketing technology stacks. Familiarity with tools and platforms such as:
• Customer Data Platforms (CDPs): Adobe Real-Time CDP, Salesforce Data Cloud, Segment, Treasure Data, Tealium
• Journey Orchestration & Personalization: Adobe Journey Optimizer, Salesforce Interaction Studio, Braze, MoEngage, Insider, Thunderhead
• Experimentation & Optimization: Adobe Target, Optimizely, Dynamic Yield, Google Optimize (now sunset), VWO, Monetate
• Analytics & Attribution: Adobe Customer Journey Analytics, Google Analytics 4, Amplitude, Heap, Mixpanel, Snowplow, Neustar, Rockerbox
• Marketing Attribution & Performance Measurement: Adobe Marketo Measure (Bizible), Full Circle Insights, LeadsRx, Wizaly
• Data & AI Platforms: Snowflake, Databricks, BigQuery, AWS Sagemaker, Azure ML, Google Vertex AI
• Visualization & Enablement: Tableau, Power BI, Looker, ThoughtSpot
• Demonstrated ability to lead cross-functional collaboration with Marketing, Sales, IT, and Data Governance teams.
• Skilled at internal enablement and training, ensuring broad adoption of platform tools and self-service analytics across diverse user groups.
• Excellent executive communication and storytelling skills, with the ability to align business and technical stakeholders around a clear platform vision.
• Hands-on, action-oriented mindset with a passion for experimentation and customer-centric marketing.

Work Hours: Varies upon the needs of the department.

Travel Requirements: This position requires travel 5-10% of the time.

Mental/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 is an EEO Employer.  Qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability or protected veteran status.  Visa will also consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with EEOC guidelines and applicable local law.

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

U.S. APPLICANTS ONLY: The estimated salary range for a new hire into this position is 163,500 to 250,000 USD per year, which may include potential sales incentive payments (if applicable). Salary may vary depending on job-related factors which may include knowledge, skills, experience, and location. In addition, this position may be eligible for bonus and equity. Visa has a comprehensive benefits package for which this position may be eligible that includes Medical, Dental, Vision, 401 (k), FSA/HSA, Life Insurance, Paid Time Off, and Wellness Program.