Company Description

Visa is a world leader in digital payments, facilitating more than 215 billion payments transactions between consumers, merchants, financial institutions and government entities across 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.

When you join Visa, you join a culture of purpose and belonging – where your growth is priority, your identity is embraced, and the work you do matters. We believe that economies that include everyone everywhere, uplift everyone everywhere. Your work will have a direct impact on billions of people around the world – helping unlock financial access to enable the future of money movement.

Join Visa: A Network Working for Everyone.

Job Description

About the Role

We're searching for a visionary leader to illuminate the future of payments and commerce. This groundbreaking role blends the cutting-edge insights of a foresight researcher with the compelling storytelling abilities of a brand publisher. You'll be a pioneer, navigating the evolving landscape of this dynamic industry, translating global and regional trends into actionable insights, viable product opportunities, and compelling narratives that shape brand.

We are looking for an exceptional insights leader with expertise driving foundational, exploratory, and generative research, with experience in the global payments and commerce ecosystems, as well as with emerging technology in these categories. This person brings together research leadership, payments and commerce knowledge, and an understanding of relevant evolving shifts in users’ needs, mindsets, and behaviors related to global macroeconomic and regional trends. In this role, you will oversee end-to-end research initiatives and develop data-driven insights to inform thought leadership content as well as to identify opportunities for new product development.

This position requires the ability to partner across disciplines, functions, and business units. You will be responsible for uncovering critical insights that inform our product innovation roadmap, as well as identifying valuable opportunities to enhance our partner ecosystem and shape the narrative of our global network of Innovation Centers. Additionally, you will work closely with leaders across the company to craft proactive and insights-rich strategies that help Visa anticipate and adapt to changing industry and ecosystem dynamics.

You should possess knowledge of both established and emerging payments and commerce flows and deep expertise in one or more critical domains – such as technology, economics, policy, consumer behavior – and how this relates to payments. You will have a vision for conceptualizing and delivering original insights that address customer challenges and exceed current market offerings in their relevancy and actionability. The ability to situate innovation in payments in the broader context of societal and economic change through impactful and persuasive storytelling is a must.

Responsibilities

• Develop and execute a research strategy and roadmap aligned with business goals to unearth sharp, actionable, timely insights

• Lead mixed-methods research efforts, inclusive but not limited to surveys, ethnographic inquiry, group research, remote and in-person in-depth interviews

• Synthesize complex qual and quant data sets, from primary and secondary sources, into compelling, original insights that not only illuminate current pain points and needs in the market, but which also indicate emerging needs and opportunities

• Create and deliver thought leadership content including internal strategy briefs, public facing content, presentations to be delivered through our Innovation Centers

• Identify innovation opportunities and collaborate with product teams on concept development, leading qualitative and quantitative research to drive product innovation

• Continuously and proactively monitor industry trends, competitive landscape, and customer needs across the payments ecosystem

• Establish research KPIs, measure impact, and communicate value of insights

• Be a disciplinary leader by staying on top of latest research methodologies, tools, and analytical approaches

• Foresight Research:

  • Lead research efforts to identify and analyze emerging trends, technologies, and consumer behaviors in the payments and commerce space.

  • Conduct scenario planning strategies for our business and product offerings.

  • Stay up-to-date on the latest industry developments and translate them into actionable insights for decision-making.

  • Foster a culture of curiosity and critical thinking within the organization.

• Brand Storytelling:

  • Develop and execute a captivating brand narrative that reflects our vision for the future of payments and commerce.

  • Craft high-quality, thought-provoking content that educates, inspires, and engages diverse audiences.

  • Oversee the production of various content formats, including written, visual, and interactive experiences.

  • Collaborate with creative teams to ensure brand consistency and messaging across all touchpoints.

• Hybrid Expertise:

  • Bridge the gap between foresight research and brand communication, transforming complex insights into impactful narratives.

  • Translate abstract trends into tangible stories that resonate with customers, partners, and the broader industry.

  • Ensure foresight research informs brand strategy and storytelling efforts, creating a cohesive and future-oriented brand experience.

• Collaborative Leadership:

  • Collaborate with a high-performing, cross functional team composed of Account Executives, Product Developers, User Researchers, Economists, and more.

  • Foster a collaborative and innovative environment where diverse perspectives are valued.

  • Mentor and develop team members, equipping them with the skills to excel in their roles.

  • Manage vendors and resources effectively to achieve departmental goals.

This is a hybrid position. Hybrid employees can alternate time between both remote and office. Employees in hybrid roles are expected to work from the office 2-3 set days a week (determined by leadership/site), with a general guidepost of being in the office 50% or more of the time based on business needs.

Qualifications

KEY QUALIFICATIONS
• 10 years of relevant research experience with a bachelor’s degree or at least 5 years of experience with an Advanced Degree (e.g. Masters, MBA, JD, MD)
• Proven track record of identifying and analyzing emerging trends in the payments and commerce space, with a deep understanding of emerging tech, payments and FinTech
• Strong track record of directing comprehensive research programs in complex categories or ecosystems
• Strong understanding of data analysis and its application to strategic storytelling, writing compelling, articulate data-driven narratives based on research insights in various content formats
• Extensive knowledge of branding principles and the ability to build a compelling brand narrative.
• Exceptional communicator with outstanding oral, written, editing and presentation skills
• Strong strategic thinker with ability to think creatively and analytically about complex, ambiguous categories
• Proven ability to lead and motivate cross-functional teams.
• Effective collaborator using influence and inspiration to achieve desired results
• Excellent organizational and project management skills with the ability to juggle multiple priorities in a fast-changing environment
• Familiarity with creative tools and experience designing thought leadership assets (including but not limited to whitepapers, executive presentations, blog posts) and sales enablement materials (including but not limited to case studies, pitch decks)
• Comfort working in a hybrid environment, seamlessly transitioning between remote and in-office work.

Preferred Qualifications
• 10 years of work experience with a bachelor’s degree or 8 years of experience with an advanced degree (e.g. Masters, MBA, JD, MD or PhD)
• 10+ years of experience in a leadership role within relevant fields (foresight research, brand strategy, content marketing, etc.).
• Insights-led 0-1 product development experience
• People & vendor management experience
• Hands-on research design and execution, agnostic of methodology and with a
• Write, edit, design content based on research findings, and that aligns with Visa’s voice, create standards and processes to ensure consistently high quality of content to support business objectives
• Lead collaboration and alignment across Global Innovation and related cross-functional groups (e.g. Digital Partnerships, Visa Consulting & Analytics, Corp. Strategy, Sales, Marketing, Product Teams) on delivering thought leadership content
• Demonstrate a proven ability to quickly learn and build expertise in key topic areas including our clients’ business, competitive landscape, and our business objectives to clearly define problem statements and actionable insights
• Bring expertise in crafting both long-form content and real-time content, along with distribution strategies and tactics
• Own end-to-end management of internal and external content posting processes working closely with key partners including legal, marketing, etc.

Additional Information

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.