Director, Research

As part of the global Visa Consulting & Analytics organization, North America Product, Experience Design and Digital (PxDD) is an innovation consulting team that helps Visa’s network clients accelerate their innovation agenda and transform their customer experience. PxDD partners with leading brands across the payments ecosystem—including banks, fintechs, processors, and merchants—to design and deliver differentiated products, services, and experiences grounded in human-centered design.

The PxDD team works across strategy, research, design, and technology to solve complex client problems, beginning with deep customer understanding and translating insights into action. We believe in curiosity, creative confidence, experimentation, continuous learning, respectful collaboration, inclusion, empathy, and fun.

The Director, Research will help Visa's network of clients accelerate their innovation agenda and transform their customer experience, uncovering customer attitudes, behaviors, and needs through rigorous research approaches. This role is responsible for setting the research vision for client engagements, leading high-impact research work, and managing a small team of researchers.

We are seeking expertise in at least one of the following areas:

• Qualitative research methods
• Quantitative research methods (including choice-based experiments, concept tests, segmentation and product assessments)
• Research Operations with a focus on knowledge management

• Lead innovation consulting engagements from a research lens, owning research strategy, design, execution, synthesis, and insight delivery from scoping through go-to-market
• Serve as the senior research lead on engagements, partnering closely with strategy, design, and product leaders to shape integrated, insight-led solutions
• Translate complex research findings into clear, actionable insights, journeys, personas and stories that inform product and experience strategies
• Manage and mentor a small team of researchers, providing coaching, feedback, and career development
• Foster a strong research culture grounded in rigor, curiosity, collaboration, and continuous improvement
• Identify and pilot new research methods, tools, and operational approaches to elevate the PxDD research practice
• Manage research vendor partners, ensuring quality, consistency, and operational efficiency

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

• 10 or more years of work experience with a Bachelor’s Degree or at least 8 years of work experience with an Advanced Degree (e.g. Masters/ MBA/JD/MD) or at least 3 years of work experience with a PhD

• 12 or more years of work experience with a Bachelor’s Degree or 8-10 years of experience with an Advanced Degree (e.g. Masters, MBA, JD, MD) or 6+ years of work experience with a PhD
• Undergraduate or Graduate degree in a research-oriented discipline such as Sociology, Anthropology, Psychology, Human Factors, Business, Marketing, or related field
• Deep research expertise in consulting, agency, and/or professional services environments
• 8–10+ years of experience in user research or related fields, including responsibility for scoping, sizing, and leading complex research programs
• Strong understanding of human-centered approaches including service design and its application to product and service development
• An advocate for ReOps and experience building and maintaining an insight repository
• Proven ability to work on complex and often ambiguous problems, to drive results
• Excellent project management skills, organization, and ability to manage multiple work streams at the same time
• Excellent executive presence and verbal and written communication skills
• Payments, fintech, financial services, or digital technology experience a plus

Varying upon the needs of the department.

This position requires travel5-10% of the time.

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…