Director, Data Science, Visa Consulting & Analytics, India and South Asia

Company Description

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.

Job Description

Team Summary

Visa Consulting and Analytics (VCA) drives tangible, impactful and financial results for Visa’s network clients, including both financial services and merchants. Drawing on our expertise in strategy consulting, data analytics, brand management, marketing, operational and macroeconomics, Visa Consulting and Analytics solves the most strategic problems for our clients.

The India & South Asia (INSA) Consulting Market team within Visa Consulting & Analytics provides consulting and solution services for Visa’s largest issuers in India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan & Maldives. We apply deep expertise in the payments industry to provide solutions to assist clients with their key business priorities, drive growth and improve profitability. The VCA team provides a comprehensive range of consulting services to deliver solutions that address unique challenges in areas such as improving profitability, strategic growth, customer experience, digital payments and running risk.

The individual will be part of VCA Data Science geographic team cluster of India and South Asia (INSA) markets and will be responsible for sales and delivery of  data science and analytics based solutions to Visa Clients.

What the Director Data Science, Visa Consulting & Analytics does at Visa:

The Director, Data Science at Visa Consulting & Analytics (VCA) blends technical expertise with business acumen to deliver impactful, data-driven solutions to Visa’s clients, shaping the future of payments through analytics and innovation. This role combines hands-on modeling with strategic leadership, leading the adoption of Generative AI (Gen AI) and Agentic AI into Visa’s offerings.

This is onsite role based out of Mumbai. The role will require travel.

Key Responsibilities

Commercial Acumen/Business Development

• Collaborate with internal and external clients to comprehend their strategic business inquiries, leading project scoping and design to effectively address those questions by leveraging Visa's data.

• Drive revenue outcomes for VCA, particularly focusing on data science offerings such as ML Model solutions , data collaboration, and managed service verticals within data science.

Technical Leadership

• Design, develop, and implement advanced analytics and machine learning models to solve complex business challenges for Visa’s clients leveraging Visanet data as well as Client Data

• Drive the integration and adoption of Gen AI and Agentic AI technologies within Visa’s data science offerings.

• Ensure the quality, performance, and scalability of data-driven solutions.

Strategic Business Impact

• Translate client needs and business challenges into actionable data science projects that deliver measurable value.

• Collaborate with cross-functional teams including Consulting, Sales, Product, and Data Engineering to align analytics solutions with business objectives.

• Present insights and recommendations to both technical and non-technical stakeholders.

Team Leadership & Development

• Mentor and manage a team of data scientists and analysts, fostering a culture of innovation, collaboration, and continuous learning.

• Set priorities, provide technical direction, and oversee the end-to-end delivery of analytics projects.

Innovation & Best Practices

• Stay abreast of emerging trends in AI and data science, particularly in Gen AI and Agentic AI.

• Champion the adoption of new methodologies and tools to enhance Visa’s analytics capabilities and value to clients.

• Represent VCA as a thought leader in internal and external forums.

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

Qualifications

Basic Qualifications:
• Advanced degree (MS/PhD) in Computer Science, Statistics, Mathematics, Engineering, or a related filed from Tier-1 institute e.g. IIT, ISI, DSE, IISc, etc.
• 12+ years of experience in data science, analytics, or related fields, including 3 + years in a leadership/management role.
• Proven track record of building and leading high-performing data science teams.
• Expertise in statistical analysis, machine learning, data mining, and predictive modeling.
• Proficiency in programming languages such as Python, R, or Scala, and experience with ML frameworks (e.g., scikit-learn, TensorFlow, PyTorch).
• Excellent communication, presentation, and stakeholder management skills.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Exposure/prior work experience in payments and/or banking industry
• Experience in consulting space or matrix team structure
• Familiarity with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, GCP) and big data technologies (Spark, Hadoop).
• Publication or conference experience in the data science/AI community.

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.