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.

The Design Director (Agency Design) will focus on strategic design for products and services to create high-impact deliverables and lead engagements that help our clients drive their business forward. The design director will help develop well-researched understandings of emerging digital payment trends and leverage that knowledge to help our clients understand Visa’s unique position within the fast-moving global commerce landscape. They will conceptualize, co-create, design, and present engaging experiences, effectively collaborating with multi-disciplinary teams (product, business, strategy, data & analytics) to deliver value for our clients. A passion for using design to solve problems and seasoned presentation skills are a must.

The Design Director should have deep consultative design strategy experience, and a fluency to ‘speak’ to product management, consulting, marketing and analytics partners. The design director will have a nuanced understanding of emerging digital payment trends as well as Visa’s capabilities and services in order to effectively leverage the right assets at the right time. The design director will be responsible for establishing design sprint and collaboration frameworks, co-creation tools, asset libraries, and incorporating design systems that will ultimately power the work of our practice. In addition to project work, the Design Director will also participate in the development of new business initiatives & offerings for the Design & Innovation group in NA.

Key Responsibilities: 

• Support and execute engagement design & strategy under the SF Design Lead to create and scale experiences and engagements in with a primary focus on the creation & development of products & services for Visa’s Clients.
• Deeply understand the payment ecosystem, commerce trends, our Innovation practice, as well as Visa capabilities in order to effectively speak to our clients and partners
•  Research emerging areas of opportunity (using quantitative and qualitative techniques) and transform insights into compelling story-telling, experience design, and and presentations for client engagements (including videos, physical installations, etc) ensuring each project deliverable is of the highest quality
• A keen eye for distinguishing good design from great design, a good story from a great story
•  In collaboration with Innovation business and product peers, lead client Discovery Sessions (as assigned) being the voice of user experience and product design, including the facilitation of client ideation and alignment as required to drive to actionable outcomes
• Collaborate with peers at Visa’s other global Innovation Centers to standardize engagement models, share our practice’s approach, and train others on the how and the why behind our work
• Independently and proactively manage engagements and initiatives in a white space environment
• Strong individual contributor while being able to inspire, mentor, and guide junior staff
• Support the Innovation & Design business as required including but not limited to RFPs, supplier relationships, design briefs, global design initiatives, etc.
• Must be willing to travel – up to 20%

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.