The VCA Product & Experience Design (PxD) and Digital practice is looking for a seasoned head of Research to help Visa’s network of clients accelerate their innovation agenda and transform their customer experience. This role is client facing.
This leader will be responsible for selling, delivering and implementing high value consulting projects with a diverse set of clients. They will lead a team of qualitative and quantitative research specialists, uncovering foundational thoughts, motivations & behaviors that drive people’s decision making to design innovative and engaging user experiences.
The ideal candidate is a strategic thinker that seeks to innovate everything they touch, carries a disruptor mindset, and can create impactful presentations to senior leaders (CMOs, VPs, Directors) at our clients. The individual should be able to work collaboratively across strategy, product, design, and technology. Lastly, the person should be a SWAN – someone who is smart, works hard, ambitious and nice!
Responsibilities
• Plan, lead, conduct, and deliver generative and evaluative design research studies
• Oversee multiple client engagements end-to-end (from selling, scoping, research, client delivery and go-to-market)
• Lead and inspire diverse teams of 10-20 client + Visa staff during client engagements and workshops
• Take leadership of project, team, and client relationship when needed.
• Develop relationships with partners across a matrix organization to collaborate with teams such as product, specialized sales, marketing, data analytics, among others.
• Develop/deepen relationships with client stakeholders as a senior member of the PXD team
• Demonstrate in-depth knowledge of Visa’s capabilities (once in role)
• Accountable for meeting key metrics such as revenue growth, billability and client satisfaction
• Articulate the desirability, viability and feasibility of recommendations. This includes crafting the story of how the design recommendation fits into a company’s overall strategy, the underlying business model, and any implementation risks.
• Energize and improve the status quo using creativity and intelligent, calculated risks to deliver new products and processes that surpass clients’ expectations, demonstrating new methods, capabilities, and mindsets.
• Provide leadership and mentorship to junior team members.
• Recruit and retain talent, providing coaching/mentorship and creating a diverse and inclusive environment
Essential Functions
• Must have excellent executive presence in front of clients and large audiences
• Must have a mindset that embraces creativity, optimism, ambiguity and failing-fast
• Proven ability to work on complex and often ambiguous problems, to drive results
• Analytical thinker, team oriented, collaborative, diplomatic, and flexible, with excellent presentation skills, including strong oral and writing capabilities
• Must have a client-first mentality
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.
Visa welcomes and encourages applications from persons with disabilities. Accommodations are available on request for candidates taking part in all aspects of the selection process.
Basic Qualifications:
• 12 or more years of work experience with a Bachelor’s Degree or at least 10 years of work experience with an Advanced degree (e.g. Masters/MBA /JD/MD), or a minimum of 5 years of work experience with a PhD
Preferred Qualifications:
• 15 or more years of experience with a Bachelor’s Degree or 12 years of experience with an Advanced Degree (e.g. Masters, MBA, JD, or MD), PhD with 9+ years of experience
• At least 15+ years of work experience, including significant experience in a role with responsibility for sizing, scoping of design research, analysis, reporting and client management for complex qual & quant research projects.
• Significant experience in planning, conducting, synthesis for, and final delivery of generative/exploratory research activities such as interviews, personas, focus groups, diary studies, ethnographic studies, design ideation workshops, and customer journey mapping as well as evaluative research activities such as analytics and moderated and unmoderated user performance testing.
• Analytical thinker, creatively confident, team oriented, collaborative, diplomatic, and flexible, with excellent presentation skills, including strong oral and writing capabilities
• Proven ability to work on complex and often ambiguous problems, to drive results
• Resilient in navigating through ambiguity and translating the theoretical to applicable
• Must have a growth mindset that embraces creativity, optimism, ambiguity and failing-fast
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.
