Senior Director, Global Communications for Innovation, Brand & Sponsorship

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

Senior Director, Global Communications for Innovation, Brand & Sponsorship

Visa’s purpose is to uplift everyone, everywhere by being the best way to pay and be paid.  We power the digital economy, making payments and money movement simpler, safer, faster, and more accessible for all.  And in doing so, we drive economic growth and prosperity for individuals, communities, and businesses around the world.  The company is first and foremost a technology company that has widespread brand appeal.  Innovation is a core reputation driver critical to our brand success.

Visa’s Senior Director of Global Communications for Innovation, Brand & Sponsorship (GCIBS) will develop, oversee and cascade globally stories that enhance our brand reputation as an innovator and execute proactive and reactive plans surrounding our Global Sponsorships (NFL, Olympics and FIFA). 

The GCIBS is responsible for the coordination and management of external and internal communications programs across all markets and will manage the execution in North America.  This includes comprehensive storytelling collateral, traditional and social media campaigns, and stakeholder education delivered via a mix of channels including events and speaking engagements.

In this role, the GCIBS will be a trusted advisor to the CMO and the SVP of Innovation.  They will actively engage in designated leadership team meetings to provide counsel and strategic guidance to advance our story.   Key competencies for this role include an ability to build trust, connect dots within the business, communicate openly and bridge siloes. The GCIBS will manage a team of communications professionals as part of a broader global communications function.  The role will manage a wide range of stakeholders by building a strong network of colleagues across functions and geographies.

The GCIBS will have a talent for uncovering and developing newsworthy stories that ladder up to a larger innovation narrative.  They will partner closely with the global marketing and sponsorship teams plus the global digital partnerships team to amplify news, thought leadership and to help drive sales. This role will build consensus and examine issues to deliver on the narrative whether it be in the form of a small campaign aimed at Fintech’s or a large event like the summer Olympics. 

The more the GCIBS enjoys taking complex information and turning it into a compelling story that a wide range of audiences can engage with, the more they will love this job. Most importantly, they must have a desire to learn and a willingness to apply that learning every day! We want a flexible thinker, able to make decisions based on limited or changing information and be able to adapt plans at the speed of a news cycle.

The candidate will,

• Proactively develop, manage, and sell the Innovation and Brand story globally.
• Manage the execution of programs in the US.
• Partner closely with the CMO and the SVP of Innovation while working with the global marketing team to build a comprehensive go to market strategy and collectively develop creative ways of telling Visa’s innovation and brand story.
• Support business development by ensuring Visa’s Innovation story is embedded in speaking events, sponsorship activation and client engagement activity.
• Working in conjunction with global employee engagement, ensure innovation, brand and sponsorship is a core component to the employee journey.
• Build global toolkits that become the go-to resource center for regional communications colleagues to ensure a consistent and cohesive innovation story around the globe.
• Partner with and support regional colleagues to help them localize the global innovation narrative.

The Senior Director, Global Communications for Innovation, Brand & Sponsorship will report to the global head of Innovation Communications.   The role has three direct reports and is based in San Francisco.

This is a hybrid position. Hy