Sr. Consultant

Job Description

As a Sr. Consultant, Executive Talent Acquisition Research (Research Lead), you will act as a senior member of the Executive Search Research team, partnering closely with the Director to drive research excellence, implement best-in-class processes, and elevate the team’s strategic impact. You will lead research initiatives for executive hiring, deliver actionable market intelligence, and champion innovative sourcing and talent mapping practices. This is an opportunity to shape and deliver the executive research strategy for a global organization, enabling Visa to attract exceptional leadership talent.

What do we expect from you day-to-day?

Research Leadership & Delivery Excellence

• Serve as the Research Lead, overseeing end-to-end executive search research projects, including market mapping, talent identification, and competitor analysis.
• Mentor and develop research team members, providing guidance and sharing best practices to enhance the team’s capabilities.
• Partner with Executive Talent Acquisition (ETA) Recruiters to deliver outstanding research support throughout the executive hiring lifecycle.
• Design and implement innovative sourcing strategies to attract diverse executive talent from a broad range of industries, supporting Visa’s global growth objectives.
• Oversee the integrity and accuracy of candidate data and Candidate Relationship Management (CRM) systems, ensuring all channels and pipelines are effectively managed.
• Prepare and deliver high-impact research presentations, progress reports, and market analyses tailored for executive and senior leadership audiences.
• Lead research initiatives across all functional and business areas, including executive technology leadership roles, leveraging deep domain expertise to identify, engage, and attract top talent.
• Develop and execute targeted sourcing strategies to build diverse pipelines of executive-level talent across technology, fintech, digital, and innovation-driven sectors.

Strategic Advisory & Thought Leadership

• Act as a strategic advisor to hiring managers and business leaders, delivering insight-driven market intelligence and talent trends affecting executive hiring.
• Proactively monitor industry developments and provide thought leadership to inform executive talent strategies.
• Support executive briefings, leveraging external market research to influence and support Visa’s Executive Talent Acquisition agenda.
• Provide actionable intelligence on technology, fintech, and payments leadership trends, competitor organizational structures, and emerging skills essential to Visa’s ongoing digital transformation.
• Identify and communicate key industry issues, risks, and opportunities to senior leaders, informing future talent strategies.

Process Improvement & Knowledge Management

• Collaborate with the Director to implement and continuously improve research methodologies, reporting standards, and success measures across the team.
• Ensure all research deliverables (e.g., target lists, mappings, reference reports) are prepared to the highest standard and delivered on schedule.
• Lead special projects and initiatives as assigned by the VP, Global Head of Executive Talent Acquisition and the Global Head of Research.
• Champion Visa’s employer value proposition, supporting initiatives to position Visa as a top destination for executive talent globally.

Collaboration & Stakeholder Engagement

• Build and maintain trusted relationships with senior leaders, executive candidates, and external partners.
• Foster a culture of collaboration, knowledge sharing, and continuous improvement within the research team.
• Act as an ambassador for Visa’s culture, values, and leadership principles in all interactions.

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

Qualifications

Basic Qualifications

• 8 or more years of relevant work experience with a Bachelor Degree, or at least 5 years of experience with an Advanced Degree (e.g. Masters, MBA, JD, MD) or 2 years of work experience with a PhD
• Experience with Executive Talent Sourcing across the full-cycle executive search process
• Results oriented, self-motivated, organized, and resourceful
• Detail oriented with a proven track record of juggling multiple tasks and meeting various deadlines
• Team player with excellent verbal and written communication skills
• Excellent computer skills with Microsoft Windows, Outlook, and PowerPoint

Preferred Qualifications

• 8 or more years of executive search and talent research experience, including project management and mentoring responsibilities.
• Proven expertise in managing complex, multi-region research projects in a fast-paced executive search or in-house executive recruiting environment.
• Experience managing confidential and sensitive information related to executive hiring and succession planning
• Demonstrated ability to implement research best practices, optimize processes, and drive measurable outcomes as well as establishing frameworks for high quality delivery.
• Strong analytical skills and business acumen, with the ability to distill complex market data into actionable insights
• Deep understanding of industry landscapes relevant to fintech, digital, technology, telecom, or consumer sectors.
• Exceptional communication skills with the ability to influence senior stakeholders and articulate recommendations clearly.
• Adept at building professional networks and cultivating relationships with executive-level talent.
• Passion for innovation, digital transformation, and emerging technology trends in payments and financial services.
• High degree of self-motivation, ownership, and accountability for project outcomes.
• Exceptional assessment and analytical acumen, with a proven ability to interpret complex market, leadership, and industry data to generate actionable insights, leverages advanced executive search tools and creative methodologies to identify, evaluate, and attract top-tier executive talent.

Personal Characteristics

• Strategic thinker and proactive problem solver, entrepreneurial and visionary, with the agility and confidence to operate in ambiguity, champion change, and continuously drive innovation and improvement.
• Intellectually curious yet humble, with a high degree of compassion, integrity, and ethical standards toward team members, stakeholders, and customers.
• Collaborative leader with a servant leadership mentality—dedicated to serving, listening, developing others, and sharing knowledge to elevate team capability.
• Inclusive, empathetic, and authentic, naturally builds strong relationships, engages diverse perspectives, and fosters collaboration and an environment where all can thrive.
• Hands-on, passionate, and energetic in approach -creative and resourceful in overcoming barriers and roadblocks, and courageous in driving positive change.
• Demonstrates high learning agility with a keen interest in the fintech ecosystem and a technology/digital-first mindset.
• Welcomes challenges, sets and meets ambitious goals, and continually seeks new perspectives and feedback to improve outcomes.
• Embodies Visa’s Leadership Principles: Lead by Example, Communicate Openly, Enable and Inspire, Excel with Partners, Act Decisively, and Collaborate.