Senior Director, People M&A

Job Description

The People Acquisitions (M&A) function plays a critical role in enabling Visa’s growth strategy through acquisitions, integrations, divestitures, and global expansion. This role is a senior leadership position with enterprise-wide accountability for all People-related M&A and legal entity set-up (LES) activity across Visa. This is a ground‑floor opportunity to build, lead, and continuously evolve the global People M&A and LES strategy and practice, establishing standards, governance, and ways of working that scale across regions. The role operates with significant visibility across the People Leadership Team and partners closely with senior leaders in Legal, Finance, Corporate Development, Corporate Strategy, and the business to support both inorganic growth and market expansion. The Senior Director, People M&A serves as the global leader for the function, with end‑to‑end accountability for People diligence, deal execution, integration, and new entity readiness worldwide. The role reports to the SVP, Total Rewards and leads a global team responsible for delivering consistent, high‑quality outcomes across all regions.

Role Scope and Accountability

• All People-related activities associated with mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, and integrations
• People Team leadership for the opening and governance of new legal entities globally
• Establishing scalable, repeatable, and compliant People M&A and LES practices worldwide

The role operates with high visibility across the global People Leadership Team and regularly engages with executive stakeholders.

Essential Functions

Global Leadership & Strategy

• Design, own, and continuously evolve the global People M&A and Legal Entity Set‑Up (LES) strategy, frameworks, and operating model
• Serve as the global People Team lead for all M&A activity, from diligence through integration and stabilization
• Define global standards, playbooks, governance, and documentation to ensure consistency, scalability, and risk mitigation

M&A Diligence and Integration

• Lead all People Team contributions across the full M&A lifecycle, including
  • Pre-deal People diligence
  • Transaction execution
  • Post-close integration
  • Divestitures, when applicable
• Partner closely with Legal, Finance, Corporate Development, and People COEs to assess risk, design solutions, and enable smooth integrations
• Ensure People implications are clearly articulated to deal teams and executive leadership

Legal Entity Set-Up & Market Expansion

• Own People Team responsibilities related to global legal entity creation, including coordination across employment, benefits, compensation, payroll, mobility, and compliance
• Establish repeatable LES processes to support geographic expansion and business scaling
• Act as the central point of accountability for People readiness during new market entry

Team Leadership & Talent Development

• Lead, develop, and coach a global team
• Set clear priorities, accountability, and development plans for the team
• Ensure the team is appropriately resourced and aligned to deliver simultaneous, high-complexity initiatives

Stakeholder Management & Execution

• Build and maintain trusted partnerships across the People Team, Corporate Functions, and business leadership
• Proactively communicate risks, progress, and decisions to senior stakeholders
• Escalate issues early and drive resolution in a complex, matrixed environment
• Produce and present materials for executive reviews, steering committees, and People Leadership forums

This is a hybrid position. Expectation of days in the office will be confirmed by your Hiring Manager. Visa requires at least 3 days in office, expectations of these days will be confirmed by your Hiring Manager.

Qualifications

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
• 15+ years of progressive experience with increasing leadership responsibility
• Deep experience in People M&A, integration, transformation, or complex change environments
• Proven experience building and leading high-performing teams
• Strong program and project management capabilities across multiple, concurrent workstreams
• Demonstrated ability to operate at both strategic and execution levels
• Excellent executive communication skills, with the ability to distill complexity into clear narratives
• Strong judgment, attention to detail, and operational discipline
• Ability to influence without authority in a global, matrixed organization
• High degree of personal accountability and integrity

Location Requirement

U.S. Applicants Only

Compensation and Benefits

The estimated salary range for this position is $179,300 to $369,000 USD per year, which may include potential sales incentive payments (if applicable). Salary may vary depending on job-related factors which may include knowledge, skills, experience, and location. In addition, this position may be eligible for bonus and equity. Visa has a comprehensive benefits package for which this position may be eligible that includes Medical, Dental, Vision, 401(k), FSA/HSA, Life Insurance, Paid Time Off, and Wellness Program.

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.

Equal Employment Opportunity

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 the EEOC guidelines and applicable local law, including the requirements of Article 49 of the San Francisco Police Code.