Director (Mainframe and GGS) (Highlands Ranch)

About Us

Visa is a world leader in payments technology, facilitating transactions between consumers, merchants, financial institutions and government entities across more than 200 countries and territories, dedicated to uplifting everyone, everywhere by being the best way to pay and be paid.

At Visa, you'll have the opportunity to create impact at scale — tackling meaningful challenges, growing your skills and seeing your contributions impact lives around the world.

Join Visa and do work that matters – to you, to your community, and to the world. Progress starts with you.

Visa will accept applications for this role until at least 06‑30‑2026.

Job Description

Job Summary

Leads software development teams in delivering secure, scalable, high‑quality applications and enhancements to existing applications. Oversees the execution of the full software development lifecycle—from backlog refinement through build, test, deployment, monitoring, and iteration—ensuring delivery meets business priorities, regulatory requirements, and ethical standards. Drives disciplined development practices and continuous improvement to optimize delivery speed, quality, and resilience.

Ensures development work integrates responsibly with AI/ML capabilities—including Generative AI and Agentic AI coding—and that all outputs adhere to established data governance, model explainability, and financial regulatory compliance standards. Acts as a leader for engineering teams, removing blockers, enabling productivity, and fostering an inclusive, high‑performance culture. Coaches and develops engineers to adapt to evolving tools, frameworks, and AI‑driven workflows. Partners closely with product managers, QA, risk, compliance, and security functions to deliver safe, transparent, and customer‑centric solutions. While primarily a leadership role, may spend up to 50–65% of time in hands‑on coding, code reviews, and technical prototyping to guide best practices and maintain technical credibility.

All roles require digital fluency, including the ability to work with emerging technologies such as Generative AI tools (e.g. ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot) to support everyday work.

Key Responsibilities

• Build and maintain a high performing team based in Denver by hiring and retaining the right talent in the right role
• Work collaboratively with peer development groups and QA to ensure target delivery dates are met
• Develop and empower direct reports to make appropriate technical decisions
• Actively manage resources to maximize productivity and optimize cost in alignment with forecast models
• Guide requirements gathering, feedback incorporation, and actionable metrics to assess delivery feasibility and review gaps in acceptance criteria
• Oversee translation of user requirements into system designs, ensuring alignment with business strategy and formalizing best practices
• Lead system architecture discussions, interpret findings from investigations, and own design decisions for complex products
• Oversee project plans, release plans, and estimation processes, addressing escalated issues and removing technical obstacles
• Manage development resources on the IBM Mainframe Settlement and Reporting AND GGS applications, by setting clear business and technical expectations
• Work collaboratively with a cross‑functional team of management, architecture and senior development staff based in the US and Bangalore to develop broadly acceptable solutions
• Set resource goals and delegate project work
• Create management reports and make recommendations with regard to problem identification and resolution
• Take complete responsibility of the full life cycle of projects assigned and oversee software release implementations when required
• Demonstrate Visa’s core values and maintain a positive and open demeanor
• Foster a culture of teamwork, collaboration and mentoring
• Identify process improvements and/or ineffective use of project hours and resources
• Generate innovative ideas, solutions, and opportunities to contribute to Visa's, DPS service’s and project’s success
• Work with the management team, operations and support, on day‑to‑day activities to ensure service excellence
• Provide technical expertise to resolve major incidents, ensure teams have resources to respond to incidents, and share learnings to prevent recurrence
• Manage team decisions around developer tools, oversee selection and enhancement of tools, and share best practices for complex products
• Identify and develop engineering talent, ensure team skills support business goals, and disseminate knowledge to improve product reliability and performance

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

Qualifications

Basic Qualifications:

10+ years of relevant work experience with a Bachelor’s Degree or at least 7 years of work experience with an Advanced degree (e.g. Masters, MBA, JD, MD) or 4 years of work experience with a PhD, or 13+ years of relevant work experience.

Preferred Qualifications:

• 12 or more years of work experience with a Bachelor’s Degree or 8-10 years of experience with an Advanced Degree (e.g. Masters, MBA, JD, MD) or 6+ years of work experience with a PhD
• Experience in leading software engineering teams in fintech, payments, or banking technologies/software systems
• Experience in a leadership role with direct reports
• Experience in requirements gathering, system design, and architecture for complex software solutions
• Experience in code development, review, and debugging for enterprise‑scale applications
• Experience in incident response and resolution for software engineering teams
• Experience in talent management, coaching, and engineering development
• Strong knowledge of IBM Mainframe technology
• Prior experience with Golden Gate Software or other similar replication/middleware technology
• 8 or more years of experience in a software development or related role
• 7 or more years of experience in a Technical Management/Lead role
• 7 or more years of prior experience working with a Settlement/Reporting Backend of a Switching Application in a technical or lead/management role
• Attention to detail with good organizational capabilities
• Ability to prioritize with good time management skills
• Strong analytical, problem determination and customer relations skills
• Strong and effective communication skills (both written and verbal) and the ability to present complex ideas in a clear, concise way
• Collaborative, team oriented style
• Strong business skills, industry knowledge, financial management and planning skills, long‑term vision, and executive presence

U.S. Applicants Only

The estimated salary range for this position is $176,400.00 to $282,500.00 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.

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.