Head Of Data Science, Ssa, Visa

Visa Inc.; Johannesburg; On-site; ZAR 1 500 000 - 2 000 000; Full time

Job summary

A leading financial services company in Johannesburg seeks a Senior Director of Data Science to lead data-driven strategies for the SSA region. The role requires over 15 years of analytics experience, strong leadership abilities, and an advanced degree in a quantitative field. The ideal candidate will manage client engagement, develop predictive models, and innovate solutions using cutting-edge technologies. This position is integral to the company's approach to business development and strategic decision-making.

Qualifications

• Minimum of 15+ years of analytics expertise in applying statistical solutions.
• Experience in Card Payments markets globally.
• Strong programming ability and expertise in distributed computing.

Responsibilities

• Lead Data Science for SSA team and drive data-driven strategies.
• Manage projects and client engagements for all clients in SSA.
• Develop next-generation analytic methods for business challenges.

Skills

Analytical thinking

Leadership

Problem-solving

Strong programming ability

Understanding of Payments and Banking Industry

Education

Post-graduate degree in a Quantitative field

Tools

Python

R

SQL

SAS

Hadoop

Job description

Position Summary The Senior Director of Data Science would be leading Data Science for the SSA (SSA)team.

We are seeking an innovative and analytical thinker to champion our data-driven strategies for the region.

As a Senior Director, you are expected to participate in business development, guide team to develop predictive and prescriptive models, develop context-based proto-types and high impact storyboards to promote a data-driven strategy and solutioning approach for the company.

The candidate should be aware of & comfortable in using new technologies such as Agentic AI & Gen AI.

Manage and execute projects and client engagement for all the clients in SSA for VCA Leverage learnings from other region and apply those in SSA Provide leadership and mentoring to junior resources within SSA DS team Establish and maintain relationship with key stakeholders in SSA market Work closely with Hub DS team to leverage data solutions & consumer signals to create efficiency within the region.

Use strong banking knowledge to design and develop campaign processes for the clients Provide leadership to identify strategic and tactical innovation opportunities around data and data-related processes that will promote fact-based decisioning processes Help set strategic direction and roadmap for the Data Science group in Sub-Saharan Africa Work with regional and global Data Science teams to develop high-quality analytic products and solutions that promote growth and business development for the region Keep us at the forefront of technical advancement in Data Science by introducing cutting-edge tools and techniques for generating business insights Develop next-generation analytic methods where existing techniques are not adequate to address business challenges Review, direct, guide, and inspire the analytical work of junior members in the team Collaborate with technology partners to build an Analytics Technology Ecosystem that supports advanced decisioning Managing team workload, providing prioritization guidance for project flow to improve process efficiency Manage and grow talent within the team Develop, share, and build global best practices and knowledge management within the team Socialise innovative ideas and approaches that are scalable and have market demand Professional Experience Minimum of 15+ years of analytics expertise in applying statistical solutions to business problems Experience working in one or more of the Card Payments markets around the globe Post-graduate degree (Masters or PhD) in a Quantitative field such as Statistics, Mathematics, Operational Research, Computer Science, Economics, Engineering, or equivalent Good understanding of the Payments and Banking Industry including aspects such as consumer credit, consumer debit, prepaid, small business, commercial, co-branded and merchant Good knowledge of data, market intelligence, business intelligence, and AI-driven tools and technologies Experience planning, organising, and managing multiple large projects with diverse cross-functional teams Demonstrated ability to incorporate new techniques to solve business problems Technical Expertise Expertise in distributed computing environments / big data platforms (Hadoop, Elasticsearch, etc.) as well as common database systems and value stores (SQL, Hive, HBase, etc.) Ability to write scratch MapReduce jobs and fluency with Spark frameworks Familiarity with both common computing environments (e.g. Linux, Shell Scripting) and commonly-used IDE's (Jupyter Notebooks); proficiency in SAS technologies and techniques Strong programming ability in different programming languages such as Python, R, Scala, Java, Matlab, C++, and SQL Experience in drafting solution architecture frameworks that rely on API's and microservices Familiarity with common data modeling approaches, and ability to work with various datatypes including JSON, XML, etc.

Ability to build data pipelines (e.g. ETL, data preparation, data aggregation and analysis) using tools such as NiFi, Sqoop, Ab Initio; familiarity with data lineage processes and schema management tools such as Avro Proficient in some or all of the following techniques : Linear & Logistic Regression, Decision Trees, Random Forests, K-Nearest Neighbors, Markov Chain Monte Carlo, Gibbs Sampling, Evolutionary Algorithms (e.g. Genetic Algorithms, Genetic Programming), Support Vector Machines, Neural Networks, etc.

Expert knowledge of advanced data mining and statistical modeling techniques, including Predictive modeling (e.g., binomial and multinomial regression, ANOVA); Classification techniques (e.g., Clustering, Principal Component Analysis, factor analysis); Decision Tree techniques (e.g., CART, CHAID) Deliver results within committed scope, timeline and budget Business Experience Results-oriented with strong problem solving skills and demonstrated intellectual and analytical rigor Good business acumen with a track record in solving business problems through data-driven quantitative methodologies.

Experience in