Data Science Manager

Job Description And Responsibilities

The position will be based in Visa’s Bangalore office. We are looking for an expert with deep expertise in building & operationalization of data science solutions based on business needs, using VISA’s big data sets and in certain cases in conjunction with our clients’ data. The candidate is expected to have hands on experience with associated technologies and ability to collaborate across teams and functions to deliver value to VISA and our clients.

The successful candidate will have opportunities to work on huge varieties of problems across Marketing Analytics, Credit Risk, Open banking/ Open data, etc. S/he must have a highly analytical bent of mind and requisite skills to independently analyze and interpret data insights.

We are looking for a talented, technical, proactive, energetic, and passionate person who embraces challenges and is a proven problem solver.

Principal Responsibilities

• Partner with roles across the organization including consultants, engineering, and data scientists to address prioritized business problems
• Work as part of the project team to understand business requirements, support data collection, cleansing, preparation, feature engineering, model build, evaluation, training, and deployment adhering to project scope and timelines.
• Break large solutions into smaller, releasable milestones and seek feedback from product managers, clients, and other stakeholders
• Define detailed scope and methodology, design and create solutions, and execute leveraging appropriate tools and techniques
• Support development of a robust system for measuring and optimizing the quality of deployed algorithms and models.
• Monitor AI models in production to evaluate performance, model drift, and decay.
• Actively seek out opportunities to innovate by using VisaNet, non-traditional data and new modelling techniques fit for purpose to the needs of our clients
• Act as data science advocate within our partners, advising and coaching analytical teams and sharing best practices and case studies.
• Identify, design, and implement internal process improvements to provide greater scalability to our existing client solutions
• Work with data science and data engineering partners in the region and globally to adopt standards and guidelines
• Make sure that the legal/compliance/security related requirements are fully adhered to.

Qualifications

Basic Qualifications and Experience

• Minimum of bachelor’s degree or equivalent. Masters/PhD is preferred
• Qualification in Data Science/Computer Science from reputed institutes. Post Graduate (masters or Ph.D) in STEM field ideal
• Total 8+ years of experience of which over 5 years being a data scientist or analytics consultant
• Hands-on experience in developing machine learning models, scaling data solutions, and delivering end-to-end data science projects
• Experience with complex, high volume, multi-dimensional data, as well as machine learning models based on unstructured, structured, and streaming datasets.
• Familiar with typical machine learning models such as Linear & Logistic Regression, Decision Trees, Random Forests, Markov Chains, Support Vector Machines, Neural Networks, Clustering, etc.
• Proficient in big data aggregation using Hive, Spark, SQL, R/Python, and familiar with typical deep learning toolkits and packages
• Experience with visualization and reporting tools, such as Power BI, Tableau, MicroStrategy, open-source tool, or similar
• Outstanding problem-solving skills, with demonstrated ability to think creatively and strategically
• Strong internal team and external client stakeholder management with a collaborative, diplomatic, and flexible style, able to work effectively in a matrixed organization
• Good communication and presentation skills with ability to interact with different cross-functional team members at varying level
• Exhibit intellectual curiosity and strive to continually learn, self-motivated and results-oriented individual with the ability to handle numerous projects
• Ability to learn new tools and paradigms as data science continues to evolve at Visa and elsewhere.
• Demonstrated resource planning and delivery skills
• Understanding of the Payments and Banking Industry including aspects such as consumer credit, consumer debit, prepaid, small business, commercial, co-branded, and merchant will be a plus
• Experience in Marketing Analytics, Credit Risk or Fraud Risk analytics will be a plus
• Understanding of credit bureaus and non-traditional data providers will be a plus

Technical Expertise

• Experience in writing and optimizing efficient SQL queries and Python/PySpark for data science
• Expertise in dashboard and report development using tools such as Tableau/Power BI/Micro Strategy
• Good understanding of Agile way of working, tools such as JIRA and practical experience of working in Agile teams.
• Experience in deployment, operationalization of Machine Learning models using MLOps techniques
• Good appreciation of best-in-class software engineering practices such as DevOps, CI/CD, and job automation.
• Working knowledge of Hadoop ecosystem and associated technologies, e.g., Hive, Apache Spark, MLlib, GraphX, sci-kit, and Pandas
• Experience with Apache Airflow will be an added advantage
• Experience with data APIs, containerized deployments will be an added advantage
• Experience of cloud-based data science platforms will be an added advantage

Business and Leadership competencies

• 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 payment, retail banking, or retail merchant industries is preferred
• Team oriented, collaborative, diplomatic, and flexible
• Detail-oriented to ensure the highest level of quality/rigor in reports and data analysis
• Proven skills in translating analytics output to actionable recommendations and delivery
• Experience in presenting ideas and analysis to stakeholders while tailoring data-driven results to various audience levels
• Exhibits intellectual curiosity and a desire for continuous learning
• Demonstrates integrity, maturity, and a constructive approach to business challenges
• Role model for the organization and implementing core Visa Values
• Respect for the Individuals at all levels in the workplace
• Strive for Excellence and extraordinary results
• Use sound insights and judgments to make informed decisions in line with business strategy and needs
• Ability to allocate tasks and resources across multiple lines of businesses and geographies.
• Ability to influence senior management within and outside Analytics groups
• Ability to successfully persuade/influence internal stakeholders for building best-in-class solutions