As the Director of the Visa Black Scholars Program, you will lead and manage a critical and highly visible Inclusion & Diversity (I&D) program initiative. Launched in 2020, The Visa Black Scholars and Jobs Program is a scholarship and career program designed for college-bound Black and African American high school students in the United States and is part of Visa’s Stand Together initiative to support the fight for racial equity and inclusion. There are 51 Scholars in cohort 1 and 75 Scholars in cohort 2, totaling 126 program participants. All Scholars receive a needs-based scholarship up to 20,000 per year (up to four years), year-round training, mentorship, and internship and job opportunities at Visa.
You will operate as the scholarship and program experience leader, manage the program team and volunteers, serve as a trusted advisor to key stakeholders, and consult on the evolving needs of the organization and Scholars to ideate, design, execute, and achieve program objectives. Working within the framework of the program, you will be responsible for setting programmatic direction, utilize best practices and data to drive program improvements, manage program budget, establish, and execute program communications and reporting, and champion pastoral care of the Scholar experience.
Key to this role is the ability to lead with compassion and purpose, navigate ambiguity, desire to make an impact, and partner cross-functionally with Talent Attraction, Inclusion & Diversity, Legal, Communications & Marketing, People Team, and external stakeholder groups to design and drive a world-class program.
In this role, you will:
Advance the design and deployment of the multi-year scholar experience to achieve program metrics, this includes but is not limited to maximizing impact of the mentorship program, developing Scholar events (trainings, workshops, socials, etc.) that meet the progressing and unique needs of the Scholars, devising and executing internship and job placement processes and experiences, managing program budget and reporting, and championing program achievements.
Develop, design and project manage various virtual and live scholar events throughout the year including, but not limited to, onboarding, orientation, workshops, networking, the Scholar Summit, internship, and celebration events.
Identify, solicit, select, train, and grow relationships with program mentors. Develop, design and project manage various mentor events throughout the year, including mentor matching, orientation, workshops, communication, and recognition. Maintain strong connection with mentors to ensure customized and uplifting experience for every Scholar.
Establish, engage, and manage various relationships with key stakeholders, including, but not limited to the scholarship vendor, external event/training vendors, recruiting, I&D team, branding & communications team, Visa executive leaders, legal and compliance teams
Manage administrative duties related to vendor and stakeholder management, including budget management, reconciliations, processing invoice payments, report generation and grant trackingCollaborate with scholarship vendor on various aspects of the program, including, but not limited to contract execution, funds disbursement, reporting, and Scholar experience
Serve as a Visa People Leader and supervise the Black Scholars Program Associate in delivery of all program activities
Identify trends and leverage knowledge, data, and competitive intelligence to develop innovative and customized program strategies
Compile & analyze data and metrics to support business decisions and plans. Capture insights from quantitative and qualitative data to support decisions, drive awareness, and communicate transparently
Advise, consult, and potentially manage other I&D and/or recruiting programs, initiatives, and opportunities
Lead by example through following, setting and sharing program management best practices
This position is open to following locations: Foster City, CA, Austin, TX, and Atlanta, GA. Open to remote if not near a US Visa office.
