Senior Director, Data Science & AI

Job Description

Position Summary:

The Senior Director of Data Science is a key leadership role responsible for building and delivering innovative data solutions that support commercial activities, enhance automation, scale, and ensure compliance within the company.  This leader will guide a team of ~20 data scientists, data analysts, and portfolio and delivery managers to overseeing the development and deployment of Data & AI models and visualization tools for various commercial use cases, including products, pricing, and attrition.

This leader sets the strategy for data science projects that enhance innovation, efficiency, and growth. They work closely with Product and the lines of business to deliver data-enabled products and services for internal and external use. The focus is on achieving business results, not just building models, by clearly understanding the purpose behind the data.

Strong problem-solving and critical thinking are essential to guide teams in creating effective solutions. The Senior Director will also help the team evolve from a pure focus on execution to a proactive driver for solutions to elevate the company's data science capabilities.

Key Responsibilities:

Strategic Leadership:

• Define and execute the data science strategy aligned with company goals ranging from payment optimization to customer experience.
• Develop scalable AI/ML capabilities to power real-time decisioning engines throughout the payment lifecycle.
• Lead end-to-end development of models—from hypothesis generation through production deployment—focused on value creation and cost optimization.
• Drive the adoption of advanced analytics, machine learning (ML), and artificial intelligence (AI) solutions.
• Proactively identify high-impact opportunities where data science can drive business growth, efficiency, and/or innovation

Team & Capability Development:

• Build, lead, and mentor a multidisciplinary team of 15-20 data scientists, ML engineers, and data analysts.
• Foster a culture of innovation, experimentation, and continuous learning.

Cross-Functional Collaboration:

• Partner with Product and Engineering teams to identify high-impact opportunities for embedding intelligent automation into payment workflows.
• Partner with Worldpay’s lines of business to deliver actionable insights that drive merchant retention, pricing optimization, and revenue growth.
• Communicate complex analytical concepts to non-technical stakeholders effectively.
• Effectively integrate Data Science team work into Product / Engineering roadmaps to allow for visibility and a holistic view of team deliverables.

Model Development & Deployment:

• Oversee the development, validation, and deployment of predictive and prescriptive models.
• Ensure models meet requirements for scalability, latency, explainability, and regulatory compliance.
• Establish best practices for MLOps, including monitoring, retraining, and governance of deployed models.
• Work with data governance and legal teams to ensure compliance with data privacy regulations (e.g., PCI-DSS, GDPR).

Performance Measurement:

• Define and track KPIs to measure the business impact of data science initiatives.
• Provide regular updates to executive leadership on progress, risks, and opportunities.

Qualifications:

• Advanced degree (PhD or Master’s) in Computer Science, Statistics, Mathematics, Engineering, or related field.
• 10+ years of experience in data science or analytics, with at least 5 years in a leadership role.
• Deep understanding of modern data infrastructure, cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, Azure), and MLOps practices.
• Expertise in deploying machine learning solutions in high-volume, low-latency environments.
• Proficient in Python, SQL, Spark, and cloud platforms (AWS preference).
• Deep understanding of payments infrastructure
• Strong executive presence with the ability to translate data science initiatives into business impact.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience in a merchant acquiring, PSP, or card network environment.
• Familiarity with tokenization, real-time payments (RTP), and authorization lifecycle.
• Knowledge of compliance frameworks relevant to payments
• Exposure to graph analytics, anomaly detection, and reinforcement learning.
• Experience working within SAFe Agile product development environments.

Worldpay is committed to providing its employees with an exciting career opportunity and competitive compensation. The pay range for this full-time position is $171,910.00 - $288,820.00 and reflects the minimum and maximum target for new hire salaries for this position based on the posted role, level, and location. Within the range, actual individual starting pay is determined by additional factors, including job-related skills, experience, and relevant education or training. Any changes in work location will also impact actual individual starting pay. Please consult with your recruiter about the specific salary range for your preferred location during the hiring process.  

The job duties outlined above may be directly, and negatively impacted by a criminal history, which could lead to the withdrawal of a conditional offer. However, all qualified candidates with arrests or convictions will still be considered.

Privacy Statement

Worldpay is committed to protecting the privacy and security of all personal information that we process in order to provide services to our clients. For specific information on how Worldpay protects personal information online, please see the Online Privacy Notice.

EEOC Statement

Worldpay is an equal opportunity employer. We evaluate qualified applicants without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, genetic information, national origin, disability, veteran status, and other protected characteristics. The EEO is the Law poster is available here supplement document available here.

For positions located in the US, the following conditions apply. If you are made a conditional offer of employment, you will be required to undergo a drug test. ADA Disclaimer: In developing this job description care was taken to include all competencies needed to successfully perform in this position. However, for Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) purposes, the essential functions of the job may or may not have been described for purposes of ADA reasonable accommodation. All reasonable accommodation requests will be reviewed and evaluated on a case-by-case basis.

Sourcing Model

Recruitment at Worldpay works primarily on a direct sourcing model; a relatively small portion of our hiring is through recruitment agencies. Worldpay does not accept resumes from recruitment agencies which are not on the preferred supplier list and is not responsible for any related fees for resumes submitted to job postings, our employees, or any other part of our company.