Visa is a world leader in digital payments, facilitating more than 215 billion payments transactions between consumers, merchants, financial institutions and government entities across more than 200 countries and territories each year. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, convenient, reliable and secure payments network, enabling individuals, businesses and economies to thrive.

When you join Visa, you join a culture of purpose and belonging – where your growth is priority, your identity is embraced, and the work you do matters. We believe that economies that include everyone everywhere, uplift everyone everywhere. Your work will have a direct impact on billions of people around the world – helping unlock financial access to enable the future of money movement.

Join Visa: A Network Working for Everyone.

Visa Research: Visa Research is an organization that focuses exclusively on the scientific foundations of existing, emerging, and future commerce-related technologies. With the establishment of a formal research organization and the associated long-term commitment to technology research, Visa joins the ranks of a small number of industry leaders with both the insight and ability to substantially influence and systemically impact the future.

As a Research Scientist within the Advanced Cryptography team, you will conduct world-class security research that contributes to the long-term agenda for digital payments. This represents an exciting chance to create key contributions to Visa's strategic vision as the world-leading digital payments company. You must have an outstanding academic track record in fundamental and applied research. We are looking for self-starters with strong attention to detail, and excellent collaboration skills.

Responsibilities

• Research and develop ground breaking cryptographic technologies across a large spectrum of applications concerned with secure payments, and data protection.
• Deliver high-impact intellectual property values through research publications and patents.
• Collaborate across Cryptography and Security to deliver innovative technologies, insights and products to Visa business units to create new growth opportunities.
• Collaborate with our partners in academia, industry and government on key initiatives to advance our security research goals.
• Cultivate positive relationships at all levels

Job duties and projects could include:

• Privacy-Preserving Machine Learning
• Efficient Constructions for Private Set Intersection
• Oblivious Transfer from Post-Quantum Assumptions
• Biometric-Enabled Threshold Authentication
• Privacy-preserving Attestations of Identity Data

Basic Qualifications

• 2 years of work experience with an Advanced Degree 

Preferred Qualifications

• PhD in Computer Science, Computer Engineering, Electrical Engineering, CIS/MIS, Data Science, Cybersecurity, Business or a related field with a focus on cryptography.

Expertise in one or more cryptographic research areas:

• Secure Multi-party Computation,
• Fully Homomorphic Encryption,
• Zero-Knowledge Proofs

Experience in the application of these technologies to areas such as:

• Privacy-Preserving Machine Learning
• Digital Currencies
• Identity and Authentication

• Consistent track record of impact in the research community and publications in leading conferences such as Crypto, Eurocrypt, Asiacrypt, ACM CCS, IEEE S&P and USENIX Security.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Demonstrated ability to create and innovate.
• Good team player with excellent interpersonal skills
• Experience in payments or related industry is a plus.
• Strong communications skills, specifically, the absence of repeated grammatical or typographical errors, clear and concise written and spoken communications, and communications that demonstrate professional judgment.
• The ability to tackle challenges and address problems head-on
• Strong ability to collaborate
• Highly driven, resourceful and results oriented
• Good analytical and problem-solving skills

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 EEOC guidelines and applicable local law.

Visa will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with applicable local law, including the requirements of Article 49 of the San Francisco Police Code.