Western Union
Director, Product - Payments Analytics & Data Decisioning
Western Union, Atlanta, Georgia, United States, 30383
Director, Product – Payments Analytics & Data Decisioning
Location: New York, NY or Atlanta, GA – Job ID: JR0128219
Are you customer‑obsessed and passionate about building products and experiences that support the financial needs of a global population? Western Union seeks a strategic and technically strong Director to lead the development of advanced data capabilities that power smarter, faster, and more reliable payment decisions across our global remittance platform.
Western Union Western Union powers your pursuit of better financial services. Join our Payments Product Team to shape how we use data to optimize payment performance—maximizing approval rates, reducing costs, and improving user experience.
Role Responsibilities
Own analytics strategy and insights for global payments performance, including success rates, cost per transaction, partner performance, and operational efficiency.
Lead data‑driven experimentation and optimization efforts related to payment method selection, routing, retry strategies, and settlement flows.
Develop dashboards and frameworks to track KPIs, support product and finance decisions, and monitor trends across markets.
Build and deploy models that inform routing, retry logic, and payment prioritization based on cost, speed, method availability, and past performance.
Design decisioning frameworks that use transaction‑level intelligence to optimize throughput and customer outcomes.
Partner with Product, Engineering, and the Chief Data Officer function to integrate models and business rules into real‑time decisioning infrastructure.
Define the data architecture and requirements to enable comprehensive, accurate, and scalable payments data pipelines.
Work with Data Engineering to ensure high‑quality structured datasets that power both real‑time and offline analytics.
Establish a unified data model across payment types (cards, bank transfers, wallets, etc.) and regions.
Act as the primary data science partner to the Payments Product team, contributing to roadmap planning and product strategy.
Collaborate with Engineering, Operations, Finance, and Partner Management to align insights with business goals.
Build, manage, and mentor a team of data scientists and analysts focused on payment analytics.
Requirements
8+ years of experience in data science or advanced analytics, with at least 3 years in a leadership capacity.
Deep knowledge of the payments ecosystem—cards, bank transfers, real‑time payments, wallets, and alternative payment methods.
Strong SQL and Python skills, with hands‑on experience in predictive modeling, experimentation, and A/B testing.
Demonstrated ability to deliver measurable impact through data in large‑scale, global product or platform environments.
Exceptional communication skills and comfort working across technical and non‑technical audiences.
Preferred
Experience with remittances, cross‑border payments, or multi‑region payment platforms.
Familiarity with the economics and mechanics of payment processing (authorization flows, success‑rate drivers, cost levers).
Experience with modern data tooling (Snowflake, dbt, Bedrock/Dataiku, Airflow, Looker, Mode).
Advanced degree (MS/PhD) in Data Science, Statistics, Computer Science, Economics, or a related quantitative field.
Salary $160,000 – $250,000 per year (base) plus short‑term and long‑term incentives.
Benefits
Short‑term incentives, multiple health insurance options, accident and life insurance.
Development platform access.
Flexible time off, tuition assistance, parental leave, volunteer time off.
0$ money transfer fee discount code (quarterly).
Recognition program “Game Changers”, employee discount program.
Global adoption assistance, scholarship awards, 4% 401(k) contribution.
EEO Statement We are passionate about diversity. Our commitment is to provide an inclusive culture that celebrates unique backgrounds and perspectives. We do not discriminate based on race, color, national origin, religion, political affiliation, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, marital status, or veteran status. The company will provide accommodation to applicants, including those with disabilities, during the recruitment process, following applicable laws.
Hybrid Work Model This role is classified as Hybrid: flexible working arrangement that enables employees to divide their time between working from home and working from an office location. The expectation is to work from the office at least three days a week.
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Are you customer‑obsessed and passionate about building products and experiences that support the financial needs of a global population? Western Union seeks a strategic and technically strong Director to lead the development of advanced data capabilities that power smarter, faster, and more reliable payment decisions across our global remittance platform.
Western Union Western Union powers your pursuit of better financial services. Join our Payments Product Team to shape how we use data to optimize payment performance—maximizing approval rates, reducing costs, and improving user experience.
Role Responsibilities
Own analytics strategy and insights for global payments performance, including success rates, cost per transaction, partner performance, and operational efficiency.
Lead data‑driven experimentation and optimization efforts related to payment method selection, routing, retry strategies, and settlement flows.
Develop dashboards and frameworks to track KPIs, support product and finance decisions, and monitor trends across markets.
Build and deploy models that inform routing, retry logic, and payment prioritization based on cost, speed, method availability, and past performance.
Design decisioning frameworks that use transaction‑level intelligence to optimize throughput and customer outcomes.
Partner with Product, Engineering, and the Chief Data Officer function to integrate models and business rules into real‑time decisioning infrastructure.
Define the data architecture and requirements to enable comprehensive, accurate, and scalable payments data pipelines.
Work with Data Engineering to ensure high‑quality structured datasets that power both real‑time and offline analytics.
Establish a unified data model across payment types (cards, bank transfers, wallets, etc.) and regions.
Act as the primary data science partner to the Payments Product team, contributing to roadmap planning and product strategy.
Collaborate with Engineering, Operations, Finance, and Partner Management to align insights with business goals.
Build, manage, and mentor a team of data scientists and analysts focused on payment analytics.
Requirements
8+ years of experience in data science or advanced analytics, with at least 3 years in a leadership capacity.
Deep knowledge of the payments ecosystem—cards, bank transfers, real‑time payments, wallets, and alternative payment methods.
Strong SQL and Python skills, with hands‑on experience in predictive modeling, experimentation, and A/B testing.
Demonstrated ability to deliver measurable impact through data in large‑scale, global product or platform environments.
Exceptional communication skills and comfort working across technical and non‑technical audiences.
Preferred
Experience with remittances, cross‑border payments, or multi‑region payment platforms.
Familiarity with the economics and mechanics of payment processing (authorization flows, success‑rate drivers, cost levers).
Experience with modern data tooling (Snowflake, dbt, Bedrock/Dataiku, Airflow, Looker, Mode).
Advanced degree (MS/PhD) in Data Science, Statistics, Computer Science, Economics, or a related quantitative field.
Salary $160,000 – $250,000 per year (base) plus short‑term and long‑term incentives.
Benefits
Short‑term incentives, multiple health insurance options, accident and life insurance.
Development platform access.
Flexible time off, tuition assistance, parental leave, volunteer time off.
0$ money transfer fee discount code (quarterly).
Recognition program “Game Changers”, employee discount program.
Global adoption assistance, scholarship awards, 4% 401(k) contribution.
EEO Statement We are passionate about diversity. Our commitment is to provide an inclusive culture that celebrates unique backgrounds and perspectives. We do not discriminate based on race, color, national origin, religion, political affiliation, sex (including pregnancy), sexual orientation, gender identity, age, disability, marital status, or veteran status. The company will provide accommodation to applicants, including those with disabilities, during the recruitment process, following applicable laws.
Hybrid Work Model This role is classified as Hybrid: flexible working arrangement that enables employees to divide their time between working from home and working from an office location. The expectation is to work from the office at least three days a week.
#J-18808-Ljbffr