At American Express, our culture is built on a 175-year history of innovation, shared values and Leadership Behaviors, and an unwavering commitment to back our customers, communities, and colleagues. As part of Team Amex, you'll experience this powerful backing with comprehensive support for your holistic well-being and many opportunities to learn new skills, develop as a leader, and grow your career.

Here, your voice and ideas matter, your work makes an impact, and together, you will help us define the future of American Express.

The Global Merchant Services Financial Crime Strategy and Operations (FCS&O) team is responsible for ensuring that GMNS maintains a robust first line of defense and full compliance with applicable laws, regulations, and company policies. The team drives strong control awareness and regulatory readiness across products, processes, and legal entities. Our organisation helps our international businesses manage risk, respond to new regulation, and develop new products whilst creating and maintaining effective partnerships across multiple key stakeholders.

GMS Financial Crimes is responsible for leading initiatives that ensure the effective, timely deployment and execution of the Financial Crimes Programme for Acquiring. This role plays a critical part in driving regulatory compliance by leading complex, time-sensitive workstreams across the organisation.

How will you make an impact in this role?

The position requires a broad and balanced skill set spanning risk management, project management, and strategic and analytical thinking. Success in this role depends heavily on the ability to build strong working relationships and influence outcomes across multiple levels of the organisation, often without direct authority. The role involves extensive collaboration with a wide range of partners and stakeholders across business teams, functional areas, and global geographies.

Minimum Qualifications

In this role, you will:

• Take end-to-end accountability for the delivery of financial crime related critical regulatory compliance and policy initiatives, including defining scope, leading project teams, and ensuring stakeholders are informed of progress, risks, and issues.

• Plan, track, and monitor project execution against agreed timelines, milestones, and deliverables to ensure successful and timely outcomes.

• Actively manage risks and issues across multiple initiatives by ensuring timely identification, assessment, prioritisation, mitigation, and escalation when required.

• Support audit activities, corrective action plans, and remediation of operational risk events related to regulatory and compliance programs.

• Coordinate and drive alignment across cross-functional internal teams and external partners to ensure cohesive delivery.

• Communicate effectively and build consensus across multiple business teams to develop and implement solutions that meet business and regulatory needs.

Preferred Qualifications

• Strong project and programme management experience, preferably within regulatory, compliance, or risk environments.

• Demonstrated ability to manage complex initiatives with competing priorities and tight timelines.

• Excellent stakeholder management skills with the ability to influence without direct authority.

• Strong risk management mindset, including experience identifying, assessing, and mitigating risks.

• Strategic and analytical thinking with the ability to translate regulatory requirements into practical solutions.

• Strong written and verbal communication skills, with proven experience engaging senior leaders and diverse global teams, and tailoring messages effectively across audiences and levels of seniority.

• Ability to develop relationships with leaders, peers, and control and compliance teams.

• Experience of the acquiring business, processes and systems.

• Background in AML, KYC and the financial regulatory environment.

Employment eligibility to work with American Express the UK is required as the company will not pursue visa sponsorship for these positions.  

We back you with benefits that support your holistic well-being so you can be and deliver your best. This means caring for you and your loved ones' physical, financial, and mental health, as well as providing the flexibility you need to thrive personally and professionally:

• Competitive base salaries 

• Bonus incentives 

• Support for financial-well-being and retirement 

• Comprehensive medical, dental, vision, life insurance, and disability benefits (depending on location) 

• Flexible working model with hybrid, onsite or virtual arrangements depending on role and business need 

• Generous paid parental leave policies (depending on your location) 

• Free access to global on-site wellness centers staffed with nurses and doctors (depending on location) 

• Free and confidential counseling support through our Healthy Minds program 

• Career development and training opportunities

Offer of employment with American Express is conditioned upon the successful completion of a background verification check, subject to applicable laws and regulations.