Director, Enterprise Payments Governance

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At American Express, you’ll be recognized for your contributions, leadership, and impact—every colleague has the opportunity to share in the company’s success. Together, we’ll win as a team, striving to uphold our company values and powerful backing promise to provide the world’s best customer experience every day. And we’ll do it with the utmost integrity, and in an environment where everyone is seen, heard and feels like they belong.

Join Team Amex and let's lead the way together.

About Network & Acquiring Solutions

As part of the Global Merchant & Network Services group (GMNS), the Network & Acquirer Solutions (NAS) team is at the core of American Express, uniquely positioned to support every business unit and customer across the Enterprise. The American Express Network enables over $1.6 trillion in annual spend, serving our Issuers and Acquirers in more than 170 markets worldwide. We are driving a strategic, multi-year Enterprise Payments program to bring all payments together into a center of excellence to drive operational excellence for payment execution, enable innovative payment products, services, and capabilities to be built effectively and efficiently, support our BU strategies more closely, and deliver on our customers’ evolving payment needs.

About the Role

This newly created role of Director, Enterprise Payments Governance is an exciting opportunity to establish and drive the risk and compliance oversight program for the Enterprise Payments Center of Excellence (COE). The incumbent will be an integral leader within a large scale, enterprise-wide program established to redesign our payment execution operating model and accelerate the development of our enterprise payment services.

The Director, Enterprise Payments Governance will augment our organizational compliance across all three lines of defense to ensure adherence to local market payment regulations and relevant payment scheme rules. The successful candidate will be instrumental in governing and refining the processes and controls related to payments compliance and risk management.

Key Responsibilities

• Implement processes, controls, and monitoring to ensure full compliance with local and international regulatory requirements
• Stay abreast of new payment regulations and rule changes, determine impact to American Express, and lead operational readiness and change management program in response to changes
• Develop a payments governance framework (including policies, procedures, and oversight) to ensure payment processes are secure, efficient, and compliant
• Oversee adherence to rules and standards set by relevant payment schemes, such as Nacha Operating Rules & Guidelines and SEPA Rulebooks, and ensure payment operations are compliant and up to date with the latest requirements
• Develop risk & control framework for payments and drive enterprise-level risk monitoring and oversight including operational risk management across all payments use cases.
• Establish a program to appropriately manage and monitor issues, operational risk events (OREs), and corrective action plans (CAPs) related to payments to ensure efficient and speedy resolution
• Establish appropriate operational and technical controls in place to reduce and/or prevent further OREs and ensure effective implementation and operationalization of these controls
• Manage internal and external payments audits and prepare audit-ready materials and supporting documentation to preemptively aid field work
• Define and measure risk and compliance metrics to monitor progress against goals and assess the company’s overall payments risk exposure
• Collaborate with and influence first-line business units, second-line risk and compliance functions, and third-line audit teams to ensure a cohesive approach to risk and compliance
• Foster a compliance-oriented culture within the organization through ongoing education training programs and consultative services for key stakeholders

Requirements/Qualifications

• Relevant experience: Minimum of 10 years’ experience in global non-card payments (ACH, wire, RTP) on the consumer and/or wholesale side within Risk Management, Compliance, Operational Excellence, or Legal.
• Regulatory expertise: Strong understanding of the regulatory landscape affecting payment systems, including AML, KYC, OFAC, PSD2.
• Payment scheme expertise: Proven experience with payment schemes and their compliance requirements, including experience with The Clearing House, The Federal Reserve, Nacha, SEPA, Faster Payments Scheme, etc.
• Program management: Demonstrated ability to lead and manage comprehensive compliance programs in partnership with key stakeholders.
• Passion for results: Passion to drive execution and deliver results in a fast-moving and innovative environment.
• Analytical mindset: Strong analytical and problem-solving skills with a proactive approach to resolving issues and implementing process improvements.
• Highly collaborative: Ability to collaborate with and build strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders to deliver value beyond traditional means.
• Effective communicator and influencer: Ability to influence key partners and executive stakeholders. Excellent communication skills, proficient in developing excellent quality presentations and deliverables for an executive audience.

Salary Range: $150,000.00 to $225,000.00 annually + bonus + equity (if applicable) + benefits

The above represents the expected salary range for this job requisition. Ultimately, in determining your pay, we’ll consider your location, experience, and other job-related factors.

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

We back our colleagues and their loved ones with benefits and programs that support their holistic well-being. That means we prioritize their physical, financial, and mental health through each stage of life. Benefits include:

• Competitive base salaries 
• Bonus incentives 
• 6% Company Match on retirement savings plan 
• Free financial coaching and financial well-being support 
• Comprehensive medical, dental, vision, life insurance, and disability benefits 
• Flexible working model with hybrid, onsite or virtual arrangements depending on role and business need 
• 20+ weeks paid parental leave for all parents, regardless of gender, offered for pregnancy, adoption or surrogacy 
• 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

For a full list of Team Amex benefits, visit our Colleague Benefits Site.

American Express is an equal opportunity employer and makes employment decisions without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran status, disability status, age, or any other status protected by law.

We back our colleagues with the support they need to thrive, professionally and personally. That's why we have Amex Flex, our enterprise working model that provides greater flexibility to colleagues while ensuring we preserve the important aspects of our unique in-person culture. Depending on role and business needs, colleagues will either work onsite, in a hybrid model (combination of in-office and virtual days) or fully virtually.

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