Job Description

Global Merchant & Network Services (GMNS) brings together American Express’ merchant and network-related businesses and operates the global payments network that safely and securely connects American Express issuers, acquirers and merchants around the world.

Business demand for rules management across GMNS is accelerating, driven by increasingly complex Network priorities, including Agentic, AMP, Nova and GNS Issuers Rules Management. Delivering capabilities such as Payment Network Controls while progressing toward future-state Network policies and configuration rules requires dedicated leadership and oversight. As part of this evolution, authorization validation, spend control and policy rules currently distributed across multiple network and issuer system will migrate to a centralized approach to Network rule management.

The Director, Network Rules & Authorization Capabilities will be responsible for defining and managing key Network capabilities supporting transaction authorization, with an initial focus on the strategy, governance and lifecycle management of authorization rules across the Network. The role will provide clear ownership and governance across the authorization rule lifecycle, from business requirement and design through implementation, ongoing management, rationalization and retirement. This role will also support the transition of existing rules capabilities, including the Lucy rules engine, into the Network organization while defining a longer-term strategy for authorization rules and related capabilities across the Network.

• Define and own the Network strategy and roadmap for authorization rules (validations, spend controls, policy rules), establishing a consistent approach to how rules are prioritized, designed, implemented, managed and evolved in support of Network and business objectives.
• Establish end-to-end governance and lifecycle management for authorization rules, including standards for requirements, documentation, testing, approvals, change management, ongoing review and retirement, with clear decision rights and accountability across stakeholders.
• Create a comprehensive view of authorization rules across the Network, bringing together rules currently managed across multiple teams, platforms and environments and driving rationalization, simplification and consolidation where appropriate.
• Lead the design and prioritization of new and modified authorization rules, partnering with Product, Risk, Policy, Compliance, Control Management, Engineering and other stakeholders to translate business objectives into scalable rule requirements while considering transaction impact, business value, risk and operational complexity.
• Establish post-implementation validation and performance management capabilities, designing of dashboards to define success measures and assess the impact of new and modified rules on transaction behavior, authorization performance and broader Network outcomes.
• Create a continuous performance and optimization framework for the authorization rules portfolio, using production data and transaction insights to identify unintended impacts, evaluate rule effectiveness and inform ongoing optimization, modification or retirement.

Required Skills & Experience

• 8+ years of experience in payments, Network product management, transaction processing, risk, authorization or related capabilities.
• Strong understanding of transaction authorization and the role that business rules and decisioning capabilities play within a large-scale payments environment.
• Experience managing or developing rules-based platforms, decisioning capabilities, transaction processing products or similar technology-enabled capabilities.
• Demonstrated experience establishing governance and lifecycle management across capabilities involving multiple teams, platforms and stakeholders.
• Strong analytical orientation, with experience using data to assess production performance, understand transaction impacts and inform business decisions.
• Proven ability to translate complex business requirements into structured capability, product and technology requirements.
• Experience developing product or capability strategies and roadmaps and driving execution across complex, cross-functional organizations.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to articulate complex transaction, rule and capability concepts clearly to senior stakeholders.
• Demonstrated ability to influence outcomes and drive alignment across Product, Technology, Risk, Data and operational teams.
• Proven ability to operate effectively through ambiguity and establish structure, governance and accountability in evolving environments.

Preferred Experience

• Deep understanding of American Express Network authorization and transaction processing capabilities.
• Experience with rules engines, decisioning platforms or authorization systems, including Lucy or comparable capabilities.
• Experience managing large-scale capability migrations or transitions across organizational boundaries.
• Familiarity with transaction-level data and analytical approaches used to measure authorization performance and identify unintended impacts.
• Experience building or leading a new product, capability or governance function.
• Demonstrated ability to put enterprise thinking first, connect the role’s agenda to broader priorities and balance the needs of customers, partners, colleagues and shareholders.

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

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. From delivering differentiated products to providing world-class customer service, we operate with a strong risk mindset, ensuring we continue to uphold our brand promise of trust, security, and service.

As part of Team Amex, you’ll experience our 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.