Job Description

Joining Amex Tech means discovering and shaping your contribution to something big. Here, you can work alongside talented tech teams and build a unique career with the Powerful Backing of American Express. With a range of opportunities to work with the latest technologies, and a commitment to back the broader engineering community through open source, our mission is to power your success. Because Amex Tech is powered by our technology, our culture, and our colleagues.

The Enterprise Technology Services organization partners with every part of the American Express business to power the company’s growth and innovation with trust and efficiency, and drive competitive differentiation with speed. We support the delivery and operations of technology, digital, and data capabilities, platforms, and services globally. Specifically, our team is responsible for the company’s technology engineering, architecture, and infrastructure, providing 24x7 support to ensure an uninterrupted, high-quality experience for customers and colleagues. We also provide product management for core enterprise platforms, and lead technology risk and information security, enterprise data governance and platforms, digital product and design, and enterprise AI platforms on behalf of the company.

As part of the Enterprise Technology Services organization, Global Merchant and Network Technology (GMNST) is the technology organization that delivers platforms, engineering, and modernization in service of GMNS business outcomes. We are a global team, with over 2,000 colleagues and contractors across the U.S., UK, India, Australia, and other regions, spanning Technology Delivery (engineers and architects), Cross-Platform Delivery (project management), Testing, and leadership & support.Its mission is to cultivate a World Class Payments Ecosystem that drives profitable, compliant and vibrant growth in the places that matter most to our customers.

The Senior Program Manager will report directly to the GMNST Chief of Staff Director and will lead, scale, and continuously improve the operating rhythm and strategic execution across key deliverables of the GMNST Executive Office, led by the GMNST Senior Vice President (SVP) and Unit CIO.

In this role, the Senior Program Manager is accountable for end-to-end program governance across multiple workstreams, enabling leadership decision-making through actionable insights, and partnering with the GMNST Leadership Team and enterprise partners from GMNS, Technology Business Enablement (TBE), and others to deliver outcomes. The Senior Program Manager operates with substantial independence, making critical decisions on approach, prioritization, and resource tradeoffs, and influencing senior stakeholders to achieve strategic objectives.

To be successful in this role, it is imperative that the candidate is innately communicative, responsive, transparent, organized, proactive, and accountable. The ideal incumbent will successfully navigate competing priorities, apply thought leadership, operate as a trusted advisor, and consistently embody American Express's Blue Box Values in their execution, while driving alignment, decisions, and outcomes across multiple teams.

• Bring together and manage the GMNST Workforce Plan to ensure affordability to meet Supply Targets, establishing governance and cadence for workforce planning decisions (assumptions, tradeoffs, approvals) and liaising with the Technology Portfolio Team, GMNST Leadership, and Manager Assistants
• Own and maintain a consolidated GMNST hiring plan tracker that integrates headcount caps, approved hiring requests, location strategy, role prioritization, and key milestones to enable leadership visibility and decision-making; assess resource needs across multiple teams/programs and recommend allocation scenarios to optimize delivery outcomes and affordability
• Validate affordability and alignment (e.g., HC caps, funding, workforce strategy, location mix) prior to posting approvals; drive resolution of constraints by facilitating executive decisions and documenting tradeoffs, risks, and mitigations; and ensure outputs feed Technology Business Enablement (TBE) Portfolio and Workforce Strategy processes and routines
• Develop impactful presentations, content, agendas, and internal processes for key meetings and events (e.g. SVP site visits, round tables, Town Halls, leadership meetings, employee engagement events, team build activities, networking sessions, etc.)
• Draft communications to be sent by members of the GMNST Executive Office

• Host regular meetings within GMNST, track minutes and action items, and follow up with owners on respective action items; drive closure on cross-team dependencies and decisions, escalating and resolving blockers to protect timelines and outcomes

• Collaborate with enterprise partners and other centers of excellence on key initiatives; negotiate priorities and influence senior stakeholders to achieve outcomes across competing objectives

• Collect, consolidate, and quality-check deliverables across the organization; integrate outputs across multiple initiatives to ensure consistent standards, clear ownership, and executive-level readiness

• Increase transparency and enable faster decision-making through the development of consistent, replicable reports with actionable insights
• Develop relationships across GMNST to understand the pulse of the team, assess colleague engagement and development, and propose recommendations to address and optimize key themes and priorities; analyze organizational signals, feedback and performance data to identify risks and opportunities for operational improvements
• Develop and implement new processes and improve existing procedures to increase efficiencies and enhance the organization's internal capacity; establish repeatable best practices, templates, and standards that elevate execution quality across GMNST

The ideal candidate will be a highly motivated self-starter who is able to lead projects with limited guidance. The individual must be composed, organized, culturally aware, and a strong communicator who can effectively multitask and prioritize as needs evolve. Additional qualifications include:

• A demonstrated self-starter with excellent program management and process improvement skills who can lead multiple concurrent initiatives with autonomy and measurable outcomes
• Analytical mindset and intellectually curious
• Ability to influence and negotiate with senior leaders and colleagues to reach common goals and drive timely decisions
• Superior detail orientation with ability to think and own “end-to-end”.
• Ability to efficiently prioritize, solve problems independently, escalate appropriately, manage tight deadlines, and handle changing priorities in a dynamic and fast-paced environment.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills with exceptional ability to translate ideas into clear, concise executive-ready narratives and presentations; tailor complex messages to audiences from colleagues to senior executives with simplicity and impact
• Ability to build strong relationships across the organization at all levels and work effectively in a collaborative, multi-cultural, team environment.
• Strong sense of integrity, discretion, and ability to maintain confidentiality.
• Ability to work under pressure with tight deadlines while maintaining strategic perspective of the bigger pictureand managing tradeoffs across multiple teams
• Solid financial acumen, including ability to assess affordability and resource tradeoffs
• Ability to balance attention to detail and accuracy while managing continuous inbound requests
• Versatile multitasker and creative problem-solver
• Eager to lead, as well as follow, and receive feedback with an outlook toward team success and growth
• Ability to build strong relationships and trust through proactive collaboration, transparency, and delivering on commitments
• Expert with PowerPoint and Excel; Power BI and automation skills preferred
• Minimum of 6+ years of relevant work experience, including experience leading cross-team programs
• Undergraduate degree required
• Experience in workforce planning, financial management, or capacity planning within a technology organization
• Experience building and maintaining operating rhythms for senior leadership teams (e.g., QBRs, MBRs, org-wide communications cadence)
• Experience developing dashboards or automation in Excel/Power BI to drive transparency and decision-making
• Prior Chief of Staff, business operations, strategy, or technology program management experience

Preferred Skills & Experience:

• Experience in workforce planning, financial management, or capacity planning within a technology organization
• Experience building and maintaining operating rhythms for senior leadership teams (e.g., QBRs, MBRs, org-wide communications cadence)
• Experience developing dashboards or automation in Excel/Power BI to drive transparency and decision-making
• Prior Chief of Staff, business operations, strategy, or technology program management experience

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.