VP, Financial Crimes Global Merchant Services

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International Operational Excellence (IOE) is a cross-LOB organisation, responsible for supporting our international issuing and acquiring businesses across 27+ countries and ensuring they have a robust first line of defence. IOE plays an active role in enabling the businesses to meet their growth objectives whilst demonstrating an effective control framework. 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.

Reporting into the VP, Global Merchant Services (GMS) International Operational Excellence, this exciting new position will lead the Financial Crimes organisation across GMS International. This individual will be responsible for managing the overarching Financial Crimes programme, inclusive of BAU and transformational activity.

This role will lead the management and evolution of a robust framework and set of controls to prevent financial crime with a focus on defining robust/effective and sustainable processes that drive the right outcomes from business and regulatory perspectives. This role will be responsible for ensuring that GMS International has robust 1st line of defense for ensuring full compliance with applicable laws, regulations and company policies, influencing control consciousness & regulatory preparedness across products, processes and legal entities. Success in this role requires an external perspective and strong knowledge of the Acquiring business. Experience of regulatory change and complex program management is essential along with strong operations and risk management skills, excellent relationship building and the ability to influence at all levels, often without direct authority. This role will involve extensive collaboration with multiple stakeholders across numerous business units and jurisdictions and with second line control functions.

Key Responsibilities

• Drive execution of critical, complex regulatory and compliance initiatives, including handling scope, leading project teams and keeping stakeholders informed of progress and risks & issues, ensuring timely mitigation paired with appropriate escalation, when required.
• Partner with the business and other relevant stakeholders (e.g. Technology) to drive process and control excellence, improving upon existing business processes and controls and enhancing efficiency and effectiveness.
• Design and deliver an effective ongoing monitoring and testing framework that provides assurance of high level of process quality.
• Work with the business, the wider Ops Excellence organisation, 2nd line and critical partner teams (e.g. Technology) to define, plan and execute the evolution of a merchant refresh strategy to drive strong compliance outcomes and a frictionless merchant experience.
• Develop and conduct risk assessments and analysis as needed on new and changing regulations, and on existing business processes and practices. Assure the development, evaluation and implementation of policies and procedures reflecting current regulations and provide recommendations and on identified risks to current processes, platforms and capabilities.
• Support Financial Crimes related audits, driving strong business engagement, and prompt accurate responses to validate findings, ensuring any audit findings have achievable and sustainable action plans.
• Collaborate with the International Financial Crimes Transformation (IFCT) organisation to ensure ongoing alignment and integration with broader projects, processes, reporting and stakeholder management to ensure a coherent Financial Crimes transformation program for the international businesses.
• Facilitate career development across the team and support a proactive and impactful colleague engagement experience.

Minimum Qualifications

• VP level experience required
• Strong and demonstrable knowledge of the Acquiring business required.
• 3+ years risk management experience is required, ideally within Financial Crimes.
• Experience defining and delivering regulatory change in complex business processes.
• Strong project management skills with experience executing complex programmes involving process and tech changes across multiple jurisdictions.
• Mature risk mindset with ability to identify and convey risks and their mitigations transparently, accurately and on a timely basis.
• Solid strategic thinking, insight and judgment, with proven ability to navigate through ambiguity to create structure, ask the right questions and synthesize complex inputs into clear recommendations.
• Strong consultation, communication, facilitation and presentations skills with an ability to influence at all levels.
• Proven track record of successfully operating in a highly matrix environment, collaborating and building strong working relationships that support effectiveness and influence.
• Excellent work ethic with demonstrated skills in flexibility and adaptability to change, and ability to stay calm under pressure.
• Demonstrable delivery in developing strong talent and building diverse teams.

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
• 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.