Senior Manager - Enterprise Payments Network Management

 You Lead the Way. We’ve Got Your Back. 

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.

How will you make an impact in this role?

This newly created role of Senior Manager, Enterprise Payments Network Management is an exciting opportunity to contribute to strategic management and optimization of our treasury banking relationships and non-bank payments partners. The incumbent will be working with a Director to establish a large scale, enterprise-wide program established to redesign our payment execution operating model, optimise and de-risk payment partner relationships, offer best in class payments processing, and create safe and compliant enterprise payments services.

The Network Management team will oversee the strategy, performance, and compliance of our global bank and non-bank partners within the payments network to ensure efficient, seamless, and optimized money movement for payment use cases across the enterprise. The tram will establish a network partner management framework to deepen bank and non-bank relationships, drive governance and operational excellence, minimize third party risk, and optimize the commercial terms with partners to drive flawless payments processing globally for American Express. This is a unique opportunity to shape the foundation of a critical function and drive the strategic development of an enterprise payment service.

Key Responsibilities

• Network management strategy: Contribute to development of comprehensive inventory of existing payment partner relationships globally across the enterprise assessing their roles, performance, and alignment with strategic objectives. Work with the team on development and implementation of rationalization strategy to optimize the bank partner portfolio and establish clear rules and criteria for engaging new banking partners.  
• Strategic relationship management: Negotiate contracts, fee schedules, and service level agreements with new and existing partners with an enterprise perspective to ensure competitive terms and service levels. Drive strategic and proactive management of third-party payment partners.
• Payments network design and oversight: Evaluate existing third-party relationships against business needs to design appropriate payments network along with the strategies for a resilient, efficient, and secure payments network.
• Operational performance and optimization: Assess operational and performance metrics to monitor, benchmark, and optimize the performance of the partners. Identify opportunities to improve operational efficiency.
• Risk management and compliance: Ensure the participants in the payments network operate in compliance with all applicable regulations, e.g., AML, OFAC, PCI, etc. Work with the third-party partners to prioritize work and lead operational readiness and change management program in response to regulatory mandates. 

Minimum Qualifications

• Relevant experience: Significant experience in global bank payments (ACH, wire, RTP) on the consumer and/or wholesale side.
• Network management experience, including building partner management framework, assessment and optimization of third-party partners, third-party risk management, SLA management, and fees optimization.
• Regulatory and 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 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.

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.