VP, International Card Services Line of Business Compliance Officer

Job Description

This role is a senior compliance role in American Express, responsible for providing the compliance oversight, governance and challenge function for the International Card Services (ICS) business unit. The International Card Services is responsible for issuing American Express Cards to consumers and commercial entities across 28 markets (excluding the US). This role will play a critical leadership position within the Global Compliance & Ethics organization, providing compliance oversight and effective challenge to the International Card Services business unit of American Express.

As the Vice President
- Head of International Card Services Compliance, the role will provide strategic compliance oversight while providing credible challenge to validate that International Card Services manages and mitigates the regulatory risk to which it is exposed in all jurisdictions in which it operates. The role leads a diverse and dispersed team of compliance professionals who oversee various aspects of the International Card Services business and requires strong collaboration with other stakeholder groups including the Global Financial Crimes Compliance team, Legal Entity Compliance Officers, Global Privacy Office, Global Compliance Program Team and the General Counsel’s Organization.

The role is accountable for integrating inputs from these teams to deliver a single consolidated view and assessment of International Card Services compliance risk, control effectiveness, and remediation progress. This role is a highly visible and strategic position that maintains regular interactions with senior leaders. Reporting directly to the Senior Vice President leading International Compliance, this role will be based in the UK with a hybrid working requirement.

• Effectively apply the AXP Compliance Risk Management framework to assess compliance by International Card Services and its Legal Entities of all regulations applicable to its customers, products and processes.
• Effectively challenge the design and operation of first line controls owned by International Card Services utilizing AXP-standard programs, assessment frameworks and compliance risk management platforms and capabilities.
• Partner actively with multiple compliance teams based across various countries to build an aggregated/hrolled view of compliance risk, risk mitigation strategies and progress against agreed risk mitigation plans.
• Report annual and quarterly International Card Services compliance risk assessments and testing/monitoring results to senior management and committees.
• Support or lead interactions with regulatory agencies and/or AXP’s Internal Audit Group regarding the state of International Card Services’ compliance risk management programs.
• Forge and maintain strong strategic relationships across different second line risk management teams in AXP such as Global Financial Crimes Compliance, Legal Entity Compliance Officers, Enterprise Risk Management, and with the AXP legal department regarding the control and compliance framework for International Card Services.
• Lead a dispersed, cross‑functional team of approximately 20 full‑time equivalent compliance professionals responsible for executing the International Card Services Compliance program to ensure effective execution, strong coordination across markets, and consistent delivery of compliance outcomes.

• Significant number of years of leadership experience in senior compliance roles in a multi‑national financial services organization. Prior regulatory experience at a financial services supervisor would be a plus.
• People leadership experience of a team of compliance professionals.
• Experience in leveraging data analytics in risk assessments would be a plus.
• Bachelor’s degree or Masters degree in a relevant discipline.

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

• 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 the Healthy Minds program.
• Career development and training opportunities.