Director-Compliance

This job is with American Express, an inclusive employer and a member of myGwork – the largest global platform for the LGBTQ+ business community. Please do not contact the recruiter directly.

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. As part of Team Amex, you'll experience this 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.

Reporting to the Vice President – EMEA Regional and Spain Money Laundering Reporting Officer (MLRO), this role is a part of the Global Financial Crimes Compliance (GFCC) organization. The team is responsible for overseeing governance of the EMEA region Financial Crime (Anti-Money Laundering, Sanctions and Anti-Corruption) risk management program and ensuring that systems, controls and procedures are robust and compliant with Enterprise standards, Legal Entity policy, and specific local market requirements.

The Program Enablement Team works closely with Market Compliance Officers (MCOs/LECOs) and the central teams within GFCC to implement process and procedure changes to ensure adherence to Enterprise standards as well as specific local requirements. Additionally, the team provides subject matter expertise for the EMEA region across multiple pillars of the financial crimes program including but not limited to Transaction Monitoring, Customer Risk Rating and Sanctions/PEP screening. 

How will you make an impact in this role? 

This role offers an exciting opportunity to lead the program enablement team in a dynamic environment, driving compliance excellence and contributing to the integrity of financial systems. 

Role Includes:

• Leading a small team of Compliance Managers and Analysts who are Subject Matter Experts across the EMEA financial crime program
• Working with central GFCC functions and MCOs to implement/uplift controls, process and procedural changes to ensure adherence with enterprise and local requirements
• Driving consistency across regional policies and procedures to meet regulatory and enterprise expectations whilst also making key updates to regional procedures owned by the EMEA Regional MLRO team.
• Data analysis and validation – reviewing, analyzing, validating complex data sets to help make data-driven decisions or recommendations on certain initiatives
• Provide Audit, Issue Management, RAP/MAP support by uplifting controls following findings or issues raised relating to the financial crime program in the EMEA region
• Reporting – partnering with Compliance and 1LoD teams to deliver accurate and consistent reporting across multiple regions and legal entities.  
• Effective Challenge and Accountability – Serving as an effective challenge to the second and first line of defence by reviewing, assessing, and challenging their risk management practices.

Minimum Qualifications: 

• 7–10+ years of financial crimes experience within a financial institution, preferably in a second-line of defence role
• Deep expertise in financial crime regulations in the European Union and UK
• Bachelor’s and/or Master’s Degree in finance, law, business, or a related field or relevant certifications (e.g., ACAMS, ICA)
• Decisive self-starter with high degree of accountability, curiosity, solution-oriented mindset, able to manage competing priorities in high-pressure environments.
• Ability to effectively deliver initiatives through partnership and alignment with multiple internal stakeholders with competing needs.
• Strong project and relationship management, collaboration, organisational, and interpersonal skills with ability to influence and engage stakeholders.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including ability to communicate confidently and effectively with senior stakeholders.

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

We back you with benefits that support your holistic well-being so you can be and deliver your best. This means caring for you and your loved ones' physical, financial, and mental health, as well as providing the flexibility you need to thrive personally and professionally:

• 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.

#LI-DNI