At a Glance
- Tasks: Lead and mentor engineering teams while developing innovative database solutions.
- Company: Join American Express, a leader in financial services with a rich history of innovation.
- Benefits: Enjoy competitive salary, hybrid work, and opportunities for professional growth.
- Other info: Be part of a dynamic team that values your voice and ideas.
- Why this job: Make a real impact by modernising critical systems and embracing cutting-edge technologies.
- Qualifications: 5+ years in COBOL and DB2, with a passion for cloud technologies.
The predicted salary is between 63000 - 77000 £ per year.
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.
In this role, you will oversee all technical aspects of our regional (EMEA, APA, and LATAM) corporate hierarchy and limits applications, ensuring these critical systems remain secure, resilient, and highly available. You will work closely with cross-functional engineering and architecture teams to maintain stability in our existing COBOL/DB2-based applications while advancing the evolution to distributed, API-driven, and event-based solutions.
Responsibilities
- Leads and mentors teams of engineers through ongoing development efforts.
- Ensures engineers adhere to team standards.
- Accountable for accurate completion and quality of all documentation and work produced by engineering team.
- Performs all technical aspects of data architecture and database management for assigned applications, including developing prototypes, developing new database structures and APIs as applicable.
- Debugs database components, identifies, fixes and verifies remediation of design and/or performance defects.
- Ensures optimal data replication, performance, High Availability, backup and recovery processes exist to meet requirements, reduce cost and adhere to standards.
- Functions as Senior member of an agile team and leads data assets as per the enterprise standards, guidelines and policies.
- Communicates and works collaboratively with business and product teams to support changes and implementation.
- Partners with delivery architects and engineers to design optional data tier solutions to meet enterprise platform objectives and goals.
- Stays abreast of new DBMS features and functions and drives adoption across Amex to use product capabilities.
- Finds opportunities to embrace innovative technologies.
Knowledge/Skills
- Strong analytical skills with a proven ability to understand and document business data requirements in complete, accurate, extensible and flexible logical data models.
- Able to facilitate discussions between Technology and business people, recognize issues of conflict and inconsistency between data requirements and pursue a resolution of these issues.
- Expert in XML and schema development/reuse, RDBMS databases, Open Source.
- Deep Technical knowledge of DBMS products and ecosystem – e.g. storage formats, access algorithms, data management processes, administration, data maintenance, replication, high availability, encryption, etc.
- Ability to monitor and tune databases and DBMSs to reach high performance.
- Has working knowledge of the range of tools used in the planning, analyzing, crafting, building, testing, configuring, and maintaining of assigned application(s).
- Understands and has practical experience with infrastructure technologies and components like servers, jvms and networking concepts.
Qualifications
- Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or related field (or equivalent experience).
- 5+ years of experience in mainframe application development using COBOL, JCL, CICS, and DB2.
- Proven track record of maintaining and enhancing mission-critical enterprise systems.
- Excellent problem-solving, debugging, and communication skills.
Preferred Qualifications
- Familiarity with modern programming languages such as Java, Scala, Kotlin.
- Experience with cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, GCP, Azure) and API or event-driven architectures.
- Understanding of mainframe modernization strategies — including rehosting, refactoring, or replacement.
- Experience in financial services or similar large-scale transactional systems.
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.
Senior Software Engineer I in Hove employer: American Express
American Express is an exceptional employer located in Burgess Hill, West Sussex, offering a dynamic hybrid work environment that fosters innovation and collaboration. With a strong focus on employee growth, mentorship, and cutting-edge technology, team members are empowered to develop their skills in AI and engineering while contributing to meaningful projects that shape the future of commerce. The inclusive work culture values every voice, ensuring that your contributions have a real impact on both customers and the community.
StudySmarter Expert Advice🤫
We think this is how you could land Senior Software Engineer I in Hove
✨Join Local Tech Meetups
Get out there and mingle with fellow developers by joining local tech meetups. It’s a fantastic way to meet people who might be working at American Express or know someone who does. Plus, you can pick up some trendy tech skills and trends while you're at it!
✨Contribute to Open Source Projects
Show off your coding chops by jumping into open-source projects. Not only does this give you practical experience, but it also gets you noticed in the dev community. You'll create a killer portfolio that speaks volumes about your skills to American Express.
✨Tap into Online Developer Communities
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Keep your eyes peeled on job boards that focus on tech roles. Sites like TechCareers or Stack Overflow Jobs can often have listings for companies like American Express that might not show up on broader job sites. Make it a habit to check these regularly, and don’t hesitate to apply directly through our website!
We think you need these skills to ace Senior Software Engineer I in Hove
Some tips for your application 🫡
Show off your coding skills:When applying for a software engineering role, it's super important to showcase your coding skills. Make sure your CV includes your tech stack, any relevant programming languages you’re comfortable with, and examples of projects you've worked on. If you have a GitHub profile, link it up! We love to see code in action.
Tailor your portfolio:For a full-time role, we’d expect to see some solid examples of your work in your portfolio. Make sure to include at least two or three projects that highlight your problem-solving skills and your ability to work with different technologies. Focus on the projects that are most relevant to the position at American Express.
Craft a killer cover letter:Your cover letter is your chance to stand out—make it personal! Explain why you want to work at American Express and how your skills align with the role. Show us your passion for software development. We dig enthusiastic candidates who understand the value of collaboration and continuous learning!
Be clear and concise:When it comes to writing your CV and cover letter, clarity is key. Avoid jargon that could confuse us and stick to simple, direct language. Highlight your achievements with quantifiable results where possible, and keep everything easy to read. A well-organised application goes a long way!
How to prepare for a job interview at American Express
✨Brush Up on Your Coding Skills
For a full-time software engineering role, it's crucial that we stay sharp with our coding abilities. Expect technical questions that might involve solving problems on the spot or discussing algorithms. Practise on platforms like LeetCode or HackerRank to get comfortable with the types of questions that often come up.
✨Know Your Tools and Frameworks
Make sure we’re well-acquainted with the tools and technologies listed in the job description. Familiarise ourselves with any specific frameworks or programming languages mentioned. If American Express uses React or Node.js, for instance, be ready to discuss how we’ve used them in previous projects or coursework.
✨Showcase Your Projects
Bring along a portfolio that highlights our best work. This could be code samples, GitHub repositories, or any side projects we’ve built. Make sure we can talk through our thought process for each project, especially the challenges we faced and how we solved them—this shows our problem-solving skills in action.
✨Prepare for Behavioural Questions
While technical skills are key, full-time positions also require cultural fit. Be ready to discuss our previous experiences and how we handle teamwork, conflict, and deadlines. Brush up on the STAR method—Situation, Task, Action, Result—to clearly articulate our past experiences when discussing how we've contributed to a team.
