Manager and Counsel – Antitrust, Policy & Strategy

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.

Our mission is to protect and strengthen American Express through legal expertise and strategic advice that helps our business partners manage risk, identify opportunities, and deliver on the company’s promise of exceptional products and services. Given the dynamic nature of the global payments industry and the valued partnership between our team and the business, we see it as imperative to attract and develop talented people by:

• Providing rich work experiences and opportunities for professional development
• Recognising and rewarding those who drive and deliver results
• Respecting and valuing diversity, integrity, and personal accountability

This role is for a lawyer to join the General Counsel’s Organization (GCO) to act as a Manager and Counsel – Antitrust, Policy & Strategy in a multi-disciplinary Global Legal Policy and Strategy function. The focus of the role will be advising on competition law in the EMEA region and payment systems regulation globally. The role will also contribute to the broader work of the Global Legal Policy and Strategy function which involves tracking emerging policy developments globally in areas such as consumer protection, data policy and payment innovations.

The role will support all lines of business within American Express with a particular focus on the merchant acquiring and network services business, in the context of a dynamic environment involving emerging and evolving digital/mobile and data-driven technologies and capabilities. The role will partner closely and interface with other GCO lawyers, business colleagues, Compliance, Government Affairs, and external bodies, regulators and industry trade groups.

How will you make an impact in this role? The ideal candidate would be a strategic thinker with strong analytical and communication skills who has experience in competition law and ideally also in payments systems regulation and/or has demonstrated an aptitude for interpreting and applying technically complex regulation. They will need to be confident and able to work closely with business clients on a day to day basis, managing conflicting priorities and tight deadlines. They will also need to be confident in interacting with and helping American Express to deepen its relations with regulators, in partnership with Government Affairs and Compliance.

The role will be based in London in the Global Legal Policy and Strategy team, which comprises both competition and financial services lawyers and is responsible for dealing with competition law, global payments systems regulation and global legal policy and strategy. You will report to a senior competition lawyer in the team.

Main Responsibilities:

• Regulatory and policy advice and strategic support with an emphasis on a wide range of competition law and payments systems regulatory matters and other materially relevant policy developments affecting payments, such as digital, data and consumer policy developments
• Supporting compliance with the requirements of key payments legislation
• Monitoring regulatory policy and competition law developments relating to financial services, payment services, payment schemes and adjacent sectors through internal, external and desktop resources and reporting these developments internally
• Advising on the strategic implications of emerging legal and policy developments affecting the company and competition law driven payments regimes, drawing from experience of global developments
• Assisting in the development of American Express strategy in response to and anticipation of regulatory developments in the payments industry
• Partnering with colleagues in Government Affairs and across the GCO on external engagement efforts to ensure regulation is proportionately tailored according to different business models
• Building positive working relationships with relevant policymakers through attending meetings with policymakers and participating in legal and industry groups
• Responding to public policy consultations and supporting regulatory engagement on key developments
• Liaising with other industry participants on regulatory developments and providing competition law advice relating to participation in trade associations and industry bodies
• Competition law and related regulatory advice and training for senior management, boards and committees
• Carrying out legal research
• Managing databases and omni-channel forms of communicating policy updates
• Managing, implementing and improving methods for legal knowledge management within the team
• Suggesting process improvements
• Briefing colleagues and clients on significant developments and projects
• Preparing and supporting with delivery of internal training as appropriate
• Requesting, obtaining and finalising legal opinions/advice from outside counsel as needed and managing related budgets
• Leading projects, assisting more senior lawyers
• Attending relevant training courses and conferences
• Supporting the work of the Global Legal Policy and Strategy function, as required

A keen interest in thinking creatively about how to make our research and horizon scanning visible, readily accessible and appealing to senior management.

Minimum Qualifications:

• Qualified to practice law and provide legal advice in the UK or an EU jurisdiction
• Experience in advising on a range of competition law matters
• Post-graduate qualification in competition law beneficial
• Experience advising on payment systems regulation would be helpful, or a willingness to learn and become an expert in these fields
• Experience in and a demonstrated aptitude for identifying, interpreting, and communicating relevant policy trends and regulatory developments in a number of these areas to different stakeholders, in the context of the company’s commercial strategy
• We encourage applications from candidates with a range of diverse backgrounds preferably from in house legal teams, private practice, or regulators
• Fluency in English. Other European languages or local law competency helpful
• Solid drafting, research and negotiation/influencing skills
• Solid analytical skills and high attention to detail
• Strong collaborative and team working skills, as well as self-leadership
• Skilled at multi-tasking – able to manage and prioritise a wide variety of matters and client contacts at once
• Ability to present complex concepts succinctly and visually
• High engagement – passionate about competition law, payments, and regulatory matters

Preferred Qualifications:

• Commercial focus – able to interpret and apply regulation in a practical, hands-on, common sense manner
• Strong communication skills – personable, able to communicate clearly, concisely, effectively and persuasively with clients, all levels of business, legal management and external regulators
• Prepared to take the lead and make appropriate recommendations to management
• Comfortable with speaking up in meetings and briefing stakeholders orally and in writing
• Process-management skills - strong knowledge-management and organisational skills, and willingness to help identify and implement improvements in work process to enhance efficiency and productivity
• Adaptable and collaborative - able and willing to work both as part of a team and independently, under supervision of a more senior lawyer where appropriate
• Willingness to learn and grow - willing to learn about business sectors relevant to American Express as well as the applicable regulatory environment and to leverage experience gained in this position to expand skill set for future career growth at American Express
• Strong relationship focus - able to build solid working relationships with clients, colleagues and external parties. Enjoys getting to know people
• Commitment to integrity and American Express values, with high personal work standards
• Strategic thinker with good analytical skills, attention to detail even under time pressure

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 counselling 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.