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

With the right backing, people and businesses have the power to progress in incredible ways. When you join Team Amex, you become part of a global and diverse community of colleagues with an unwavering commitment to back our customers, communities and each other. Here, you’ll learn and grow as we help you create a career journey that’s unique and meaningful to you with benefits, programs, and flexibility that support you personally and professionally.

At American Express, you’ll be recognized for your contributions, leadership, and impact—every colleague has the opportunity to share in the company’s success. Together, we’ll win as a team, striving to uphold our company values and powerful backing promise to provide the world’s best customer experience every day. And we’ll do it with the utmost integrity, and in an environment where everyone is seen, heard and feels like they belong.

Join Team Amex and let's lead the way together.

How will you make an impact in this role?

As a member of our technology organization, you’ll help build the digital solutions that are critical to the financial wellbeing and trust of our customers and partners. We work with purpose and with passion—backing one another every step of the way.

About the Role: Principal Engineer – Financial and Risk & Compliance Technology

We are looking for a forward-thinking and influential Principal Engineer to lead the architecture, design, and engineering of core platforms within our Financial and Risk & Compliance Technology organizations. This role is responsible for driving enterprise-scale technical strategy and execution, shaping engineering standards, and serving as a technical advisor to senior leaders across the organization.

As a trusted leader in our technology ecosystem, you’ll partner with product, risk, compliance, and engineering teams to deliver scalable, resilient, and compliant solutions that power critical business capabilities—such as financial reporting, risk analysis, regulatory controls, anti-money laundering, and fraud prevention.

This is a pivotal position that requires a rare combination of deep technical expertise, business acumen, and executive presence.

Key Responsibilities:

• Serve as the senior-most engineering leader across Financial and Risk & Compliance technology teams, providing strategic direction on systems design, cloud architecture, and engineering execution.

• Architect and implement robust, scalable, secure, and high-performance platforms and services in alignment with compliance and regulatory frameworks.

• Drive end-to-end technical leadership across complex domains such as financial ledgers, AML/KYC systems, risk scoring engines, and data platforms.

• Lead solutioning efforts on high-impact cross-cutting initiatives with significant business visibility and impact.

• Collaborate with senior product, risk, compliance, and enterprise architecture partners to align technology roadmaps and long-term vision.

• Mentor senior engineers and architects across teams, cultivating a culture of engineering excellence, innovation, and continuous learning.

• Evaluate emerging technologies and industry trends to influence platform strategies and technology investments.

• Translate complex technical issues and system interdependencies into clear narratives for executive stakeholders.

Core Technical Skills:

• Deep expertise in system design, cloud-native architecture, and enterprise engineering best practices.

•  Advanced knowledge of cloud platforms (AWS, GCP, or Azure), microservices, event-driven architecture, and containerization.

• Strong hands-on development experience in technologies such as Java, JavaScript/Node.js, Kafka, Vert.x, RESTful APIs, ElasticSearch, Couchbase, Postgres, and distributed databases.

• Proficiency in CI/CD, DevOps, observability, performance tuning, and scalable systems design.

• Familiarity with regulatory compliance frameworks such as SOX, PCI, and FFIEC, and their technical implications.

• Experience with financial systems (e.g., accounting, reconciliation, ledger services) and risk & compliance platforms (e.g., AML, KYC, fraud detection).

Leadership & Strategic Skills:

• Executive-level communication with a strong ability to influence at all organizational levels
• Strategic thinking with the ability to connect long-term vision to pragmatic execution.
• Collaborative leadership style that thrives in cross-functional, matrixed environments.
• Exceptional problem-solving and decision-making capabilities, balancing technical trade-offs with business impact.
• Proven experience in mentoring and growing senior engineering talent and building strong engineering culture.
• Ability to manage through ambiguity and drive clarity on complex technical initiatives.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills and judgement

Minimum Qualifications

• 10+ years of engineering experience with a focus on architecture, cloud infrastructure, and enterprise-scale platforms.
• Demonstrated success in leading architecture and engineering for complex, regulated environments—ideally within financial services, risk, or compliance domains.
• Strong hands-on development experience and ability to contribute at both strategic and tactical levels.
• Experience working in Agile and Dev/Sec/Ops environments
• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a related field (Master’s preferred).

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

American Express is an equal opportunity employer and makes employment decisions without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran status, disability status, age, or any other status protected by law.  

Offer of employment with American Express is conditioned upon the successful completion of a background verification check, subject to applicable laws and regulations.