Director-Compliance : Head of Transaction Monitoring Coverage

About the position 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. The American Express Global Financial Crimes Compliance (GFCC) function provides second-line policy, framework, oversight and control solutions to meet the Company’s legal, regulatory and risk management mandates in connection with Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Counter Terrorism Financing (CTF), Sanctions and Anti-Bribery and Corruption. The GFCC portfolio comprises all aspects of the Company’s first and second-line financial crime risk management (FCRM) activities, including all lines of businesses in the United States and both proprietary non-proprietary global markets. Reporting to the Global Head of Transaction Monitoring (TM), the Head of Transaction Monitoring Coverage (Director) will oversee the ongoing inventory of applicable risks and coverage associated with American Express products and services. This individual will manage a team focused on the ongoing assessment of coverage provided by the Transaction Monitoring program and identifying enhancement requirements. This is a critical leadership role within GFCC, requiring strong domain expertise in AML compliance, advanced understanding of AML risk typologies, data, model risk management and a track record of operational execution within the financial services industry.

Responsibilities

• Support the Global Head of TM in managing the GFCC transaction monitoring coverage program, including identifying relevant money laundering (ML)/terrorist financing (TF) red flags, typologies, and emerging patterns. This individual will be responsible for implanting a program to maintain an up-to-date mapping of these risks to American Express products, services, and business segments to establish drive appropriate monitoring coverage.
• Lead the evaluation of identified automated and manual controls for their effectiveness in detecting the identified risks as part of the coverage assessment.
• Identifying and documenting findings, identified risks, and recommended enhancement to be shared with relevant stakeholders
• Implement monitoring to identify ad-hoc coverage assessment needs, through the implementation of trigger event to review existing coverage
• Drive and implement process for periodic reviews of non-automated alerted activity to identify emerging risks or coverage gaps
• Monitor and control rule changes to ensure alignment with regulatory expectations, internal policies, and evolving risk typologies; develop and monitoring controls to ensure rule changes are implemented as designed
• Prepare and contribute to regulatory engagement materials and meetings in connection with the TM program’s design, governance, and effectiveness.
• Collaborate closely with key stakeholders including the Financial Crimes Compliance Surveillance Unit, U.S. Investigations unit, Threat Assessment Group, Financial Crimes Data Science and Analytics Center of Excellence, Technology, Operations, Model Risk Management, and Business Line Compliance.
• Establish and maintain comprehensive documentation, metrics, and controls around rule performance, thresholds, and alert quality.
• Support and coordinate activities related to regulatory exams, audits, and internal reviews related to transaction monitoring design and governance.
• Provide expert recommendations to coverage and technology solutions, including business requirements and vendor selection
• Maintain awareness of industry developments and regulatory expectations in AML transaction monitoring and financial crimes detection.
• Foster a culture of accountability, transparency, and continuous improvement.

Requirements

• 8+ years of experience in Financial Crimes Compliance, AML transaction monitoring, or related risk management roles in a large global financial institution.
• Proven expertise in AML transaction monitoring systems, coverage assessments, typology translation, alert generation, and model risk management.
• Strong knowledge and understanding of global regulatory expectations.
• Demonstrated ability to lead cross-regional and cross-functional teams.
• Strong communication and influencing skills; ability to interact with senior executives and regulators.
• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience is required; advanced degree in a related field (e.g., Law, Business, Data Science) preferred.

Benefits

• Competitive base salaries
• Bonus incentives
• 6%25 Company Match on retirement savings plan
• Free financial coaching and financial well-being support
• Comprehensive medical, dental, vision, life insurance, and disability benefits
• Flexible working model with hybrid, onsite or virtual arrangements depending on role and business need
• 20+ weeks paid parental leave for all parents, regardless of gender, offered for pregnancy, adoption or surrogacy
• 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

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