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 Senior Manager for Governance, this role is a part of the EMEA Regional MLRO Organisation within Global Financial Crimes Compliance (GFCC). The team is responsible for overseeing governance of the EMEA market Financial Crimes Compliance Programme (Anti-Money Laundering, Sanctions and Anti-Corruption) and ensuring that systems, controls and procedures are robust and aligned with Enterprise standards, Legal Entity policy, and specific local market requirements.

The Governance Team oversees internal and external audits; regulatory interactions and reporting; issue management; risk assessments (Money Laundering, Sanctions and Terrorist Financing) and policies and procedures, working in collaboration with Market Compliance Officers (MCOs), General Council’s Office (GCO), Internal Audit Group (IAG), Line of Business Compliance (LOBCO), and First Line of Defence Colleagues, providing them with Financial Crimes Compliance subject matter expertise.

How will you make an impact in this role?

This role offers an exciting opportunity to lead key governance initiatives in a dynamic environment, by driving compliance excellence and contributing to the integrity of financial systems, including:

Audit Management – enhancing the audit management framework and working collaboratively with key stakeholders on the management of internal and external audits.Regulatory Interactions – supporting regulatory interactions relating to the Financial Crimes Program across the EMEA region. Coordinate with internal stakeholders during regulatory exams, audits, and inquiries, ensuring that the governance framework and compliance controls are presented effectively.Regulatory Reporting – responsible for leading the MLRO related regulatory reports, working with Regulatory Reporting Teams, MCOs, LOBCO, and First Line of Defence Teams. Issue Management – driving an effective issue management framework for Compliance-owned Management Actions Plans (MAPs), Regulatory Action Plans (RAPs), Operational Risk Events (OREs). Monitoring, tracking and reporting on resolution of issues, gaps and remediation actions.Risk Assessments – responsible for supporting delivery of Money Laundering, Sanctions and Terrorist Financing Risk Assessments with a market, legal entity and enterprise lens in collaboration with the Risk Management Office (RMO) and MCOs.Reporting – partnering with Second and First Line of Defence Teams to deliver accurate and consistent Financial Crimes reporting across multiple legal entities and regions.  Data Analysis and Validation – reviewing, analysing, and validating complex data sets to meet regulatory and internal reporting requirements.Policies and Procedures – driving consistency across regional policies and procedures to meet regulatory and enterprise expectations.Effective Challenge and Accountability - Serving as an effective challenge to the Second and First Lines of Defence by reviewing, assessing, and challenging their risk management practices.

Minimum Qualifications:

Bachelor or Master’s Degree in finance, law, business, or a related field preferred. Relevant certifications (e.g., ACAMS, ICA) are an advantage.Minimum 3+ years of experience in AML/CTF/Risk governance or project management within a compliance, risk management or audit role.Strong data analysis and reporting skills, with the ability to extract actionable insights from diverse data sources.Decisive self-starter with high degree of accountability, curiosity, solution-oriented approach, able to manage competing long-term and short-term priorities in fast paced environments.Strong project and relationship management, collaboration, organisational, and interpersonal skills with ability to influence and engage partners.Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including ability to communicate confidently and effectively with senior stakeholders.Outstanding organisational skills and an extremely positive “can-do” attitude, with the ability to work independently.Have a global mindset; able to work well across time zones and work cultures. Advanced proficiency in analytics tools, Gen-AI, Excel and PowerPoint, with the ability to quickly adopt new technologies and platforms.

Employment eligibility to work with American Express in the United Kingdom 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.