Director – Transformation and Controls Product Owner

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 industry is rapidly evolving, and we need courageous, quick thinkers who can shape the strategic decisions that lead our business forward. Whether it’s negotiating with some of our largest global partners or creating next year’s financial plan, you can influence both our day-to-day P&L and the future direction of the company. As part of the team, you can have the opportunity to learn and use the latest data tools and technologies and explore a range of roles to grow your career. Find your place in finance on #TeamAmex.

How will you make an impact in this role?

The Director of Product Owner Transformation and Controls is a critical leadership role in Financial Reporting Quality Assurance Organization (FRQA) within Corporate Controllership, in support of the Regulatory Reporting Automation program. This role is responsible for leading transformational efforts to elevate our controls and risk management for regulatory high-risk reports on critical enterprise initiatives, focusing on driving the definition, analysis and documentation of key regulatory reporting requirements, architectural designs and deliver best-in-class, end-to-end automation through cutting-edge new tech trends such as AI / ML and leveraging regulatory reporting platforms to enable transformation in the banking industry.

The Product Ownership teams under Regulatory Automation & Change Management (RACM) oversee the technical interpretation and analysis of automation requirements for US regulatory reporting (including but not restricted to FR Y9C, FR2052a, FR Y9LP, FR Y14M/A/Q, FR 2314, FR Y11, FFEIC 009 / 009A, FFEIC 031, FR Y15, FFEIC 101 and TIC reporting), evaluating business regulatory instruction documentation, data sourcing and gap analysis requirements, and the prioritization of last mile reporting automation features and user stories for American Express.

The Director of the Product Ownership function dedicated to Transformation and Controls must be a highly analytical, well-organized, data-driven individual with exceptional leadership, control management expertise and a high degree of technical skills confident in presenting, highly complex data concepts and technicalities in simple terms and pragmatically, to upper management and executive leadership, to drive critical enterprise decisions.

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Lead and be the US regulatory reporting automation point-of-contact for our enterprise initiatives to elevate and transform our control environment for regulatory reporting automation opportunities and requirements.
• Establish a transformation automation roadmap for our platform capabilities that elevate our prioritization and risk management principles, driving the continuous improvement of backlog requirements through Regulatory Reporting last mile submission solutions (e.g., Axiom SL)
• Drive the Solution Architecture Forum agenda and Capabilities discussions in support of Point of Arrival (POA) data pipeline cloud-based design, including but not restricted to the acceleration of legacy platforms decommission, creating a control management framework on hollow-out strategies in close partnership with Global Capabilities Product Owners and Data Sourcing Architecture teams
• Collaborating extensively with US Regulatory Report Owner business partners and other Product Owner teams involved in the US Regulatory Reporting Automation program to support the identification and codification of business requirements, coordinating functional design, prototyping, testing, implementation and reprioritization across the US regulatory reporting roadmap automation initiatives backlog.
• Develop functional requirement documentation and process specific design documentation (I.e., features, user stories, business expected values, etc.) to support regulatory report owner requirements across agile development tools (I.e., Rally, JIRA, BPM, etc.)
• Coordinate with various other Product Owners, Process Owners, Subject Matter Experts, Solution Architecture colleagues to ensure proper and data / control management designs.
• Knowledgeable in development methodologies, understanding of SQL development, system functionality and expected business values for certification of automation results.
• Participate in daily stand ups with the pods (implementation groups for various portfolios of the Company for data sourcing and regulatory classification and reporting), leading and delivering efficient solution to complex prioritization and business requirement.

Minimum Qualifications

• Degree in Finance/Accounting and/or Information Technologies (master’s preferred).
• 7+ years of experience in the US Federal Reserve / financial US regulatory reporting, banking / financial services, Product, Project and / or Control Management
• 7+ years of work experience in Banking / Regulatory / Financial / Technology Services.
• Demonstrated strong experience in leading regulatory reporting transformation or other regulatory solution design large-scale banking / financial / software projects
• Experienced in Scaled Agile Framework, Agile mindset, and Transformational Project and Change Management embracing new opportunities and adapt easily to change. 
• Experience eliciting and documenting technical business transformation, risk and control requirements via the creation of features, user stories and other key decision documents
• Experience in the application of cutting-edge technology transformational programs such as Gen AI, MS Co-Pilot, Machine Learning (ML), Natural Language Programming (NLP), etc.
• Critical thinking and complex problem-solving skills (data application).
• Proven people leadership experience and ability to attract, engage and retain talent.
• Excellent written and verbal communications with ability to communicate highly complex concepts and processes in simple terms and pragmatically.
• A self-starter, proactive team player with excellent relationship building and collaboration skills, facilitating a network of strong relationships across the organization.
• Exhibits organizational skills with the ability to meet/exceed critical deadlines and manage multiple priorities, delivering high quality service with passion and exceeding expectations.
• Displays thought leadership, drive process, and support work/life balance initiatives.

Preferred Qualifications

• SaFe Agile Product Owner and / or Project Management Professional (PMP) certification
• Certified Risk Management Professional (CRMP), similar certifications or trainings
• Change Management Methodologies, e.g., ADKAR, Kotter, McKinsey and change resistance models, e.g., Kubler-Ross, Maurer, PDCA
• Experience with SQL, Python and other Data Automation / Data Visualization techniques.
• Experience with of MS Excel, Power Query, and other analytical tools, e.g., Power BI, Tableau.
•       IT data management experience, test management and execution experience is a plus.

     Currently, the Company does not have a physical location in the Charlotte, NC metropolitan area and, therefore, if you reside in the Charlotte, NC metropolitan area the role will temporarily be deemed virtual under the Company’s applicable policy (the Amex Flex Policy). We anticipate securing a physical office location in the Charlotte, NC metropolitan area in the future. Once that occurs, you will be notified that your position will be converted to hybrid and you will be required to work in the office in accordance with the applicable Amex Flex Policy (currently under the Amex Flex).

     Guardian 

Salary Range: $130,000.00 to $205,000.00 annually + bonus + equity (if applicable) + benefits

The above represents the expected salary range for this job requisition. Ultimately, in determining your pay, we’ll consider your location, experience, and other job-related factors.

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 
• 6% 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

For a full list of Team Amex benefits, visit our Colleague Benefits Site.

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. American Express will consider for employment all qualified applicants, including those with arrest or conviction records, in accordance with the requirements of applicable state and local laws, including, but not limited to, the California Fair Chance Act, the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers, and the City of Los Angeles’ Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance. For positions covered by federal and/or state banking regulations, American Express will comply with such regulations as it relates to the consideration of applicants with criminal convictions.

We back our colleagues with the support they need to thrive, professionally and personally. That's why we have Amex Flex, our enterprise working model that provides greater flexibility to colleagues while ensuring we preserve the important aspects of our unique in-person culture. Depending on role and business needs, colleagues will either work onsite, in a hybrid model (combination of in-office and virtual days) or fully virtually.

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Depending on factors such as business unit requirements, the nature of the position, cost and applicable laws, American Express may provide visa sponsorship for certain positions.