Director-Assistant - job 2 of 4

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.

How will you make an impact in this role?

How we serve our customers is constantly evolving and is a challenge we gladly accept. Whether you’re finding new ways to prevent identity fraud or enabling customers to start a new business, you can work with one of the most valuable data sets in the world to identify insights and actions that can have a meaningful impact on our customers and our business. And, with opportunities to learn from leaders who have defined the course of our industry, you can grow your career and define your own path. Find your place in risk and analytics on #TeamAmex.

The Direct Assistant will support the SVP and CCO of the Global Merchant and Network System Risk and Commercial Rating and Underwriting functional risk teams within Credit and Fraud Risk.

The mission of these teams is to support prudent growth and minimize large credit losses in the institutional businesses of American Express.  They support Global Commercial Services, Global Merchant and Network Services, and all other business units that generate large credit exposures.

This Director Assistant role provides critical operational, strategic, and administrative support to executive-level stakeholders while driving organizational efficiency across multiple workstreams. This role is central to project management, governance, colleague engagement, and local site operations. The ideal candidate will thrive in a fast-paced environment, demonstrate exceptional attention to detail, and possess strong communication and coordination skills.

Key responsibilities:

• Overseeing daily operations of the team, including operating budget, organizational reporting, and directing department-wide administrative functions
• Planning line-of-business reviews, leadership meetings, colleague town halls
• Partnering with Colleague Experience Group (CEG) to implement talent management programs – recruitment, training, recognition, compensation, and retention
• Developing communications and presentation materials for executive-level audiences
• Organizing Salt Lake City market visits of senior leaders and Market Executive Team meetings
• Involvement and direction for the market activities including lead event planning and colleague engagement, including logistics for visiting leaders, internal team events, and community partnerships
• Lead the coordination and execution of various initiatives within the team and with other departments. Track deliverables, provide updates, and ensure cross-functional alignment
• Supporting risk governance, oversight, and audit functions as well as regulatory affairs
• Interacting effectively with colleagues at all levels in the organization to strengthen team culture, continuously improve the work environment, and identify and resolve issues
• Completing secondary reviews of CRU portfolio manager’s rating and underwriting case decisions

Minimum Qualifications

• Minimum 8 years of experience in commercial credit in a rating and / or underwriting function at a leading financial institution
• Bachelor’s degree (or substantial coursework) in finance, accounting, economics, or statistics
• Track record of collaborating and building relationships across organization
• Ability to lead large scale, time sensitive, enterprise-wide projects through to completion
• Proven ability to influence others to achieve complex objectives against tight deadlines
• Proven experience supporting and presenting to executive-level stakeholders
• Ability to handle confidential information with discretion
• Executive presence with excellent communication skills, the ability to listen, and provide input to help senior leadership make informed decisions
• Understanding of current macroeconomic trends and how to provide recommendations to improve the probability of default estimation based on the business cycle
• Excellent judgment in making sound rating and underwriting decisions to maximize profitability and mitigate risk
• Familiarity with quantitative credit models, knowledge of how to interpret the outputs, and when deviation from the model has appropriate defense
• Understanding of banking regulations, particularly those imposed by the Federal Reserve and OCC, Amex’s primary regulators
• Proficiency in Microsoft Office Suite, including SharePoint, and preferably ChatGPT (AI)

Preferred Qualifications   

• A graduate degree with a finance or business emphasis, or Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation, is preferred

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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Employment eligibility to work with American Express in the U.S. is required as the company will not pursue visa sponsorship for these positions.