The Global Risk & Compliance Organization (GRC) independently oversees the company's risk-taking and risk management activities, ensuring comprehensive identification, assessment, monitoring, and mitigation of risks within the Company's established risk appetite. GRC is responsible for maintaining a robust enterprise risk management framework while ensuring compliance with applicable regulatory requirements. Through strong partnerships across business units and functions, GRC enables sustainable business growth by fostering a culture of proactive risk management, sound governance, and regulatory excellence.
Financial Risk Management (FRM), within GRC, is responsible for the independent oversight of Credit Risk, Model Risk, Market & Liquidity Risk, External Fraud Risk, Financial Crimes, and Decision Science & Analytics across all business units, products, processes, and geographies at American Express.
We are seeking a Senior Manager, External Fraud Risk Oversight (Second Line of Defense) to join the Financial Risk Management organization. This role will provide independent oversight of the Company's external fraud risk profile, ensuring that fraud risks are effectively identified, measured, monitored, governed, and managed in alignment with the Company's risk appetite and regulatory expectations.
The successful candidate will play a key role in shaping the enterprise external fraud risk oversight framework by providing effective challenge to First Line of Defense (1LOD) strategies, influencing senior stakeholders, and driving data-driven risk insights. This individual will partner closely with business leaders, technology teams, model governance, compliance, operational risk, and regulators to strengthen fraud risk governance, enhance oversight capabilities, and ensure emerging fraud risks are proactively addressed.
This role requires expertise in fraud risk management, strong analytical and strategic thinking, excellent stakeholder management, and the ability to communicate complex risk themes effectively to senior leadership and governance committees.
- Support the independent Second Line of Defense (2LOD) oversight of the enterprise External Fraud Risk Framework, ensuring alignment with the Company's risk appetite, governance standards, and regulatory expectations.
- Drive the development, enhancement, and ongoing maintenance of enterprise policies, standards, methodologies, and governance practices supporting External Fraud Risk Management.
- Provide effective independent challenge to First Line of Defense (1LOD) fraud strategies, controls, policies, risk assessments, and remediation activities to ensure risks are appropriately identified and managed.
- Lead independent risk assessments, thematic reviews, and deep-dive analyses to evaluate the effectiveness of fraud controls, identify emerging risks, and recommend risk mitigation strategies.
- Develop and oversee enterprise Key Risk Indicators (KRIs), Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), early warning indicators, and risk appetite metrics to monitor changes in the external fraud landscape.
- Leverage advanced analytics, data visualization, and trend analysis to identify emerging fraud patterns, quantify risk exposure, and provide actionable insights that support executive decision-making.
- Partner with Product, Technology, Compliance, Operational Risk, Model Risk Management, Internal Audit, and other control functions to strengthen enterprise fraud risk governance and promote consistent risk management practices.
- Monitor the evolving external fraud threat landscape, industry trends, emerging technologies, and regulatory developments to proactively identify risks and recommend enhancements to the enterprise fraud risk framework.
- Influence enterprise-wide fraud risk strategy through thought leadership, cross-functional collaboration, and effective engagement with senior stakeholders.
Minimum Qualifications
- 7+ years of experience in fraud or operational risk management in the Banking or Payments industry.
- Robust understanding of fraud risk, industry standards, regulatory requirements, and risk mitigation practices.
- Strong technical and analytical skills with the ability to apply both quantitative methods and business skills to create insights and drive results.
- Robust analytical skills, including a proven ability to translate complex and disparate information to develop a comprehensive and cohesive conclusion for colleagues, business partners, and senior leaders.
- Ability to work independently and across a matrix organization partnering with business partners, functional owners, capabilities, technology teams and external vendors.
- Rigorous and analytical approach to problem-solving, decision-making, prioritization and collaboration across teams/geographies.
- Degree in a quantitative field (e.g., Business, Computer Science, Economics, Engineering or Mathematics) is highly preferred. This role is required to be on-site 3 days a week.
Preferred Qualifications
- Prior experience in fraud risk management oversight functions (2nd LOD).
- Knowledge of SQL and Python.
Employment eligibility to work with American Express in the United States is required as the company will not pursue visa sponsorship for these positions.