Job Details

Description

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  Vice President, Global Privacy Center of Excellence (GPCE)  will lead the creation and ongoing management of a centralized, first line of defense privacy function that safeguards data, enables responsible innovation, and strengthens trust across American Express’ global digital ecosystem.

As part of the  Enterprise Technology Services (ETS)  organization, this leader will partner across the enterprise to translate privacy principles into operational practices that power customer-centric digital experiences, support enterprise growth, and reinforce data trustworthiness.

Key Responsibilities

Strategic Leadership & Program Execution

• Establish and scale a global Center of Excellence to embed privacy by design into products, platforms, and processes.

• Lead the development and execution of a cohesive privacy strategy and control framework that delivers measurable business value.

• Partner with cross-functional teams—including Legal, Compliance, Risk, and Technology—to operationalize privacy principles and promote responsible data use.

• Leverage emerging technologies, including Artificial Intelligence (AI), to drive automation, efficiency, and enhanced risk management across multiple workstreams.

• Champion a culture of trust, accountability, and innovation throughout the organization.

• Stay ahead of evolving global privacy regulations and best practices, ensuring American Express maintains a leadership position in responsible data stewardship.

• Provide Privacy expertise to market and legal entity leaders globally.

• Establish key performance metrics and maturity models to measure program effectiveness, drive continuous improvement, and inform executive reporting.

• Define the enterprise privacy strategy and ensure seamless alignment with the company’s data governance, security, and risk management.

• Serve as a trusted advisor and subject matter expert, translating complex regulatory concepts into actionable business guidance.

What we’re looking for

• Proven experience leading enterprise-level privacy, compliance, or risk management programs within a complex, global organization.

• Deep understanding of data protection laws, regulatory expectations, and industry standards.

• Demonstrated success applying technology particularly AI and automation to optimize privacy and risk processes.

• Strong collaboration and influencing skills, with the ability to partner across business, legal, and technology functions.

• Strategic thinker and transformational leader with a passion for advancing responsible innovation.

Minimum Qualifications

• 10 years of demonstrated excellence leading global privacy, data protection, or compliance programs within complex, regulated industries.

• 5 years of experience with Third Party Lifecycle Management and New Product Approval processes

• 3 years of applying Threat Model processes and programs to understand Privacy risk attributes.

• Proven ability to design and execute a comprehensive global privacy strategy, leveraging privacy by design and privacy engineering principles.

• Deep knowledge of global privacy regulations (e.g., GDPR, CCPA/CPRA, LGPD) and the ability to rationalize global legal requirements into consistent enterprise practices.

• Expertise in privacy risk identification, assessment, and control management frameworks.

• Exceptional written, verbal, and executive communication skills, with the ability to articulate complex risk concepts to senior stakeholders.

• Strong collaboration and influence skills, with a proven track record of building cross-functional partnerships across large, matrixed organizations.

• Knowledge of Heightened Standards and Line of Defense construct.

• Experience leading diverse, high-performing teams through complex initiatives and organizational change.

• Experience with Information Security domains and how they interact with Privacy.

• Proven experience with leveraging Artificial Intelligence to enhance risk management processes across multiple workstreams.

• Extensive experience in driving efficiencies across programs; ensure sustainability and scalability of operations.

• Ability to make confident, risk-based decisions in ambiguous and fast-evolving business environments.

Required Leadership Attributes

• Visionary leader capable of building scalable programs that balance innovation with compliance.

• Esteemed colleague and astute at building long standing, dynamic relationships.

• Skilled at influencing across all levels of the organization, including executive and regulatory audiences.

• Committed to ethical leadership, continuous learning, and fostering a culture of trust and accountability.

Qualifications

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

Salary Range: $176,750.00 to $282,000.00 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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Job: Executive

Primary Location: US-Arizona-Phoenix

Other Locations: US-North Carolina, US-Utah-Sandy, US-New York-New York

Schedule Full-time

Req ID: 25020842