Director, Business Disruption & Operational Resilience Risk Management - job 3 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 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 Technical Risk Management (TRM) team, within the Global Risk and Compliance organization and led by the Chief Risk Officer, manage operational risks associated with Information & Cyber Security Risk, Business Disruption, Technology Risk, Data Risk, and AI Risk Management. The team also ensures that risk management activities are conducted in a manner compliant with regulatory requirements and expectations. The team aggregates and reports on key risk management and oversight activities to the relevant management and Board risk committees.

Functional Description:

The Director, Business Disruption & Operational Resilience Risk Management is a new role focused on managing the risks associated with operational resilience (including business continuity management across people, process, technology, third party and physical infrastructure) across American Express globally. The Director will be part of the GRC team, and report into the Vice President Firmwide Independent Risk Management Head of Business Disruption & Operational Resilience at American Express. The incumbent will be responsible for supporting and executing on the overall operational resilience risk management and governance framework at the Company.

Essential Job Functions:

• Support the implementation of the operational resilience risk governance framework, including the development of a specialized risk team, risk policy, and risk capabilities.
• Learn operational resilience and business continuity management processes, demonstrating strong levels of curiosity and willingness to present an effective credible challenge.
• Provide operational resilience risk oversight by identification, assessment, control, measurement, monitoring and reporting of risks related to operational resilience program.
• Leverage advanced data analytics to drive insights, proactively identifying opportunities for enhancing the Company’s operational resilience and swiftly adapting to emerging threats.
• Identify risks related to operational resilience, oversee controls in line with American Express’s risk and control framework. Establish guidance and requirements for minimum recommended controls.
• Support regulatory exams, to ensure the company is prepared to provide necessary documentation, addressing inquiries from regulators, and demonstrating compliance with legal and regulatory requirements and supervisory expectations.
• Lead independent risk assessments and challenge the design and effectiveness of controls with a willingness to conduct hands-on analysis and assessments.
• Collaborate with senior leadership, across Legal, Technology and Business Unit leaders to support the development of the organization’s risk appetite for operational resilience and monitor adherence to the established thresholds.
• Design and implement operational resilience related metrics to identify and report risks.
• Attract, lead, and nurture colleagues towards a fun-filled and high energy workplace.
• Develop strong working relationships with all levels of the organization, including our executive leaders in technology and with business partners, to achieve results and enact wide-scale impact across the organization.
• Demonstrate in-depth knowledge in key risk oversight skills, including operational resiliency, business continuity management, disaster recovery, dependency risk management, resiliency monitoring, operational vulnerability management and resiliency compliance management.
• Support compliance with Resilience-related regulations and standards (e.g., OCC Bulletin 2020-94, FFIEC Handbooks, DORA, GLBA, etc.) to meet legal and regulatory obligations.
• Influence and help embed a strong risk-aware culture, encouraging proactive risk management behaviors at all levels.

Required Qualifications:

• Minimum seven years of experience in risk management within the banking/financial services industry including policy & procedure development, risk appetite, risk control self-assessment and testing, and issue management.
• Demonstrates ability and aspiration for building and nurturing teams and leading complex and high impact assessments.
• Displays a mindset of questioning assumptions, critically assessing information and seeking evidence to validate conclusions, so decisions are unbiased and well-founded.
• Demonstrates learning agility: Learns from unfamiliar experiences. Perseveres through and learns from setbacks.
• Strong verbal and written communication skills with an ability to explain complex problems and ideas clearly and succinctly to senior management.
• Analytical attitude with consistent track record of using data and business insight to develop winning strategies and drive business decision-making,
• Ability to make decisions quickly and effectively.
• Demonstrates courage and resilience.
• Ability to work in a highly collaborative environment, excellent relationship building skills and ability to influence partners with a firm strategic view.
• Highly motivated self-starter with ability to juggle multiple tasks in a fast-paced, ambiguous environment, with excellent organization skills and careful attention to detail.
• Possess a high degree of technical savvy, with a keen ability to learn new technology quickly and easily.
• Understanding of risk assessment methodologies, frameworks and industry standards.
• Deep knowledge of laws, regulations, and industry frameworks (e.g. DORA, FRB SR 2020-24/OCC 2020-94, OCC Heightened Standards, FFIEC IT booklets).
• Working knowledge of one or more of the data mining tools/technologies (e.g. Microsoft Excel: Pivot Tables SQL, SAS, Python, R)
• Having industry certifications in operational resilience, business continuity management, and Disaster Recovery will be preferred.

Why American Express

Talk to our people and you’ll find out what we’re really all about. Open, creative, risk-taking, collaborative and innovative are just some of the expressions you’ll hear. It’s our culture that makes American Express an outstanding place to work, and a big part of why we regularly win best workplace awards all over the world. If you’re ready to take on a challenge and make an impact, you owe it to yourself to launch or grow your career here.

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.