Director & Counsel – GMNS Global Acquiring Partners & Programs (OptBlue)

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.

The General Counsel’s Organization (GCO) at American Express is seeking a Director & Counsel to support the Global Acquiring Partners & Programs (GAPP) team within the Global Merchant & Network Services (GMNS) business. GMNS is a core business of American Express and fundamental to the operation of the American Express global payments network.GMNS builds and maintains relationships with merchants that choose to accept the American Express Card and financial services companies who enable merchants to accept the Card, simultaneously delivering differentiated products and services and driving revenue growth for both merchants and American Express.

The successful candidate will provide legal support and advice to the team managing our global third-party acquiring relationships, including Payment Facilitators and participants in American Express’s OptBlue Program. These innovative tech-driven merchant-acquirers, payment processors, fin-techs and platforms represent an expanding and evolving segment for American Express.This role will serve as the primary GCO support for the American Express OptBlue Program, negotiate complex commercial agreements, advise on strategic matters, and support other global program management activities.

Roles and Responsibilities:

• Provide legal support for the GAPP team by working on a wide variety of matters including commercial contracting, OptBlue Program management, risk identification and mitigation, operational capabilities, and data strategy and security, all within a dynamic business and regulatory and legal environment.
• Provide guidance on the evolution of the OptBlue Program and Amex third party acquiring ecosystem generally while coordinating with other facets of the Amex business, including other legal, operational and policy teams.
• Drive global consistency across a range of payment models from a legal, contractual, and operational standpoint.
• Partner with legal colleagues and other business and stakeholder groups worldwide (including international GCO, compliance, risk, and business development leads) to ensure the most effective support and relevant expertise is applied across all matters.
• Support the identification and implementation of process improvements.
• Participate in a team of seasoned attorneys, offering thought leadership for cross-cutting issues and strategic projects.
• Support effective, cost-conscious targeted engagements of outside counsel where necessary, with a disciplined approach to budget management.

Minimum Qualifications:

• J.D. with admission to New York Bar or eligibility to do so
• 6+ years of relevant work experience in a law firm and/or in-house corporate legal environment
• Specific experience and knowledge in drafting, reviewing, and negotiating complex commercial agreements and providing thoughtful and practice advice on complex business issues

Preferred Qualifications:

• Experience with payments, e-commerce, or merchant acquiring businesses
• Strong analytical, problem-solving and project management skills
• Ability to build strong client relationships and bring to light areas of legal and compliance risk, and other issues requiring legal-influenced problem solving
• Ability to generate creative and innovative solutions to novel issues
• Ability to communicate complex issues clearly and persuasively, in both written and oral format
• Excellent collaboration, interpersonal and teamwork skills and work well in cross-functional team settings and partner with others to drive results
• Ability to manage and prioritize competing demands while maintaining close attention to details and meeting deadlines
• Appetite to develop in-depth knowledge of business operations and apply that understanding in furnishing legal advice
• Self-motivated, high level of personal energy and commitment
• Strong leadership skills, growth mindset and customer focus

Given the dynamic nature of the global payments industry and the valued partnership between GCO and the GMNS business, we see it as imperative to attract and develop talented people by:

• Providing rich work experience and opportunity for professional development
• Recognizing and rewarding those who drive and deliver results
• Respecting and valuing diversity, integrity, and personal accountability

Salary Range: $144,250.00 to $256,250.00 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