Director - Philanthropic Programs, Corporate Sustainability

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.

Position Summary

The American Express Corporate Affairs & Communications (CA&C) team is a strategic function that works to enhance and protect the continued strength of the American Express brand through public relations, social media and content, colleague communications and corporate sustainability (CS).

The CS Community Impact team is hiring a Director of Philanthropic Programs to report to the Vice President of Philanthropy. This role will be responsible for leading and enhancing philanthropic programs and grant-making, focused on community support and disaster response with a focus on small businesses. This is an exciting role overseeing a team of Program Officers while working internally across the philanthropy and sustainability team and the wider enterprise and with nonprofit and other philanthropic partners externally.

The director will be responsible for day-to-day oversight of the Programs Team within the American Express Community Impact team, which oversees platforms for Amex colleagues, non-profit partners and communities across the world. Working closely with the Vice President of Philanthropy, the Director will oversee a team of Program Officers and all aspects of grant making aligned to our small business and community support priorities. This includes strategy and budget development, the existing partner and grant portfolio, identification of new potential partners, grant development, risk and compliance reviews, implementation, monitoring, reporting and evaluation.

The ideal candidate must be a dynamic, solutions-oriented, highly organized, creative and flexible individual, with strong attention to detail and a risk mindset, who is comfortable working with ambiguity and complexity. The ideal candidate will have an extensive nonprofit network, track record of building strong relationships, particularly between nonprofits and companies, leading and operating in a dynamic environment, being resourceful, and precise.

Day-to-day responsibilities will include, but are not limited to:

Philanthropic Program Oversight

• Work with the VP of Philanthropy to set strategy for Foundation and Corporate philanthropic programs and communications.
• Work closely with Communications colleagues on the communications strategy for philanthropic programs to ensure programs are shared meaningfully, accurately and innovatively internally and externally.
• Lead day-to-day management of the Programs function within the philanthropy team including: partner and grant portfolio, program timelines, budgeting and monitoring, evaluation and learning reporting.
• Oversee risk and compliance related to programs including risk vetting, legal approvals with the General Counsel’s Organization (GCO), reviewing all internal and external communications related to programs.
• Work closely with the operations team in the development of a framework for collection, cleansing, and integrity of impact data and measurement, including responses to internal and external stakeholders.
• Support the Community Impact team in the development of relevant Foundation and Corporate philanthropy reports and papers including for the Board of Trustees, helping to ensure legal requirements for Foundation entities are met.
• Management and support for direct reports.

Relationship building

• Proactively engage with internal stakeholders including Corporate Affairs and Communications, GCO, Government and Public Affairs, Business Units and other American Express Entities.
• Serve as American Express Foundation and Corporate philanthropy programmatic lead and knowledge holder, to ensure all relevant staff are aware of and aligned to grantmaking approaches, including international markets.
• Be a subject matter expert who can field queries with your team from business and market colleagues and ensure compliance across markets.
• Oversee relationship management across nonprofit and other philanthropic partners, supporting program officers as needed.

Innovation

• Be at the forefront of trends, industry insights, and innovative approaches to philanthropic programs, grant making, policy and compliance, bringing in new grant ideas, potential partners, communications approaches and other insights.
• To advise and inspire the broader Community Impact and Sustainability team, as well as teams across the enterprise, while identifying new areas for collaboration and innovation aligned to business priorities.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of experience in program development and grant making, preferably in a Corporate Philanthropic environment.
• Demonstrated interest and experience supporting Small Businesses is a plus.
• Comfort with ambiguity and bring a solutions-oriented mindset.
• Nimble generalist, willing and capable of flexing as team and priorities evolve.
• Familiarity with grantmaking technology and systems.
• Entrepreneurial, willing and capable of building new processes and systems from ideation to execution and workflow management.
• Demonstrated excellence in project management and attention to detail.
• Enjoys and excels in fast paced working environment, can balance multiple projects on a tight deadline.
• Team player, strong leader and collaborative approach.
• Understanding of financial services business is a plus.
• Relevant educational or other qualifications are a plus.

Salary Range: $123,000.00 to $215,250.00 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.

US Job Seekers - Click to view the “Know Your Rights” poster. If the link does not work, you may access the poster by copying and pasting the following URL in a new browser window: https://www.eeoc.gov/poster

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