You Lead the Way. We’ve Got Your Back.

With the right backing, people and businesses have the power to progress in incredible ways. When you join Team Amex, you become part of a global and diverse community of colleagues with an unwavering commitment to back our customers, communities and each other. Here, you’ll learn and grow as we help you create a career journey that’s unique and meaningful to you with benefits, programs, and flexibility that support you personally and professionally.

At American Express, you’ll be recognized for your contributions, leadership, and impact—every colleague has the opportunity to share in the company’s success. Together, we’ll win as a team, striving to uphold our company values and powerful backing promise to provide the world’s best customer experience every day. And we’ll do it with the utmost integrity, and in an environment where everyone is seen, heard and feels like they belong.

Join Team Amex and let’s lead the way together.

Our mission is to protect and strengthen American Express through legal expertise and strategic advice that helps our business partners manage risk, identify opportunities, and deliver on the company’s promise of exceptional products and services. Given the dynamic nature of the global payments industry and the valued partnership between our team and the business, we see it as imperative to attract and develop talented people by:

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

How will you make an impact in this role?

This role is for a lawyer to join the General Counsel’s Organization (GCO) to act as a Manager and Counsel – Global Legal Policy & Strategy in a multi-disciplinary Global Legal Policy and Strategy function. The focus of the role will be advising on competition law in the EMEA region and payment systems regulation globally. The role will also contribute to the broader work of the Global Legal Policy and Strategy function which involves tracking emerging policy developments globally in areas such as consumer protection, data policy and payment innovations.

The role will support all lines of business within American Express. Key business areas relevant to this role include the payment network, consumer and commercial card issuing, merchant acquiring and payments generally, all with the overlay of a dynamic environment involving emerging and evolving digital/mobile and data-driven technologies and capabilities.

The role will partner closely and interface with other GCO lawyers, business colleagues, Compliance, Government Affairs, and external bodies, regulators and industry trade groups.

The ideal candidate would be a strategic thinker with strong analytical and communication skills who has experience in competition law and ideally also in payments systems regulation and/or has demonstrated an aptitude for interpreting and applying technically complex regulation. They will need to be confident and able to work closely with business clients on a day to day basis, managing conflicting priorities and tight deadlines. They will also need to be confident in interacting with and helping American Express to deepen its relations with regulators, in partnership with Government Affairs and Compliance.

The role will be based in London in the Global Legal Policy and Strategy team, which comprises both competition and financial services lawyers and is responsible for dealing with competition law, global payments systems regulation and global legal policy and strategy. You will report to a senior competition lawyer in the team.

Don’t just work for a market leading global company. Help grow one.

Main Responsibilities

• Regulatory and policy advice and strategic support with an emphasis on (i) a wide range of competition law and payments systems regulatory matters and (ii) other materially relevant policy developments affecting payments, such as digital, data and consumer policy developments.
• Supporting compliance with the requirements of key payments legislation.
• Monitoring regulatory policy and competition law developments relating to financial services, payment services, payment schemes and adjacent sectors through internal, external and desktop resources and reporting these developments internally.
• Advising on the strategic implications of emerging legal and policy developments affecting the company and competition law driven payments regimes, drawing from experience of global developments.
• Assisting in the development of American Express strategy in response to and anticipation of regulatory developments in the payments industry.
• Partnering with colleagues in Government Affairs and across the GCO on external engagement efforts to ensure regulation is proportionately tailored according to different business models.
• Building positive working relationships with relevant policymakers through attending meetings with policymakers and participating in legal and industry groups. Responding to public policy consultations and supporting regulatory engagement on key developments
• Liaising with other industry participants on regulatory developments and providing competition law advice relating to participation in trade associations and industry bodies.
• Competition law and related regulatory advice and training for senior management, boards and committees.
• Carrying out legal research.
• Managing databases and omni-channel forms of communicating policy updates. Managing, implementing and improving methods for legal knowledge management within the team. Suggesting process improvements.
• Briefing colleagues and clients on significant developments and projects.
• Preparing and supporting with delivery of internal training as appropriate.
• Requesting, obtaining and finalising legal opinions/advice from outside counsel as needed and managing related budgets.
• Leading projects, assisting more senior lawyers.
• Attending relevant training courses and conferences.
• Supporting the work of the Global Legal Policy and Strategy function, as required. A keen interest in thinking creatively about how to make our research and horizon scanning visible, readily accessible and appealing to senior management.

Minimum Qualifications

• Qualified to practice law and provide legal advice in the UK or an EU jurisdiction. University qualification desirable.
• Familiarity with one or more of the following areas would be helpful: payment services, payment schemes, EU Payments Package. Willingness to learn and become an expert in these fields.
• Experience in and a demonstrated aptitude for identifying, interpreting, and communicating relevant policy trends and regulatory developments (including for technically complex regulation) in a number of these areas to different stakeholders, in the context of the company’s commercial strategy.
• We would encourage applications from candidates with a range of diverse backgrounds preferably from in house legal teams, private practice, or regulators.
• Fluency in English. Other European languages or local law competency helpful.
• Solid drafting, research and negotiation/influencing skills.
• Solid analytical skills and high attention to detail.
• Strong collaborative and team working skills, as well as self-leadership.
• Skilled at multi-tasking – able to manage and prioritize a wide variety of matters and client contacts at once
• Good PowerPoint skills and ability to present complex concepts succinctly and visually.
• High engagement – passionate about payments and regulatory matters.
• Commercial focus – able to interpret and apply regulation in a practical, hands-on, common sense manner.
• Strong communication skills – personable, able to communicate clearly, concisely, effectively and persuasively with clients, all levels of business, legal management and external regulators.
• Prepared to take the lead and make appropriate recommendations to management.
• Comfortable with speaking up in meetings and briefing stakeholders orally and in writing.
• Process-management skills - strong knowledge-management and organisational skills, and willingness to help identify and implement improvements in work process to enhance efficiency and productivity.
• Adaptable and collaborative - able and willing to work both as part of a team and independently, under supervision of a more senior lawyer where appropriate.
• Willingness to learn and grow - willing to learn about business sectors relevant to American Express as well as the applicable regulatory environment and to leverage experience gained in this position to expand skill set for future career growth at American Express.
• Strong relationship focus - able to build solid working relationships with clients, colleagues and external parties. Enjoys getting to know people.

At American Express we are proud to celebrate and promote Diversity, as well as, committed to the principles of Equal Employment Opportunity. Our mission is to continue creating a diverse and inclusive environment, that fully supports your personal and professional development. Be yourself, be in American Express.

We back our colleagues and their loved ones with benefits and programs that support their holistic well-being. That means we prioritize their physical, financial, and mental health through each stage of life. Benefits include:

• Competitive base salaries
• Bonus incentives
• Support for financial-well-being and retirement
• Comprehensive medical, dental, vision, life insurance, and disability benefits (depending on location)
• Flexible working model with hybrid, onsite or virtual arrangements depending on role and business need
• Generous paid parental leave policies (depending on your location)
• 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

Offer of employment with American Express is conditioned upon the successful completion of a background verification check, subject to applicable laws and regulations.

To completeyourapplication,pleaseclick on the linksbelow. However, ifyourequireanyassistance with the completion of thisprocess – orneedanyreasonableadjustments to be made – thenpleasecontact the Recruitment Team on recruitment.support.uk@aexp.com