American Express

Vice President, Head of Sanctions & Bribery and Corruption Risk Assessment

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The American Express Global Financial Crimes Compliance (GFCC) function provides second-line policy, framework, oversight and control solutions to meet the Company’s legal, regulatory and risk management mandates in connection with Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Counter Terrorism Financing (CTF), Sanctions, and Anti-Bribery and Corruption. The GFCC portfolio comprises all aspects of the Company’s first and second-line financial crime risk management (FCRM) activities, including all lines of businesses in the United States and both proprietary and non-proprietary global markets.

Reporting to the Global Head of Financial Crime Risk Assessment, this role is responsible for leading critical components of the enterprise Financial Crime Risk Assessments. The Head of Sanctions & Bribery and Corruption Risk Assessments provides leadership across the design and execution of the Sanctions Assessment (SRA), and the Bribery and Corruption Risk Assessment (BCRA) processes. The Vice President plays a key role in ensuring transparent, data-driven insights into inherent and residual risks, strengthening the control environment, and enabling effective governance and decision-making across the enterprise. Through close partnership with global stakeholders across the three lines of defense, technology, product, and business teams, this role supports risk visibility and ensures alignment with evolving regulatory expectations.

  • Lead the execution and continuous enhancement of GFCC’s SRA, BCRA, and support the financial crime risk assessment framework, including methodologies, standards, and processes, ensuring consistent evaluation of inherent risk, control effectiveness, and residual risk across related risk domains.
  • Identify emerging risks, issues, and control gaps through periodic and ad hoc assessments; provide effective challenge to stakeholders and drive remediation strategies.
  • Establish and maintain a comprehensive, integrated view of sanctions, and bribery and corruption risks by synthesizing insights from risk assessments that enable line of business and function views across markets.

  • Support the development and enhancement of technology platforms and the risk assessment tool that drives risk management outcomes, as well as efficiency and effectiveness.

  • Support senior management, Board, audit, and regulatory engagements through high-quality analysis, documentation, and defensible risk and control outputs.
  • Drive alignment and collaboration across GFCC, Operational Risk, Compliance, Audit, Technology, Product, and business stakeholders within a global, matrixed environment.
  • Act as a trusted advisor and subject matter expert on financial crime risk, and related controls to influence strategic decisions and strengthening governance practices.
  • Lead and develop high-performing teams, fostering a culture of accountability, innovation, and continuous improvement.
  • 10+ years of relevant experience in financial crimes compliance, risk management, reporting, or control management within large financial institutions.
  • Demonstrated experience in risk assessment, control frameworks, and/or reporting within sanctions, anti-bribery and corruption or related domains.
  • Experience managing teams and/or leading large-scale initiatives across global, matrixed environments.
  • Experience supporting or leading regulatory exams, audits, or program reviews.
  • Strong written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to clearly articulate complex risk and control concepts to a range of audiences.
  • Proven ability to lead, coach, and develop team members, fostering a high-performance and collaborative environment.
  • Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree or relevant certifications preferred.

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