Manager - Program Management & Strategic Planning (Executive Office)

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. From delivering differentiated products to providing world-class customer service, we operate with a strong risk mindset, ensuring we continue to uphold our brand promise of trust, security, and service.

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 will you make an impact in this role?

As part of the Enterprise Technology Services organization, Global Merchant and Network Technology (GMNST) is the technology organization that delivers platforms, engineering, and modernization in service of GMNS business outcomes. We are a global team, with over 2,000 colleagues and contractors across the U.S., UK, India, Australia, and other regions, spanning Technology Delivery (engineers and architects), Cross-Platform Delivery (project management), Testing, and leadership & support.  Its mission is to cultivate a World Class Payments Ecosystem that drives profitable, compliant and vibrant growth in the places that matter most to our customers. 

The Manager will report directly to the GMNST Chief of Staff Director and will lead and evolve daily processes and help drive execution across key deliverables of the GMNST Executive Office, led by the GMNST Senior Vice President (SVP) and Unit CIO.

In this role, the Manager will be responsible for ensuring the effectiveness and efficiency of the leadership team’s operating rhythm and delivery of goals, and will partner with the GMNST Leadership Team, as well as business partners from GMNS, Technology Business Enablement (TBE), and others. This role is ideal for a driven, outcomes-oriented leader who thrives in a fast-paced technology organization and can operate with both strategic perspective and operational rigor. 

To be successful in this role, it is imperative that the candidate is innately communicative, responsive, transparent, organized, proactive, and accountable. The ideal incumbent will successfully navigate competing priorities, apply thought leadership, operate as a trusted advisor, and consistently embody American Express’s Blue Box Values in their execution. 

Key Responsibilities:

• Bring together and manage the GMNST Workforce Plan to ensure affordability to meet Supply Targets – liaising with the Technology Portfolio Team, GMNST Leadership, and Manager Assistants
• Own and maintain a consolidated GMNST hiring plan tracker that integrates headcount caps, approved hiring requests, location strategy, role prioritization, and key milestones to enable leadership visibility and decision-making.
• Validate affordability and alignment (e.g., HC caps, funding, workforce strategy, location mix) prior to posting approvals; ensure outputs feed Technology Business Enablement (TBE) Portfolio and Workforce Strategy processes and routines.
• Develop impactful presentations, content, agendas, and internal processes for key meetings and events (e.g. SVP site visits, round tables, Town Halls, leadership meetings, employee engagement events, team build activities, networking sessions, etc.)
• Draft communications to be sent by members of the GMNST Executive Office
• Host regular meetings within GMNST, track minutes and action items, and follow up with owners on respective action items
• Collaborate with enterprise partners and other centers of excellence on key initiatives
• Collect, consolidate, and quality-check deliverables across the organization
• Increase transparency and enable faster decision-making through the development of consistent, replicable reports with actionable insights
• Develop relationships across GMNST to understand the pulse of the team, assess colleague engagement and development, and propose recommendations to address and optimize key themes and priorities
• Develop and implement new processes and improve existing procedures to increase efficiencies and enhance the organization’s internal capacity

Required Skills & Experience

The ideal candidate will be a highly motivated self-starter who is able to lead projects with limited guidance. The individual must be composed, organized, culturally-aware and a strong communicator who can effectively multitask and prioritize as needs evolve. Additional qualifications include:

• A demonstrated self-starter with excellent project management and process improvement skills who can lead projects with autonomy
• Analytical mindset and intellectually curious
• Ability to influence a community of senior leaders and colleagues, including peer groups, to reach common goals
• Superior detail orientation with ability to think and own “end-to-end”.
• Ability to efficiently prioritize, solve problems independently, escalate appropriately, manage tight deadlines, and handle changing priorities in a dynamic and fast-paced environment.
• Excellent written and oral communication skills with exceptional ability to translate ideas into clear, concise presentations and tailor complex messages to various audiences (from colleagues to executives) with simplicity and impact
• Ability to build strong relationships across the organization at all levels and work effectively in a collaborative, multi-cultural, team environment.
• Strong sense of integrity, discretion, and ability to maintain confidentiality.
• Ability to work under pressure with tight deadlines while maintaining strategic perspective of the bigger picture
• Solid financial acumen
• Ability to balance attention to detail and accuracy while managing continuous inbound requests
• Versatile multitasker and creative problem-solver
• Eager to lead, as well as follow, and receive feedback with an outlook toward team success and growth
• Ability to build strong relationships and trust through proactive collaboration, transparency, and delivering on commitments
• Expert with PowerPoint and Excel
• Minimum of 4 years of relevant work experience
• Undergraduate degree required

Preferred Skills & Experience:

• Experience in workforce planning, financial management, or capacity planning within a technology organization
• Experience building and maintaining operating rhythms for senior leadership teams (e.g., QBRs, MBRs, org-wide communications cadence)
• Experience developing dashboards or automation in Excel/Power BI to drive transparency and decision-making
• Prior Chief of Staff, business operations, strategy, or technology program management experience

Salary Range: $103,750.00 to $174,750.00 annually + bonus + 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 United States is required as the company will not pursue visa sponsorship for these positions.