Vice President of Product Development - New York

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 serv ...

Job description

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?

American Express Digital Labs catalyzes digital innovation across the enterprise by originating, incubating, and scaling emerging products and platforms that are integral to our customers' digital lives.

We combine creativity, customer centricity, and technical excellence to reimagine how Card Members experience payments and membership in an increasingly digital world.

As a fast-moving, entrepreneurial team, we leverage emerging technologies to build differentiated digital payment solutions and engaging membership experiences.

We work in close collaboration with leading technology companies and strategic partners to bring innovative products to market and extend the reach of the Amex ecosystem.

We are seeking an ambitious and visionary Vice President of Product Development – Agentic Commerce to lead and scale agentic commerce for American Express.

This role will define and deliver the strategy, frameworks, foundational capabilities, and end-to-end experiences that enable seamless, secure, and intelligent transactions across Card Members, AI platforms, PSPs, merchants, and the broader digital ecosystem.

As a trusted, closed-loop network, Amex is uniquely positioned to help shape the future of agent-driven commerce by extending our industry-leading authentication, authorization, and risk capabilities to power secure agentic transactions—while ensuring Card Members maintain meaningful visibility and control over agent-initiated actions.

By leveraging our differentiated membership model, premium brand, and data assets, the VP will help create high-value, personalized experiences that only Amex can deliver.

The VP will drive innovation across a complex enterprise landscape, mobilizing cross-functional teams and external partners to advance interoperable standards and scalable solutions for agentic commerce.

The role requires deep engagement with existing card payment systems, emerging LLM and agent technologies, and the evolving ecosystem of AI-native platforms and partners—working collaboratively to help define how trust, payments, and identity function in the next era of commerce.

Key Responsibilities:
Product Strategy

Enterprise-Wide Strategy:

Partner across the enterprise—including with business development, strategy, partners, network, merchant, policy, servicing, disputes, identity, mobile, and risk management—to define a clear perspective and execution plan for how Amex supports Card Members, merchants, partners, and the broader ecosystem in the emerging agentic commerce landscape.

Emerging Technology Leadership:

Collaborate deeply with engineering to evaluate and shape Amex's approach to emerging technologies and protocols, including AI agents, large language models (LLMs), and Model Context Protocol (MCP).

Translate technical innovation into differentiated, scalable agentic commerce solutions.

• Foundational Frameworks &

Risk Architecture:

Develop a comprehensive strategy for novel frameworks, commercial models, agentic and fraud risk management capabilities, foundational infrastructure, operational processes, and differentiated customer experiences.

Product Development & Enterprise Delivery

Roadmap Execution:
Lead the development and execution of a complex, multi-year, enterprise-wide product roadmap.

This includes building new systems, orchestration layers, risk models, architecture, and operating processes—while seamlessly integrating with existing card payments infrastructure.

Cross-Functional Orchestration:

Drive alignment and execution across product, engineering, risk, policy, operations, legal, and commercial teams to deliver scalable, secure, and compliant agentic commerce solutions.

Ecosystem & Partner Collaboration

Industry Perspective & Positioning:
Develop deep industry insight to define where and how Amex should influence and compete in agentic commerce. Establish a clear point of view on platform strategy and ecosystem participation.

Strategic Partnerships:

Cultivate and manage relationships with key external partners—including AI platforms, technology providers, and ecosystem participants—to enable scalable integrations aligned to joint product and commercial objectives.

Launch, Management & Scale

Platform Launch & Iteration:
Launch agentic commerce experiences across AI platforms and digital ecosystems. Continuously iterate based on market feedback, adoption data, and performance insights to refine product strategy and accelerate scale.

Adoption & Growth Optimization:
Drive measurable adoption, customer engagement, and ecosystem expansion while adapting strategy based on learnings and emerging industry dynamics.

Team Leadership & Culture

Authentic Leadership:
Lead with empathy and clarity, building a collaborative, high-performing product organization.

Team Building:
Foster innovation, accountability, and continuous learning to elevate product management excellence and develop next-generation leaders in agentic commerce.


Minimum Qualifications:

• 10+ years of progressive product leadership experience, with significant depth in payments, AI-driven platforms, fintech, developer ecosystems, or other complex, regulated technology environments.
• Proven experience leading and scaling high-performing product teams, including building strong product operating rhythms that drive accountability, innovation, and execution excellence.
• Demonstrated track record of 0→1 product development, defining and launching new platforms or capabilities in nascent or rapidly evolving markets where standards and best practices were still emerging.
• Experience owning and executing multi-year product strategies and enterprise-wide roadmaps, successfully integrating new systems, orchestration layers, and platform capabilities with existing infrastructure.
• Keen understanding of modern software development and platform architecture, with the ability to engage engineering leaders on APIs, AI/LLM foundations, orchestration models, and system design.
• Strong knowledge of payments and trust infrastructure, including authentication, authorization, fraud/risk management, identity, consent frameworks, and transaction processing systems.
• Experience building platform-level capabilities, not just features—particularly solutions that enable ecosystem participation, third-party integrations, and scalable, interoperable standards.
• Proven ability to operate effectively in highly matrixed environments, aligning stakeholders across business, engineering, risk, policy, legal, operations, and commercial teams while navigating competing priorities and regulatory considerations.
• Demonstrated ability to evaluate complex tradeoffs in ambiguous environments, synthesizing technical, customer, regulatory, and commercial inputs to make high-quality product decisions with conviction.
• Experience developing and scaling strategic external partnerships, particularly within technology platforms, AI ecosystems, fintech networks, or developer communities.
• Customer-obsessed mindset, with strong fluency in customer research methodologies and data-driven product development.
• Exceptional communication skills and executive presence, capable of articulating a compelling product vision and translating complex technical concepts for senior leadership, partners, and broad cross-functional audiences.
• Ability to prioritize across competing initiatives and timelines, balancing user needs, technical feasibility, risk considerations, and long-term business outcomes.

Preferred Qualifications:

• Direct experience building, integrating, or scaling AI-powered products, LLM-based systems, agents, or developer-facing platforms.
• Experience helping define or contribute to industry standards, technical protocols, or ecosystem governance models, particularly in emerging technology domains.
• Deep understanding of identity, user consent, transparency, and control mechanisms in digital or AI-driven environments.
• Experience launching products across platform ecosystems (e.g., AI platforms, marketplaces, operating systems, or developer networks).
• Exposure to risk modeling, fraud systems, or financial controls in digital transaction environments.
• Experience influencing or collaborating with policy teams or compliance stakeholders in emerging technology domains.
• MBA or advanced degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, or a related field preferred.

Salary Range:
$176,750.00 to $282,000.00 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