Director, Global Payment Partnerships

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. The Director of Payment Ecosystems will focus on the next generation of digital wallet enablement capabilities and ecosystem infrastructure required to scale with the next phase of commerce. As AI reshapes the way customers engage with Digital wallets, this Director will help define how American Express participates in evolving payment architectures, with existing and new Digital Wallet Partners, to innovate in emerging transaction experiences. The role requires a blend of product partnership, technical ecosystem, and payments expertise. The individual will work closely with Labs Product and external partners to shape future capabilities and ensure American Express is positioned to participate in emerging payment ecosystems. Lead ecosystem strategy across Global Payments Partners to understand, and influence go-forward roadmaps. Critical skills are partner management, contract negotiation and influencing skills, and ongoing day-to-day relationship development. Own the Digital labs partnerships with Google, PayPal, Meta and future partners Define partnership strategy for payment orchestration, tokenization services, credential management as wallet partners look to scale into AI-enabled payment infrastructure. Collaborate with Product and Network teams to evaluate and sequence future payment architectures and ecosystem requirements. Track emerging digital wallet trends and work with Product and network teams to set go-forward partner plans. Support the development of technical partnership frameworks and platform integration models. Serve as a subject matter expert on payment ecosystem evolution and future digital wallet infrastructure. Lead and mentor a team responsible for driving existing digital wallet work and ongoing management. 6+ years working in payments, partnerships, strategy, ecosystem development or technical product roles. Ability to engage credibly with Labs and external partner product and technology teams. Strong understanding of digital wallets and emerging AI enabled trends. Strategic mindset with ability to connect technical capabilities to customer and business outcomes. Proven experience leading a team and delivering results through others. Deep curiosity about emerging technologies and evolving business models. Employment eligibility to work with American Express in the United States is required as the company will not pursue visa sponsorship for these positions.