Director, Product Partnerships (m/f/d), Frankfurt am Main

Global Merchant & Network Services brings together American Express' merchant and network-related businesses. This includes the management of our relationships across the globe with both the millions of merchants who accept American Express, as well as our partners in countries and territories that deliver card acceptance, issuance and innovation. GMNS Product leads the strategy, development, delivery, and operations of American Express network and acquirer products that power $1.9T+ in annual customer transactions. We serve our merchants, partners, and issuers across more than 170 markets worldwide, growing revenue by driving strategic, multi-year initiatives that deliver differentiated value to direct merchants, merchant partners, network partners, and ecosystem partners. Within GMNS, the Product Growth organization is responsible for bringing Product and Network capabilities to market, evolving the product portfolio through partner engagement, and ensuring solutions work effectively with the right partners at the right time. The Product Partnerships team is a dedicated regional team focused on expanding the portfolio of third-party partners needed to enable GMNS products at scale while ensuring effective relationship governance. This includes proactively identifying and engaging new entrants and innovators, growing existing third-party relationships, managing relationship governance and oversight, and deepening strategic partnerships with American Express. In this role, the Director, Product Partnerships, will proactively identify new third-party solutions that complement GMNS products, integrate with the Network, and effectively manage associated risks. This role reports directly to the Vice President, Solutions Consulting & Product Partnerships, and will partner extensively across GMNS Product, Solution Enablement, and Merchant Services. Strategic Leadership Develop multi-year strategies to advance regional adoption of AXP processing and product capabilities. Oversee development of strong and strategically aligned regional partner pipeline to deliver on business goals. Actively manage business and operational risk, including oversight of operations, processes, and third-party relationships. Team Development Lead, manage, and develop a team of high-performing colleagues, individually and collectively, to deliver on business goals. Foster a culture of excellence, collaboration, and continuous improvement. Proactively lead through highly ambiguous situations, manage escalations, and related communication. Develop team to proficiently consult with external partners on the range of Amex products and capabilities, and to implement solutions to meet partner needs. Third-Party Relationship Management Grow performance across regional payment product partnerships, including driving partner due diligence, negotiations, ongoing management, and compliance. Design and enforce regional third-party governance frameworks, including controls, documentation standards, and automation, in alignment with enterprise guidance; actively manage execution across teams and drive continuous improvements. Industry Engagement Drive strategies to promote partner engagement with American Express, including sponsoring Amex Exchange, and engaging in industry forums Proactively grow deep and current knowledge of the payments industry and its players, including market norms, emerging trends, innovations, technologies, regulations, and competitive dynamics. Stakeholder Management & Collaboration Build and leverage positive relationships with key collaborators within AXP, including Global Merchant Services (client management), network, policy, product, legal, control management and enablement teams. Act as the primary liaison for senior-level partner technical relationships, understanding their business objectives, unique considerations and needs. Actively contribute to cross-functional initiatives, sharing industry insights and the voice of the partners to advance product, policy, and specification development, and enterprise strategies. Anticipate and communicate trends to support strategic decision-making. 8 years' experience managing and growing external partner relationships in payments or related fields. Strong people leader and manager with proven ability to develop and inspire diverse teams to reach their personal potential and consistently deliver on business goals Demonstrated ability to build, maintain, and leverage strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders, including industry partners. Excellent strategic thought leadership and complex problem-solving skills Proficient in leading others through change, and leading through ambiguity to define the path to progress and create reliable processes to advance business goals and measure outcomes Excellent oral and written communication and presentation skills, including the ability to articulate complex issues in a simple, non-technical manner, to fluently bridge business and technical discussions, and to tailor communication to various audiences Deep knowledge of the payments ecosystem, players and processing. Highly experienced in managing third-party relationships, including negotiating contracts, and actively managing risk, governance, and compliance oversight. Experience in business development or representing an organization at industry events with ability to translate industry intelligence into AXP opportunities. Willingness to travel to industry events. (10% travel estimate). Employment eligibility to work with American Express in Germany is required as the company will not pursue visa sponsorship for these positions. 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 Flexible work arrangements and schedules with hybrid and virtual options with Amex Flex Onsite and online Healthy Living activities, including insightful health and workout webinars, as well as an array of in-person screening opportunities (i.e. skin cancer screening, eye screening, diabetes screening and more!) Onsite Healthy Living room for exercise activities or relaxation programs with onsite shower room facility. Relaxation programs include regularly scheduled massages! Inclusive and helpful parental perks including first aid rooms for breastfeeding privacy, emergency back-up childcare services and childcare allowance. Optional on-site visits from Occupational Doctors for workplace health consultations. Free and confidential counselling support through our Healthy Minds program Career development and training opportunities Amex Flex provides flexibility for colleagues to thrive personally and professionally while ensuring we preserve the important benefits of our unique in-person culture. In Germany, we have an agreement with the works council with specific guidelines for Amex Flex. Depending on the role and business needs, colleagues will either work onsite, in a hybrid model or fully virtual. Offer of employment with American Express is conditioned upon the successful completion of a background verification check, subject to applicable laws and regulations.