Senior Software Engineer II

The Enterprise Technology Services organization partners with every part of the American Express business to power the company's growth and innovation with trust and efficiency, and drive competitive differentiation with speed. We support the delivery and operations of technology, digital, and data capabilities, platforms, and services globally. Specifically, our team is responsible for the company's technology engineering, architecture, and infrastructure, providing 24x7 support to ensure an uninterrupted, high-quality experience for customers and colleagues. We also provide product management for core enterprise platforms, and lead technology risk and information security, enterprise data governance and platforms, digital product and design, and enterprise AI platforms on behalf of the company.

We equip our front-line agents with high-tech tools to enable them to deliver the exemplary service that American Express is renowned for in bringing membership to life for our Cardmembers.

Travel & Lifestyle Services (TLS) Opus is a Global Customer Relationship Management platform that enables our Travel Representatives to service our Centurion and Platinum Card Members.

We are looking for a highly experienced Software Engineer to help us build upon our history of innovation and delivery as we expand our team and continue to forge a digital-first TLS. You will be working within and across agile engineering teams, partnering closely with product owners, architecture, and stakeholders to deliver high quality, scalable solutions that drive measurable business impact.

Our platform is built using a modern broad technical stack that consists of microservices and cloud-native technologies. This role will focus on uplifting and evolving backend services, driving platform-level improvements, and enabling engineering excellence across teams, with a strong emphasis on building AI enabled capabilities using Python and modern AI tooling.

Responsibilities

• Own and deliver complex, enterprise-scale initiatives spanning multiple teams and services
• Lead design of scalable, resilient, secure systems and solution architectures
• Drive technical direction and influence architecture decisions across domains
• Develop high-quality Python code for backend and AI solutions
• Design and implement AI systems using prompt engineering, LLMs, and LangChain and LangGraph
• Apply strong software engineering principles (clean code, testing, design patterns) across all deliverables
• Design and build distributed, microservices-based systems with clear API contracts
• Ensure adherence to AMEX AI governance (MRMG, privacy, security)
• Improve CI/CD pipelines, automation, and engineering standards
• Lead large-scale technical transformations and modernization initiatives
• Ensure system performance, scalability, and reliability under production workloads
• Own delivery end-to-end, from design through deployment and monitoring
• Mentor engineers and raise engineering and architectural standards
• Collaborate across Product, Architecture, SRE, Security, and Data teams
• Embed security, privacy, and regulatory considerations into system design
• Drive innovation and AI adoption across the platform
• Contribute to data architecture and data pipeline design supporting AI systems
• Define observability strategies including logging, monitoring, and alerting for both services and AI models

• Expertise in backend engineering and API design
• Deep understanding of distributed systems, scalability, and fault tolerance
• Proficiency with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP) and cloud-native architectures
• Experience with containerization and orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes)
• Solid understanding of databases (SQL and NoSQL) and data modeling
• Knowledge of vector databases and embeddings for AI applications
• Strong understanding of machine learning fundamentals and LLM capabilities/limitations
• Experience building and deploying AI/ML systems in production environments
• Familiarity with MLOps practices including model deployment, monitoring, and lifecycle management
• Understanding of data engineering concepts including ETL pipelines and data quality
• Ability to evaluate architectural trade-offs (performance, cost, complexity)
• Strong system design and solution architecture skills
• Experience implementing observability and reliability best practices
• Strong communication skills with ability to influence technical and non-technical stakeholders
• Ability to align technical solutions with business outcomes and product goals

Preferred Qualifications

• Extensive experience building large-scale distributed systems
• Proven senior-level ownership and delivery
• Relevant degree or equivalent experience
• Strong agile experience
• Strong Python expertise (backend + AI)
• Experience with LLMs and prompt engineering
• Knowledge of AI governance (MRMG, privacy, security)
• CI/CD and cloud delivery experience
• Strong reliability and operational mindset
• Strong communication and stakeholder influence

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
• Support for financial-well-being and retirement
• Comprehensive medical, dental, vision, life insurance, and disability benefits (depending on location)
• Flexible working model with hybrid, onsite or virtual arrangements depending on role and business need
• Generous paid parental leave policies (depending on your location)
• 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

At American Express, our culture is built on a 175-year history of innovation, shared values (https://www.americanexpress.com/en-us/company/who-we-are/) 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 our 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.