Senior Manager-Risk Management

You Lead the Way. We’ve Got Your Back.

With the right backing, people and businesses have the power to progress in incredible ways. When you join Team Amex, you become part of a global and diverse community of colleagues with an unwavering commitment to back our customers, communities and each other. Here, you’ll learn and grow as we help you create a career journey that’s unique and meaningful to you with benefits, programs, and flexibility that support you personally and professionally.

At American Express, you’ll be recognized for your contributions, leadership, and impact—every colleague has the opportunity to share in the company’s success. Together, we’ll win as a team, striving to uphold our company values and powerful backing promise to provide the world’s best customer experience every day. And we’ll do it with the utmost integrity, and in an environment where everyone is seen, heard and feels like they belong.

Join Team Amex and let's lead the way together.

How we serve our customers is constantly evolving and is a challenge we gladly accept. Whether you’re finding new ways to prevent identity fraud or enabling customers to start a new business, you can work with one of the most valuable data sets in the world to identify insights and actions that can have a meaningful impact on our customers and our business. And, with opportunities to learn from leaders who have defined the course of our industry, you can grow your career and define your own path. Find your place in risk and analytics on #TeamAmex.

Overview of the Department

Commercial Rating and Underwriting (CRU) sits within the Risk and Information Management division and forms the institutional credit risk management function within American Express. The CRU team plays the critical role of assessing and managing the risk of institutional exposures across all business units within American Express, and in all regions globally. Credit exposures are primarily generated through corporate and small business card programs, via merchant service relationships where non-delivery risk exists, and among the securities portfolio held for firm-wide liquidity. CRU is led from Salt Lake City with regional teams in New York, London, Singapore, and Sydney.

In addition to determining the internal credit rating which drives the probability of default of each exposure, CRU also calculates the loss given default of these obligors while underwriting card programs. As a bank holding company, American Express must comply with the highest global banking standards set by Basel and implemented by the bank’s primarily regulatory, the Federal Reserve.

How will you make an impact in this role?

Managers in CRU are responsible for rating and underwriting credit exposures in their assigned region, industry, and business line. Fundamental analysis incorporates a thorough review of business, financial, industry and country risk coupled with support from internal and external rating model outputs. Assessment includes understanding of the need for credit extension, profitability of the relationship and program structures. CRU managers interact with various constituents across the firm including front office sales, business unit risk partners, and credit administration to perform their critical role.

Minimum Qualifications

• 4 years’ experience rating and / or underwriting at a financial institution or rating agency
• Bachelor’s degree (or substantial coursework) in finance, accounting, economics, or statistics
• Thorough understanding of fundamental financial analysis including the ability to review corporate financial statements to determine the ability of the obligor to honor its credit obligations
• Comfort with GAAP/IFRS accounting standards, corporate valuation, and forecasting
• Knowledge of how probability of default and loss given default determine economic capital
• Experience in determining appropriate credit capacity, structuring of facilities, and risk mitigation techniques
• Comfort with public agency ratings and supporting analysis
• Understanding of current macroeconomic trends and how to provide recommendations to improve the PD estimation based on the business cycle
• Experience preparing company-specific and industry-wide credit memorandums
• Excellent judgment in making sound rating and underwriting decisions to maximize profitability and mitigate risk
• Familiarity with banking regulations, particularly those imposed by Basel Committee on Banking Supervision
• Familiarity with Bank Based Underwriting
• Familiarity with global markets (foreign language ability a plus)
• Specific industry expertise in travel (airlines, cruise lines, hospitality), financial institutions, or public finance

Preferred Qualifications:

• Graduate degree with a finance or business emphasis, or Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation, is a plus
• Experience with rating and underwriting in the Financial Institutions industry is highly preferred

Employment eligibility to work with American Express in the U.S. is required as the company will not pursue visa sponsorship for this position.

Salary Range: $90,000.00 to $165,000.00 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 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 
• 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.

At American Express, you’ll be recognized for your contributions, leadership, and impact—every colleague has the opportunity to share in the company’s success. Together, we’ll win as a team, striving to uphold our company values and powerful backing promise to provide the world’s best customer experience every day. And we’ll do it with the utmost integrity, and in an environment where everyone is seen, heard and feels like they belong.

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.

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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