Director & Counsel, Global Merchant and Network Services (GMNS)

Job Description The General Counsel’s organization at American Express is seeking a Director & Counsel to support the merchant client teams within the Global Merchant and Network Services business (GMNS). The successful candidate will serve as a trusted advisor to business partners, helping to execute commercial strategy while managing legal, regulatory, and operational risk. They will provide strategic counsel and transactional support across a portfolio of merchant relationships, including government and public sector merchants.

This role will involve broad collaboration and coordination within the business and with relevant stakeholders and will serve as a subject matter expert on industry rules and/or standards. The position will report to Vice President & Senior Counsel in the GMNS practice group of the General Counsel’s Organization (GCO) of American Express.

The GMNS business is a core business of American Express and fundamental to the operation of the American Express global payments network. The GMNS business is responsible for signing merchants to accept the American Express Card, processing card transactions, and providing marketing and other innovative programs and services to grow our merchant and card acceptance relationships.

Responsibilities How will you make an impact in this role?

• Provide primary legal support for GMNS business teams managing key merchant relationships, working on a wide variety of matters such as commercial contracting, risk identification and mitigation, data issues, disputes handling, and new product offerings.
• Working in close collaboration with the business and across the GCO, draft, negotiate, and advise on all types and aspects of commercial agreements relating to our most strategic merchants headquartered in the U.S., including complex card acceptance agreements.
• Advise on unique compliance frameworks applicable to public sector entities (e.g., procurement rules, audit rights, regulatory requirements), and build scalable approaches to support a growing government merchant portfolio, including contributing to a government contracting center of excellence.
• Provide legal advice and strategic support to GMS business teams on legal and policy matters, business negotiations, marketing and information services, issues and programs, and regulatory and legal risks.
• Coordinate with and support others in the GCO, Compliance, Operational Risk, and the business to ensure the most effective support and relevant expertise is applied to matters.
• Participate in a small team of seasoned attorneys offering thought leadership for cross-subject matter practice group issues and projects.
• Support GMS Compliance and GMS OpsExcellence in a wide range of initiatives, from operational risk event responses to ongoing support of compliance monitoring and implementation.
• Build and provide strong linkages across US and global teams to ensure consistency of approach and sharing of knowledge, best practices and current regional trends/developments.

Qualifications Minimum Qualifications:

• J.D. with admission to practice law in the U.S.
• 7+ years of relevant work experience in a law firm and/or in-house corporate legal environment.
• Significant experience drafting, reviewing, and negotiating complex commercial agreements.

Preferred Qualifications

• Experience in the payments industry and merchant acquiring space.
• Demonstrated experience with government contracting (federal, state, or local), including navigating procurement frameworks and compliance requirements (preferred).
• Strong project management and coordination skills.
• Ability to communicate complex issues clearly and persuasively, in both oral and written format.
• Excellent collaboration and teamwork skills and ability to work well in cross-functional team settings.
• Ability to manage and prioritize competing demands while maintaining high attention to detail and meeting deadlines.

Employment eligibility to work with American Express in the United States is required as the company will not pursue visa sponsorship for these positions.

About Us 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, ensuri…