Senior Staff AI Engineering

Job Description

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

Senior Staff AI Engineer leads enterprise-scale AI architecture and implementation across infrastructure and agentic AI systems. The role sets technical direction, ensures scalable, reliable, secure, and responsible AI platforms, mentors senior technical talent, and drives continuous improvement in AI engineering practices and platform capabilities.

Responsibilities

• Serves as a senior technical authority for enterprise-scale AI systems with significant strategic and long-term business impact
• Defines architecture and engineering patterns for agentic AI, retrieval/grounding, model integration, inference platforms, observability, evaluation, and safety
• Leads resolution of complex and ambiguous technical challenges, balancing performance, cost, scalability, security, safety, and regulatory constraints
• Shapes long-term AI engineering strategy across platforms, tools, and system design approaches
• Guides multiple cross-team AI initiatives to ensure coherent architecture, integration, and alignment across domains
• Leads technical and architectural reviews, setting standards for engineering excellence and consistent implementation
• Partners with Product, Data Engineering, Cloud Infrastructure, Architecture, Risk, and Cybersecurity leaders to align AI solutions with enterprise priorities and governance requirements
• Evaluates emerging AI technologies and translates them into scalable, enterprise-ready capabilities
• Mentors Staff and Senior Engineers, raising organizational technical capability and developing future technical leaders

Qualifications

Education and Knowledge

• MS/PhD in Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning, Computer Science, or related discipline preferred
• Deep knowledge of machine learning and deep learning systems, including model architectures, training, evaluation, and optimization
• Advanced knowledge of Generative AI and LLM ecosystems, including embeddings, fine-tuning, prompt design, retrieval-augmented generation, and inference at scale
• Strong understanding of AI infrastructure, including GPU platforms, accelerated compute, workload scheduling, capacity optimization, model serving, and inference performance
• Advanced understanding of agentic AI design, including planning, reasoning, tool use, memory, multi-agent coordination, and autonomy controls
• Strong foundation in distributed systems, cloud-native architecture, Kubernetes, APIs, microservices, event-driven design, observability, and platform reliability
• Knowledge of DevOps and CI/CD platforms such as Harness, including automated deployment, environment promotion, governance, and operational controls
• Knowledge of enterprise AI governance, including model risk management, explainability, bias detection, safety, and regulatory compliance

Work Experience

• 12+ years of experience in AI/ML engineering, AI infrastructure, platform engineering, data engineering, or related fields, with a track record of delivering complex production systems at scale
• Proven experience architecting end-to-end AI/ML platforms across data pipelines, training, deployment, serving, monitoring, and inference optimization
• Experience designing and operating GPU-based AI infrastructure, including accelerated compute platforms, workload scheduling, utilization optimization, capacity management, and performance tuning
• Experience with cloud-native and Kubernetes-based platforms supporting training, batch workloads, inference, orchestration, observability, reliability, and cost efficiency
• Hands-on experience with Python and modern AI/ML frameworks such as PyTorch, TensorFlow, Scikit-learn, Hugging Face, and related tooling
• Deep experience with agentic AI systems, including planning, tool use, memory, evaluation, retrieval, embeddings, vector databases, and agent frameworks
• Experience leading complex cross-functional technical initiatives and influencing architecture and engineering direction across teams without direct authority
• Demonstrated ability to mentor and develop engineers at all levels, including Staff-level engineers
• Experience working in regulated environments such as financial services, including AI governance, risk management, and compliance considerations
  
  Depending on factors such as business unit requirements, the nature of this position, cost and applicable laws, American Express may provide visa sponsorship for certain 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, 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.

About the Team

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
• 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.

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. American Express will consider for employment all qualified applicants, including those with arrest or conviction records, in accordance with the requirements of applicable state and local laws, including the California Fair Chance Act, the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers, and the City of Los Angeles' Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance. For positions covered by federal and/or state banking regulations, American Express will comply with such regulations as it relates to the consideration of applicants with criminal convictions.

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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The below 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.