Job DescriptionRole OverviewWe are seeking a Director of Product Development to lead strategic partner integrations for Agentic Commerce at American Express.
Reporting to the Vice President of Product Development, Agentic Commerce, this leader will play a critical role in bringing Agentic Commerce capabilities to market through partnerships with AI platforms, wallets, merchants, PSPs, technology providers, and other ecosystem participants.
The role is responsible for translating the broader Agentic Commerce vision and platform strategy into partner-specific roadmaps, experiences, and integration models. It will focus on defining partner requirements, shaping implementation approaches, and driving launch and iteration with external partners so that capabilities can scale across the ecosystem.
As a trusted, closed-loop network, American Express is uniquely positioned to extend its authentication, authorization, identity, and risk capabilities into AI-powered commerce experiences. This leader will help accelerate adoption of Agentic Commerce by ensuring those capabilities can be successfully implemented across strategic partners while maintaining high standards for customer experience, trust, security, and operational excellence.
This role requires deep engagement with AI platforms, PSPs, merchants, wallet providers, technology companies, and emerging ecosystem participants. Success will require strong cross-functional leadership and the ability to align stakeholders across product, engineering, risk management, policy, operations, legal, commercial, network, and partner organizations.
ResponsibilitiesPartner Strategy & RoadmapPartner Vision and Strategy
- Define partner-specific strategies and roadmaps that support the broader Agentic Commerce vision.
- Develop a clear perspective on how American Express should engage with AI platforms, PSPs, wallet providers, merchants, and other ecosystem participants.
- Identify opportunities to expand adoption of Agentic Commerce capabilities across strategic partners and emerging channels.
- Shape partner implementations so they align with platform principles, customer expectations, and long-term ecosystem objectives.
Ecosystem Strategy
- Monitor industry developments, partner roadmaps, and competitive dynamics to identify new opportunities and potential risks.
- Develop a deep understanding of partner priorities, technical requirements, operating constraints, and business objectives.
- Use market and partner insights to inform platform strategy, roadmap decisions, and future investment priorities.
Data, Analytics, and Iteration
- Define the data and analytics needed to evaluate partner performance, adoption, customer outcomes, and operational health.
- Translate launch data, usage patterns, and partner feedback into clear roadmap updates and product decisions.
- Establish regular mechanisms to review results, refine requirements, and improve partner implementations over time.
Product Development & Partner DeliveryStrategic Integrations
- Lead the development and execution of partner-specific roadmaps spanning AI platforms, wallets, PSPs, merchants, and other ecosystem participants.
- Define partner requirements, integration approaches, customer experiences, and operating models required to launch and scale Agentic Commerce capabilities.
- Translate platform capabilities into scalable partner implementations while balancing customer experience, technical feasibility, risk considerations, and commercial objectives.
- Drive adoption of reusable platform capabilities while minimizing unnecessary partner-specific customization.
Launch & Scale
- Lead end-to-end delivery of strategic partner integrations from concept through launch and ongoing optimization.
- Establish launch readiness plans, success metrics, and adoption strategies for partner programs.
- Continuously refine partner roadmaps and implementation approaches based on customer feedback, performance data, adoption trends, and market developments.
Cross-Functional Leadership
- Drive alignment and execution across product, engineering, risk, policy, operations, legal, network, and commercial teams to deliver scalable and compliant partner solutions.
- Mobilize stakeholders across a highly matrixed organization while managing competing priorities and timelines.
- Serve as the primary product leader for assigned strategic partner relationships.
Ecosystem Development & External EngagementStrategic Partner Leadership
- Build and manage relationships with senior product, engineering, and business leaders across strategic ecosystem partners.
- Influence partner roadmaps and integration priorities to align with American Express objectives.
- Represent American Express in product, technical, and operational discussions with external partners.
Ecosystem Growth
- Identify opportunities to expand adoption, engagement, and utilization of Agentic Commerce capabilities.
- Evaluate new partnership opportunities and integration models.
- Help shape American Express' participation within the evolving agentic commerce ecosystem.
Collaboration Across Agentic Commerce TeamsPlatform & Product Strategy Collaboration
- Partner closely with the Agentic Commerce Platform & Product Strategy team to ensure partner requirements are reflected in roadmap planning and platform investments.
- Provide market intelligence, implementation learnings, and partner feedback to help inform future platform capabilities.
- Collaborate on partner solutioning where platform architecture, standards, or strategic product decisions are required.
Network Collaboration
- Partner closely with American Express Network teams to align on partner requirements, ecosystem priorities, and scaling strategies.
- Collaborate on capabilities related to tokenization, authentication, authorization, spend controls, merchant enablement, and trust infrastructure.
- Help ensure partner implementations align with broader network and ecosystem objectives.
Growth & Emerging Capabilities Collaboration
- Partner with the Growth & Emerging Capabilities team to evaluate emerging ecosystem opportunities and new partnership models.
- Support incubation efforts by identifying pilot partners and helping validate new concepts in market.
- Help transition successful initiatives into scalable partner programs.
Adoption & Ecosystem ExpansionAdoption & Growth Optimization
- Drive measurable adoption, engagement, and ecosystem growth across strategic partners.
- Monitor performance, customer outcomes, and partner satisfaction to identify opportunities for optimization.
- Adapt priorities and investment decisions based on learnings, adoption trends, and evolving market dynamics.
Team Leadership & CultureAuthentic Leadership
- Lead with empathy and clarity, building a collaborative, high-performing product organization.
- Serve as a strategic thought partner to the Vice President of Product Development, Agentic Commerce.
Team Building
- Foster innovation, accountability, and continuous learning to elevate product management excellence and develop future product leaders.
- Build a culture that balances customer obsession, execution excellence, strategic thinking, and operational rigor.
QualificationsMinimum Qualifications- 10+ years of progressive product leadership experience, with significant depth in payments, fintech, platform partnerships, developer ecosystems, digital commerce, or other complex technology environments.
- Proven experience leading strategic integrations, platform partnerships, or ecosystem products.
- Demonstrated track record of launching new products, capabilities, or partnerships in emerging or rapidly evolving markets.
- Strong understanding of APIs, platform architectures, developer ecosystems, and integration models.
- Experience working directly with strategic technology partners and navigating complex cross-company initiatives.
- Strong understanding of payments infrastructure, authentication, authorization, tokenization, and transaction processing systems.
- Proven ability to operate effectively in highly matrixed environments and align stakeholders across business, engineering, risk, policy, legal, operations, network, and commercial organizations.
- Exceptional communication skills and executive presence, with the ability to influence both internal and external stakeholders.
- Customer-obsessed mindset with experience using research, data, and analytics to shape product decisions and partner strategy.
- Ability to evaluate complex technical, customer, regulatory, and commercial tradeoffs and make high-quality decisions in ambiguous environments.
Preferred Qualifications- Strong knowledge of card payments infrastructure, including issuer processing, card lifecycle management, card-on-file experiences, tokenization, digital wallets, network token frameworks, and credential provisioning.
- Experience with digital wallet ecosystems such as Apple Pay, Google Pay, PayPal, merchant wallets, or tokenized payment experiences.
- Exposure to fraud systems, risk modeling, financial controls, authorization systems, or transaction decisioning platforms.
- Experience working with AI platforms, agent ecosystems, PSPs, wallets, marketplaces, or developer platforms.
- Experience launching products across platform ecosystems and multi-sided networks.
- Experience contributing to industry standards, interoperability initiatives, or ecosystem governance efforts.
- Experience managing strategic technology partnerships with large-scale technology companies.
- Experience partnering with policy, regulatory, compliance, or governance stakeholders in emerging technology domains.
- MBA or advanced degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Data Science, Business, or a related field.
