Analyst-Compliance

American Express•Charlotte, NC

About The Position

Global Compliance and Ethics (GCE) is responsible for establishing and maintaining a robust compliance program that ensures American Express is adhering to laws, regulations, and internal policies while fostering a culture of integrity and effective second line independent Compliance oversight. We are seeking a detail-oriented and proactive professional to join our Compliance team as an Analyst in International Independent Compliance Testing (ICT). The successful candidate will support the delivery of high-quality independent assurance over financial crime compliance by executing testing activities, analysing evidence, and documenting clear, well-supported conclusions. This role requires strong analytical skills, attention to detail, and the ability to work effectively with colleagues across a complex, global regulatory environment. This role is focused on Financial Crime Compliance and requires working knowledge of, or a strong interest in developing expertise across, Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Economic Sanctions, Know Your Customer/Customer Due Diligence (KYC/CDD), Anti-Bribery and Corruption (ABC), Financial Crimes Investigations, Transaction Monitoring, and Suspicious Activity Reporting. The successful candidate will apply this knowledge to test the design and operating effectiveness of financial crime controls, evaluate the quality of risk-based decisions, and support assessment of compliance with global regulatory requirements and internal standards across multiple jurisdictions.

Requirements

Relevant 2+ years of experience in Financial Crime Compliance, compliance testing, internal or external audit, risk management, or assurance within financial services.
Working knowledge of financial crime risk areas, including AML, sanctions, KYC/CDD, ABC, transaction monitoring, financial crime investigations, and suspicious activity reporting.
Familiarity with global financial crime regulations and regulatory expectations (e.g., FinCEN, OFAC, FATF, FCA, EU AML Directives) and an interest in building cross-jurisdictional regulatory knowledge.
Foundational understanding of compliance testing, control evaluation, root cause analysis, issue management, and risk management concepts.
Ability to review evidence, challenge the quality of risk-based decisions, identify potential risks or exceptions, and form evidence-based conclusions.
Strong analytical, problem-solving, and attention-to-detail skills.
Effective written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to document work clearly and accurately.
Ability to manage competing priorities, work collaboratively, and meet agreed deadlines in a matrixed, globally distributed organization.
Proficiency in Microsoft Office applications, including Excel, Word, and PowerPoint.

Nice To Haves

Experience supporting regulatory remediation, issue validation, or audit/regulatory examination activity preferred.
Exposure to data analytics or technology-enabled testing techniques preferred.
ACAMS (Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist), ICA Financial Crime certification, Certified Global Sanctions Specialist (CGSS), or equivalent financial crime certification strongly preferred.

Responsibilities

Execute assigned testing activities across financial crime risk areas — including AML, sanctions, KYC/CDD, ABC, transaction monitoring, and suspicious activity reporting — in accordance with ICT methodology, internal standards, and agreed review plans.
Support the end-to-end testing lifecycle, including planning, walkthroughs, fieldwork, evidence review, workpaper preparation, and reporting.
Analyze financial crime policies, procedures, data, processes, and controls to assess compliance with applicable regulatory requirements and internal standards.
Maintain accurate, complete, and well-supported testing documentation and workpapers.
Manage assigned tasks across multiple reviews or workstreams, meeting agreed quality and delivery timelines.
Support testing and post-closure validation of remediated financial crime controls, assessing whether regulatory commitments and remediation milestones have been met.
Apply established testing procedures to assess financial crime compliance risks and control effectiveness objectively.
Identify potential gaps, control weaknesses, or exceptions and escalate them to the review lead in a timely manner.
Form evidence-based conclusions and document testing results clearly and accurately.
Apply professional skepticism when testing risk-based decisions — for example, whether alerts, enhanced investigations, no-file SAR decisions, customer risk ratings, or sanctions alert dispositions were appropriately reached and supported — rather than confirming data accuracy alone.
Support preparation of concise review reports, issues/findings, and materials for relevant stakeholders and governance forums.
Develop an understanding of the business model, products, services, and relevant financial crime regulatory obligations across the jurisdictions in scope.
Work with Legal Entity Compliance Officers, financial crime teams, business teams, and other risk functions to obtain information and supporting evidence.
Participate in stakeholder meetings and contribute to discussions on review scope, testing progress, and results.
Build effective working relationships with colleagues across jurisdictions, business units, and functions.
Communicate testing queries, results, and concerns clearly and professionally.
Work collaboratively with review leads and other testing colleagues to support consistent, high-quality delivery.
Actively seek feedback and build technical knowledge of financial crime compliance, testing methodology, control evaluation, and relevant regulatory requirements.
Share knowledge and contribute to an inclusive, collaborative, and continuous-learning culture.
Apply the global ICT framework, standards, procedures, and templates consistently.
Support improvements to testing tools, templates, processes, and reporting based on review experience and lessons learned.
Maintain awareness of financial crime regulatory developments, enforcement actions, and industry guidance relevant to assigned reviews, and discuss potential implications with the review lead.
Support alignment with evolving internal standards, industry practices, and regulatory expectations.