Director - Enterprise Agentic Search

American Express•New York, NY

6d•Hybrid

About The Position

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. As part of Team Amex, you'll experience this 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. As a part of the Enterprise Digital Center of Excellence (CoE), you will be responsible for developing world class digital products, capabilities and marketing programs that support our global markets and help drive business growth. The Director of Enterprise Agentic Search will lead the enterprise-wide strategy to evolve and future-proof American Express’s approach to Search across marketing and servicing ecosystems. This role will define how the enterprise adapts to the rapidly shifting Search landscape, including the rise of AI-driven and agentic experiences, ensuring Amex remains at the forefront of discoverability, performance, and customer engagement. The ideal candidate will bring a deep understanding of the modern search environment — spanning Answer Engine Optimization (AEO), SEO, and Paid Search — and will orchestrate the tools, governance, and partnerships required to thrive in this new era. This individual will serve as the connective tissue across global markets, business units, and external partners (including Google, OpenAI, Perplexity, and others) to develop scalable, compliant, and future-ready search solutions. Why This Role Matters This is a critical enterprise leadership role at the frontier of Search transformation. The Director, Enterprise Agentic Search, will help American Express define how customers discover and interact with the brand in an AI-first world—driving meaningful business impact while setting the global standard for responsible, effective, and future-ready Search excellence.

Requirements

7+ years of experience in Search (SEO/SEM) or Digital Marketing,
Strong grasp of search ecosystem transformation, including AI-driven search, conversational agents, and multimodal discovery platforms.
Proven success in program management across complex, multi-stakeholder environments.
Experience managing vendor and partner relationships with global technology platforms (e.g., Google, Microsoft, OpenAI).
Ability to translate technical and emerging search capabilities into business impact and enterprise readiness.
Exceptional collaboration and influencing skills across marketing, technology, and analytics organizations.
Demonstrated ability to drive governance frameworks and best-practice adoption across diverse markets and business lines.
Strong analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills.
Passion for innovation and the evolving intersection of AI, search, and customer experience.

Nice To Haves

AI/Tech-Driven Search Strategy experience preferred

Responsibilities

Develop and deliver the enterprise-level Search strategy, ensuring Amex is positioned to succeed across evolving AI, agentic, and traditional search ecosystems.
Lead a multi-workstream, enterprise-driven approach to Search that spans Technical AEO, Content Evolution, Governance & Best Practices, and Organizational Tooling/Processes/Training.
Partner with Marketing, Product, Technology, Data Science, and Servicing teams to drive a cohesive approach to both marketing and servicing search applications.
Stay ahead of emerging trends in search, including AI-driven discovery, conversational search, and generative answer engines. Translate external market shifts into internal opportunities and roadmaps.
Establish relationships with global search and AI ecosystem partners (Google, OpenAI, Perplexity, etc.) to assess opportunities, negotiate engagements, and ensure enterprise readiness.
Establish frameworks for governance, data stewardship, and ethical AI usage in search optimization and paid channels, in partnership with GCO and Data Governance teams.
Oversee the identification, evaluation, and deployment of search enablement tools, analytics, and platforms that empower global teams.
Deliver enterprise-level insights and progress reporting to senior leadership.
Represent Amex externally in forums, conferences, and partner discussions to establish the company as a leader in the next generation of enterprise search.

Benefits

Competitive base salaries
Bonus incentives
6%25 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