Senior AI Engineer - Generative AI Research & Development; Technology R&D

American Express•Palo Alto, CA

21h•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. 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 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. Joining Amex Tech means discovering and shaping your contribution to something big. Here, you can work alongside talented tech teams and build a unique career with the Powerful Backing of American Express. With a range of opportunities to work with the latest technologies, and a commitment to back the broader engineering community through open source, our mission is to power your success. Because Amex Tech is powered by our technology, our culture, and our colleagues. The Enterprise Data and AI organization unites the data governance, strategy, engineering, and product teams with those responsible for AI engineering, generative AI enablement, and automation product and engineering. This group plays a pivotal role in leveraging data as a core driver of innovation and integrating AI capabilities to transform products, operations, and customer experiences. The EDAI organization also incorporates technology Research & Development and experimentation with emerging capabilities, along with engineering support for Amex Digital Labs. This integration ensures that research breakthroughs seamlessly translate into business impact. The Technology R&D team is in search of a Senior AI Engineer - Research & Development to expand the team and our ability to identify, evaluate, and experiment with emerging technologies that can shape the future of American Express. The mission of Technology R&D is to ensure American Express is positioned as a first-class technology company with a forward-looking view of the external technology ecosystem. The team explores developments across industry, open-source communities, academia, and technology partners to identify opportunities relevant to American Express. The work of Tech R&D includes evaluating emerging third-party platforms and tools, building prototypes and proofs of concept, developing internal experimental technology, producing technical guidance and whitepapers, and partnering with internal teams, vendors, and researchers to assess where new technologies can create meaningful business impact. Ultimately, the work of Tech R&D is to turn emerging technology signals into practical insights, experiments, and recommendations for the company. Who are You? You bring people together, setting a vision and inspiring people to work toward audacious goals, you connect people to purpose. You’re optimistic about the future of Amex and you’re tenacious in working to make it real. You lift others. Your satisfaction comes from winning as a team. You build common tools and documentation to empower others to be their best. You mentor other developers and help them succeed. You understand the power of recognition and frequently dole out authentic praise. Colleagues do better work and enjoy doing it on a team with you. You produce content that is consumed widely. Your ideas are discussed and adopted at increasing orbits of influence. You enjoy speaking to large groups and lending your voice in group settings. People have changed the way they think and do work because they spent time with you. Others look to you for understanding and advice. You are professionally curious. You bring clarity to the confusing and you thrive on exploration. You seek data to drive your decisions and are ready to learn. You have expertise but it does not constrain you, willing to put forth your best efforts as a “polymath”. You seek alternate perspectives and use them to make connections that others have overlooked.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree in computer science or equivalent
7+ years of professional software development experience.
2-3 Years of experience with emerging technologies.
Experience in design/architecture of systems
Full software development lifecycle experience
Skilled in deploying and scaling products in public cloud
Knowledge of Generative AI and Large Language Model inference
Knowledge of AI tools and frameworks, such as Langchain, LlamaIndex, Semantic Kernel, etc.
Passion for cutting edge technologies and excitement to be part of a Research & Development team

Responsibilities

Conduct research, design solutions, and explore technology such as post-quantum cryptography, generative AI and emergent technologies
Develop foundational frameworks, prototypes and proofs of concept that pave the way for innovative applications and advancements
Stay ahead of the curve by continuously exploring groundbreaking ideas, anticipating future challenges, and driving advancements that enable the next generation of tools and technologies
Partner with organizations across American Express to share insights, identify opportunities and collaboratively shape the direction of future innovations
Collaborate with external vendors, industry partners and technology providers to evaluate, integrate, and influence cutting-edge solutions that align with organizational goals

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