Senior Manager - AI Innovation & Research

American Express•New York, NY

7d•$123,000 - $215,250

About The Position

Amex Digital Labs is seeking a product leader to help shape the future of Agentic Commerce at American Express. The role focuses on identifying and developing products, capabilities, and experiences for AI-powered commerce, including agent wallets, digital identity, emerging payment protocols, and new transaction models. The role will assess how American Express can apply its authentication, authorization, identity, and risk capabilities to create differentiated products and growth opportunities for Card Members, merchants, and partners. Working closely with Engineering, Product, Network, and cross-functional teams, the Senior Manager will turn emerging technologies and market insights into product concepts, lead early-stage experimentation, and help define future Agentic Commerce capabilities. This is a hands-on role suited to someone who enjoys exploring new technologies, resolving ambiguity, and bringing new ideas to life.

Requirements

At least 5 years of experience in product management, product development, product strategy, fintech, digital commerce, or a related technology role.
Strong customer empathy, product intuition, enthusiasm for building products and experiences, and ability to articulate compelling product opportunities.
Curiosity about emerging technologies and ability to connect ideas across disciplines and identify innovation opportunities within a large organization.
Experience taking new product ideas from concept through discovery, experimentation, and validation, with ownership and willingness to be hands-on.
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, including the ability to evaluate opportunities, assess trade-offs, and make informed product decisions.
Ability to partner with Engineering, understand technical concepts, and translate business and customer needs into product requirements and potential solutions.
Ability to balance strategy and tactical execution and bring structure and clarity to ambiguous or rapidly evolving opportunities.
Highly organized, adaptable, and self-motivated, with ability to navigate competing priorities and drive progress across cross-functional teams.
Excellent communication and relationship-building skills, with ability to engage, influence, and align technical and non-technical stakeholders.
Collaborative, test-and-learn mindset and willingness to challenge assumptions, experiment, and adapt based on feedback and results.
Willingness to be creative within a highly regulated financial services environment.
Eligibility to work in the United States; American Express will not pursue visa sponsorship for these positions.

Nice To Haves

Experience in payments, financial services, digital wallets, commerce platforms, or emerging technology products.
Familiarity with payment processing, authentication, tokenization, APIs, digital identity, or payment network capabilities.
Exposure to agentic AI, AI-enabled commerce, emerging payment protocols, or autonomous transaction models.
Experience with zero-to-one product development, prototyping, pilots, startup ecosystems, or new business incubation.

Responsibilities

Identify and evaluate opportunities in agentic commerce, AI-powered payments, agent wallets, digital identity, delegated purchasing, and emerging commerce models.
Monitor emerging technologies, industry standards, competitive developments, and customer behaviors to inform future product strategy.
Translate market insights, customer needs, and technology developments into product concepts, use cases, value propositions, and investment recommendations.
Assess commercial potential, customer value, technical feasibility, and ecosystem readiness to help prioritize investments.
Partner with Engineering and technical teams to understand emerging technologies and explore their application to commerce experiences.
Develop a working perspective on technologies and protocols including Agent-to-Agent Protocol, Agentic Payments Protocol, x402, Model Context Protocol, digital identity, and emerging agent authentication and authorization frameworks.
Lead early-stage product discovery and development, defining requirements, customer experiences, success metrics, and testing approaches.
Drive proofs of concept, pilots, and experiments to validate product hypotheses, assess feasibility, and identify opportunities for further development.
Collaborate with Product, Engineering, Network, Risk, Legal, Compliance, and commercial teams to evaluate solutions, navigate dependencies, and advance opportunities.
Engage technology providers, startups, industry participants, and ecosystem partners to understand capabilities, standards, and collaboration opportunities.
Partner with Agentic Commerce Platform & Product Strategy and Partner Integrations teams to turn validated concepts into platform capabilities, roadmaps, and partner opportunities.
Structure ambiguous problems, synthesize technical and commercial insights, and communicate recommendations that influence product direction and leadership decisions.

Benefits

Competitive base salaries
Bonus incentives
6% company match on retirement savings plan
Free financial coaching and financial well-being support
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 of paid parental leave for all parents, including for pregnancy, adoption, or surrogacy
Free access to global onsite wellness centers staffed with nurses and doctors, depending on location
Free and confidential counseling support through the Healthy Minds program
Career development and training opportunities