Director Compensation & Benefits

Job Description

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.

How will you make an impact in this role?

Reporting to the Vice President, Compensation & Benefits EMEA, this role will lead the strategic design, governance, and execution of the company’s compensation and benefits framework across EMEA and the UK. As a senior leader, you will shape the Total Rewards strategy to ensure programs are competitive, equitable, compliant, and aligned with business priorities, while strengthening the overall Colleague Value Proposition. You will also lead a team and influence senior stakeholders across the region.

Responsibilities

• Build, lead, and develop a high‑performing team, fostering a culture of excellence, innovation, and continuous improvement.
• Lead the delivery of EMEA and UK compensation strategy, including oversight of market benchmarking, pay architecture, and regulatory disclosures (e.g., UK Gender Pay Gap, Netherlands Bonus Cap), ensuring alignment with enterprise compensation philosophy, competitiveness, and compliance.
• Provide compensation advisory to business leaders, with strategic direction on annual compensation review cycles, incentive design, and reward decisions across the region.
• Define and drive the regional benefits strategy, overseeing the design, implementation, and optimization of programs (retirement, healthcare, insurance, wellbeing), ensuring alignment with workforce needs and market best practices.
• Lead the relationship with the UK pension trustees, acting as the primary interface to ensure effective governance, regulatory compliance, and alignment of pension strategy with company objectives.
• Oversee vendor strategy and governance, managing key external partners and ensuring delivery excellence, cost efficiency, and adherence to American Express standards.
• Lead the implementation of regulatory initiatives, including the EU Pay Transparency Directive, ensuring compliance and driving pay equity through analytics, reporting, and enterprise‑wide communication and change management.
• Ensure robust compliance and governance, anticipating regulatory changes and embedding controls across compensation and benefits programs to mitigate risk and maintain audit readiness.
• Own risk management and controls across total reward programs in the region including identification, assessment, testing, and remediation of risks in line with internal policies and external regulatory requirements.

Qualifications

• Extensive experience in Total Rewards, including deep expertise in compensation, benefits and pensions across multiple European markets.
• Proven leadership experience, including managing and developing international teams and influencing at senior executive level.
• Strong strategic and commercial acumen, with the ability to design forward‑looking reward strategies aligned to business objectives.
• Deep knowledge of regulatory environments (pay transparency, pay equity, tax, and labor laws) across EMEA.
• Advanced analytical and problem‑solving skills, with the ability to translate complex data into actionable insights and strategic recommendations.
• Exceptional stakeholder management and influencing skills, with the ability to operate effectively in a complex, global matrix organization.
• Demonstrated experience in leading large‑scale projects and transformation initiatives.
• Strong experience in vendor strategy and governance, including managing external partners.
• Excellent communication skills, with the ability to articulate complex reward concepts clearly to diverse audiences, including senior leadership.

Employment eligibility to work with American Express in the UK is required as the company will not pursue visa sponsorship for these positions.

About The Team

• Competitive base salaries
• Bonus incentives
• Support for financial‑well‑being and retirement
• Comprehensive medical, dental, vision, life insurance, and disability benefits (depending on location)
• Flexible working model with hybrid, onsite or virtual arrangements depending on role and business need
• Generous paid parental leave policies (depending on your location)
• 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

Offer of employment with American Express is conditioned upon the successful completion of a background verification check, subject to applicable laws and regulations.

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