Sr Software Engineer I

About Enterprise Architecture: 

Enterprise Architecture is an organization within the Chief Technology Office at American Express and it is a key enabler of the company’s technology strategy. The four pillars of Enterprise Architecture include:

1. Architecture as Code: this pillar owns and operates foundational technologies that are leveraged by engineering teams across the enterprise.
2. Architecture as Design: this pillar includes the solution and technical design for transformation programs and business critical projects which need architectural guidance and support.
3. Governance: this pillar is responsible for defining technical standards, and developing innovative tools that automate controls to ensure compliance.
4. Colleague Enablement: this pillar is focused on colleague development, recognition, training, and enterprise outreach. 

Responsibilities

• Design, develop, and deliver scalable, high-quality software solutions across the full stack, leveraging Java and Python for enterprise-grade platforms and services
• Lead the architecture and implementation of distributed systems, ensuring performance, reliability, and maintainability
• Own end-to-end delivery of features—from design and development to deployment, monitoring, and support in production environments
• Act as a senior member of an Agile team, driving best practices in coding standards, testing, documentation, and continuous delivery
• Mentor and guide junior engineers, providing technical leadership through code reviews, design discussions, and knowledge sharing
• Collaborate closely with architects, product managers, and cross-functional teams to translate business requirements into scalable technical solutions
• Build and evolve RESTful APIs, microservices, and event-driven systems, ensuring strong service contracts and backward compatibility
• Champion engineering excellence by improving CI/CD pipelines, test automation, and developer productivity
• Proactively identify system bottlenecks, debug complex issues, and drive root-cause analysis with long-term fixes
• Design systems for scalability, resilience, and observability, including monitoring, logging, and alerting strategies
• Contribute to cloud-native adoption, including containerization, infrastructure-as-code, and auto-scaling architectures
• Influence technical direction and challenge the status quo by proposing innovative, pragmatic solutions
• Take ownership and accountability for delivering high-impact outcomes aligned with team and organizational goals

Qualifications

• 6+ years of professional software development experience with strong expertise in Java and working knowledge of Python for backend or data-driven applications
• Deep experience with Java ecosystems and frameworks such as Spring, Spring Boot, or equivalent
• Proven experience in full-stack development, including backend services and modern frontend frameworks (e.g., React, Angular, or similar)
• Strong experience building RESTful APIs, microservices architectures, and service-to-service integrations
• Solid understanding of distributed systems, concurrency, scalability, and performance optimization
• Hands-on experience with relational databases (PostgreSQL, MySQL, Oracle) and/or NoSQL databases (Cassandra, DynamoDB, MongoDB)
• Experience with containerization and orchestration (Docker, Kubernetes)
• Familiarity with infrastructure-as-code tools (Terraform, CloudFormation, etc.)
• Experience with messaging and streaming platforms such as Kafka, RabbitMQ, or JMS
• Practical experience with cloud platforms (AWS, Azure, or GCP) and cloud-native development patterns
• Hands-on experience in test data generation and unit test development and execution
• Preferred: Basic understanding of AI/ML concepts and Generative AI technologies, including LLMs, prompt engineering, and Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG)
• Experience with API design standards, OpenAPI/Swagger, versioning, and contract-driven development
• Hands-on experience with CI/CD pipelines and tools (Jenkins, GitHub Actions, GitLab CI, etc.)
• Proficiency in Agile/Scrum methodologies and modern software development lifecycle practices
• Bachelor’s degree in computer science, Engineering, or equivalent practical experience (advanced degree is a plus)

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 our 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.

We back you with benefits that support your holistic well-being so you can be and deliver your best. This means caring for you and your loved ones' physical, financial, and mental health, as well as providing the flexibility you need to thrive personally and professionally:

• Competitive base salaries
• Bonus incentives
• 6% 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

For a full list of Team Amex benefits, visit our Colleague Benefits Site.

American Express is an equal opportunity employer and makes employment decisions without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran status, disability status, age, or any other status protected by law. American Express will consider for employment all qualified applicants, including those with arrest or conviction records, in accordance with the requirements of applicable state and local laws, including the California Fair Chance Act, the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers, and the City of Los Angeles’ Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance. For positions covered by federal and/or state banking regulations, American Express will comply with such regulations as it relates to the consideration of applicants with criminal convictions.
We back our colleagues with the support they need to thrive, professionally and personally. That's why we have Amex Flex, our enterprise working model that provides greater flexibility to colleagues while ensuring we preserve the important aspects of our unique in-person culture. Depending on role and business needs, colleagues will either work onsite, in a hybrid model (combination of in-office and virtual days) or fully virtually.
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The below represents the expected salary range for this job requisition. Ultimately, in determining your pay, we’ll consider your location, experience, and other job-related factors.​