Senior Software Engineer I

American Express; Burgess Hill; Hybrid; GBP 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Hybrid working model

Competitive base salaries

Bonus incentives

Comprehensive medical coverage

Retirement benefits

Job summary

American Express seeks an experienced Senior Data Architect to own data architecture for regional applications (EMEA, APAC, LATAM), ensuring security, resilience and high availability across critical systems.

You will lead modernization of mainframe COBOL/DB2 environments toward API-driven, cloud-aligned designs and collaborate with product and engineering teams to deliver scalable, reliable data platforms.

Qualifications

• 5+ years of mainframe application development with COBOL, JCL, CICS and DB2.
• Proven ability to analyze complex legacy systems and identify modernization opportunities.
• Experience in data modeling, data warehouses and data governance practices.

Responsibilities

• Lead and mentor engineers to deliver reliable data platforms.
• Perform data architecture design for assigned applications including APIs and data structures.
• Ensure data security, performance, and high availability across platforms.
• Collaborate with product and delivery teams to plan sprints and data requirements.
• Stay current with database technologies and modernization strategies.

Skills

Data modeling

Analytical skills

Communication

Agile

Education

Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science or related field

Tools

DB2

COBOL

JCL

CICS

GitHub Actions

Job description

Job Description

The Enterprise Technology Services organization partners with every part of the American Express business to power the company’s growth and innovation with trust and efficiency, and drive competitive differentiation with speed. We support the delivery and operations of technology, digital, and data capabilities, platforms, and services globally. Specifically, our team is responsible for the company’s technology engineering, architecture, and infrastructure, providing 24x7 support to ensure an uninterrupted, high-quality experience for customers and colleagues. We also provide product management for core enterprise platforms, and lead technology risk and information security, enterprise data governance and platforms, digital product and design, and enterprise AI platforms on behalf of the company.

Job Description

The Enterprise Technology Services organization partners with every part of the American Express business to power the company’s growth and innovation with trust and efficiency, and drive competitive differentiation with speed. We support the delivery and operations of technology, digital, and data capabilities, platforms, and services globally. Specifically, our team is responsible for the company’s technology engineering, architecture, and infrastructure, providing 24x7 support to ensure an uninterrupted, high-quality experience for customers and colleagues. We also provide product management for core enterprise platforms, and lead technology risk and information security, enterprise data governance and platforms, digital product and design, and enterprise AI platforms on behalf of the company.

In this role, you will oversee all technical aspects of our regional (EMEA, APA, and LATAM) corporate hierarchy and limits applications, ensuring these critical systems remain secure, resilient, and highly available.

At the same time, you will be an active contributor to modernization efforts aimed at enabling the deprecation and transformation of mainframe-based systems toward scalable, cloud-aligned architectures.

You will work closely with cross-functional engineering and architecture teams to maintain stability in our existing COBOL/DB2-based applications while advancing the evolution to distributed, API-driven, and event-based solutions.

Responsibilities

Scope of Impact/Influence

• Leads and mentors teams of engineers through ongoing development efforts.
• Ensures engineers adhere to team standards.
• Accountable for accurate completion and quality of all documentation and work produced by engineering team.
• Accountable for delivering a quality product that meets the customers’ needs.

Key Responsibilities

• Performs all technical aspects of data architecture and database management for assigned applications, including developing prototypes, developing new database structures and APIs as applicable.
• Performs transformation of logical data architectures into physical data designs, according to database design best practices and standards
• Provides database administration services to projects crafting, extending or maintaining databases, data warehouses and datamarts
• Debugs database components, identifies, fixes and verifies remediation of design and/or performance defects.
• Performs ongoing refactoring of database design and continuously improves product to follow data placement procedures and re-use of existing databases as appropriate.
• Ensure optimal data replication, performance, High Availability, backup and recovery processes exists to meet requirements, reduce cost and adhere to standards.
• Leads in development of plans and strategies, best practices, and standards related to data management processes, data products, data security and programs.
• Functions as Senior member of an agile team and leads data assets as per the enterprise standards, guidelines and policies.
• Typically spends 50% of time in database development and testing and remainder of time collaborating with partners through ongoing product/platform releases.
• Communicates and works collaboratively with business and product teams to support changes and implementation.
• Works with product team to prioritize features for ongoing sprints and leading a list of data requirements based on industry trends, new technologies, known defects, and issues.
• Partner with delivery architects and engineers to design optional data tier solutions to meet enterprise platform objectives and goals.
• Stays abreast of new DBMS features and functions and drive adoption across Amex to use product capabilities.
• Active member of the vendor product development strategy that will enable vendors to provide solutions and features to meet Amex needs.
• Contributes to decisions about tools, methods and approaches.
• Finds opportunities to embrace innovative technologies.
• Works closely with product owners on blueprints and annual planning of feature sets that impact multiple platforms and products

Knowledge/Skills

• Strong analytical skills with a proven ability to understand and document business data requirements in complete, accurate, extensible and flexible logical data models, data modeling tools.
• Able to facilitate discussions between Technology and business people, recognize issues of conflict and inconsistency between data requirements and pursue a resolution of these issues
• Evaluates and undertakes impact analysis on major design options for databases and assesses and leads associated risks
• Expert in XML and schema development/reuse, RDBMS databases, Open Source. Expertise in NoSQL will be an added advantage.
• Leads modification and maintenance of data structures and associated components according to logical and physical design structures for large or complex systems.
• Mastered Metadata Management and Database Management
• Partners with Sr. Data Engineers and Sr. Data architects to build complex company platform level data models and database designs.
• Takes technical responsibility for all stages in the database development process.
• Crafts and/or uses System-of-Records (SORs) and identify data reuse.
• Deep Technical knowledge of DBMS products and ecosystem – e.g. storage formats, access algorithms, data management processes, administration, data maintenance, replication, high availability, encryption, etc.
• Ability to monitor and tune databases and DBMSs to reach high performance – e.g. use data monitoring and analysis tools, tune configuration parameters, alter physical designs, benchmark, etc.
• Takes part in reviews of own work and leads reviews of colleagues' work.
• Has working knowledge of the range of tools used in the planning, analyzing, crafting, building, testing, configuring, and maintaining of assigned application(s)
• Able to participate in assigned team’s Agile delivery methodology.
• Understands and has practical experience with infrastructure technologies and components like servers, jvms and networking concepts.
• Application of industry best practices, processes, and standards
• Identifies a number of ways to do things differently that will continuously improve the product.
• Understands the complete vertical platform environment (technical stack)

Tech Stack

• Db2, COBOL
• AI DevEx Tools (Codex, Claude, Cursor)
• On-prem
• Automation Testing
• GitHub Actions
• GitHub Enterprise Server, GHEC

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Information Systems, or related field (or equivalent experience).
• 5+ years of experience in mainframe application development using COBOL, JCL, CICS, and DB2.
• Proven track record of maintaining and enhancing mission-critical enterprise systems.
• Demonstrated ability to analyze complex legacy applications and identify modernization opportunities.
• Excellent problem-solving, debugging, and communication skills.
• Growth mindset with a strong desire to expand skills into distributed systems and cloud technologies.

Preferred Qualifications

• Familiarity with modern programming languages such as Java, Scala, Kotlin.
• Experience with cloud platforms (e.g., AWS, GCP, Azure) and API or event-driven architectures.
• Understanding of mainframe modernization strategies — including rehosting, refactoring, or replacement.
• Experience in financial services or similar large-scale transactional systems.
• Exposure to CI/CD pipelines, Git-based source control, and Agile development methodologies.

Considerations For Sponsorship

Depending on factors such as business unit requirements, the nature of the position, cost and applicable laws, American Express may provide visa sponsorship for certain positions.

About Us

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.

About The Team

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
• 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 programCareer 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.