Senior Staff AI Engineering - Agentic AI
Not Disclosed•Full-TimeHybrid
location_onPhoenix City Hall, 200, West Washington Street, Central City, Phoenix, Maricopa County, Arizona, 85003, United States
About Amex Tech
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. Our mission is to power your success through a commitment to the latest technologies and the broader engineering community via open source. Because Amex Tech is powered by our technology, our culture, and our colleagues, we are dedicated to enabling and accelerating the company's growth strategies.
The Technology organization delivers global capabilities and services in support of Amex's customers and colleagues, maintaining 24/7 servicing to ensure an uninterrupted, high-quality customer experience. Technology provides the foundation for everything we do while driving differentiation through innovative technology and data insights.
About the Role
At American Express, AI is reshaping the future of commerce and redefining the experiences our commercial customers and card members expect. Within Amex Technology, we are building platforms, products, and governance that enable agentic AI systems to operate responsibly and at scale across the enterprise.
As a Senior Staff Data Engineer – Agentic AI, you will operate as a senior individual contributor, helping define how agentic AI systems are designed, built, and operated across the company. You will work at the intersection of agentic system architecture and hands-on execution: designing core frameworks, writing production code, reviewing critical designs, and guiding teams through complex technical decisions. This role does not include people management; your impact comes from technical leadership, sound judgment, and the ability to turn ambiguity into reliable, scalable agentic systems.
You will partner closely with product, design, and business teams to deliver agentic capabilities that reduce operational friction, improve decision-making, and transform how customers interact, transact, and grow. While product teams own prioritization, Staff engineers are expected to actively influence what gets built and how agentic systems come together across teams. This is a deeply technical role with broad architectural ownership and high organizational impact. As the team grows, you will take on increasing responsibility for technical leadership and people development within the agentic AI space.
Our Culture and Values
At American Express, our culture is built on a 175-year history of innovation, shared values, and an unwavering commitment to back our customers, communities, and colleagues. 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. Here, your voice and ideas matter, your work makes an impact, and together, you will help us define the future of American Express.
Hiring Process and Application
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. Work arrangements may be virtual or hybrid, depending on the selected candidate's location and business needs. Candidates who live within commuting distance of a company office may be designated as hybrid and generally will be expected to work from the office three days per week. Final work arrangement will be confirmed during the hiring process.
Equal Opportunity Employer
American Express is an equal opportunity employer. We consider qualified applicants regardless of background, race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, protected veteran status, disability, or any other legally protected status.
Work location
Work model: Hybrid
Phoenix City Hall, 200, West Washington Street, Central City, Phoenix, Maricopa County, Arizona, 85003, United States
Phoenix, Arizona
Key Responsibilities
- check_circleDrive technical direction for agentic AI initiatives and influence architecture patterns
- check_circleDesign, build, and operate production-grade agentic AI systems across multiple products
- check_circleOwn and evolve shared agentic AI capabilities including agent frameworks and orchestration layers
- check_circleLead technical design reviews to navigate tradeoffs involving autonomy, safety, and scalability
- check_circleEvaluate emerging models and agentic patterns to translate them into enterprise-ready improvements
- check_circleMentor senior engineers and raise the technical bar for agentic AI development
- check_circlePartner with cross-functional teams to deliver complex agentic AI initiatives from concept to production
Requirements
- verified12+ years of experience building large-scale distributed systems
- verifiedStrong experience with LLM systems, agentic workflows or advanced ML infrastructure
- verifiedFluency with AI-assisted and agentic development workflows
- verifiedExperience in workflow engines, async processing, queues, and streaming systems
- verifiedExperience building agentic systems in fintech or other regulated industries (Preferred)
- verifiedExperience as a founding engineer or early technical leader in AI-driven products (Preferred)
- verifiedMeaningful contributions to open-source AI or agentic frameworks (Preferred)
- verifiedFamiliarity with fine-tuning, model optimization and inference pipelines (Preferred)
Nice to Have
Experience building agentic systems in fintech or other regulated industries. Experience as a founding engineer or early technical leader in AI-driven products. Demonstrated success delivering technically complex autonomous systems that customers actively rely on. Meaningful contributions to open-source AI or agentic frameworks. Familiarity with fine-tuning, model optimization and inference pipelines.
Benefits & Perks
check_circle6% Company Match on retirement savings plancheck_circleComprehensive medical, dental, vision, life insurance, and disability benefitscheck_circle20+ weeks paid parental leave for all parents regardless of gendercheck_circleFree financial coaching and financial well-being supportcheck_circleFree access to global on-site wellness centers staffed with nurses and doctorscheck_circleFree and confidential counseling support through Healthy Minds programcheck_circleFlexible working model with hybrid, onsite or virtual arrangements
