Director - Software Engineering - Global Dining (Chicago)

Job ID: 26007864Posted: 2026-07-15Location: New York, NY, United States; Chicago, IL, United StatesSalary: $144250 - $256250 annually + bonus + equity (if applicable) + benefitsJob Function: Engineering & ArchitectureSchedule: Full timeCareer Area: TechnologyCompany: American ExpressDescriptionJoining 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. With a range of opportunities to work with the latest technologies, and a commitment to back the broader engineering community through open source, our mission is to power your success. Because Amex Tech is powered by our technology, our culture, and our colleagues.The U.S. Consumer and Digital Technology (USCDT) Team brings together foundational strategic technology capabilities in digital experience engineering (Mobile and Web), AI/ML, marketing technology, enterprise communications, travel and lifestyle, and automation, grounded in our data technology model that prioritizes data governance. It employs a ground-breaking focus with development responsibilities for customer-facing capabilities that deepen and expand digital engagement, as well as core technical capabilities that cut across business lines and customer segments. American Express Ads, Offers, and Dining Technology brings together our advertising, offers, and dining platforms to elevate the Membership experience. The team drives the expansion of Amex Offers, the development of innovative digital advertising capabilities, and leads the end-to-end technology integration and platform development of our dining services—including Resy, Tock, and Rooam – to create seamless connections between diners, restaurants, and the broader American Express Membership ecosystem.As part of Team Amex, you’ll experience a culture built on innovation, shared values, and an unwavering commitment to back our customers and colleagues. You’ll have the support, flexibility, and autonomy to make an impact while helping shape the future of how people discover, book, and enjoy dining experiences worldwide. ResponsibilitiesCollaborate with business and technology leaders to define and drive a unified technology vision for dining platforms, ensuring strong architectural integrity, governance, and technical oversight.Partner with stakeholders to align technical strategy with the product roadmap, helping shape business requirements to effectively leverage technology capabilities.Lead architecture and design for modern web-based applications, including the transformation of legacy and monolithic systems into microservices and micro-frontend architectures.Drive innovation and experimentation within a fast-paced, agile environment, delivering high-quality software solutions that meet or exceed customer and stakeholder expectations.Establish and track core engineering KPIs to measure team performance, system health, and delivery outcomes.Build and scale high-performing, diverse engineering teams by developing strategic hiring plans and fostering an inclusive, engaged workforce.Cultivate a culture of engineering excellence and continuous improvement through mentorship, feedback, and data-driven practices, while driving efficiency across development and delivery processes.Define and enforce best practices for software development, testing, and CI/CD integration, ensuring code quality and platform reliability across the portfolio.Provide technical leadership and hands-on guidance in design and execution, aligning architecture, tools, and methodologies with engineering teams to deliver on product goals.Collaborate cross-functionally with product managers, architects, engineers, and QA teams to prioritize, plan, and execute major product releases and initiatives.Lead development teams by securing resources, removing impediments, and acting as an escalation point to ensure successful delivery.Bring extensive experience in building distributed systems and leading the development of complex, large-scale enterprise applications, with a deep understanding of application architecture and dependencies.QualificationsBachelor's degree in Computer Science or Engineering8+ years of experience working as a Software Engineer, preferably in a fast-paced startup environment5+ years of direct management experience leading engineering teams You are a self-starter but very comfortable working closely with a teamYou are comfortable working with stakeholders outside the Engineering team including our Compliance, Information Security, Product, Sales and Account Management teamsYou have strong expertise with the following:Python / Java / Web frameworks SQL / MySQL / PostgresRDBMS and database designImplementing and building APIs used at scale by Web and Mobile clientsMonitoring system performanceLeading and growing teams of fellow engineers through complex deliveriesA history of taking projects through the entire software development lifecycle from inception to delivery as a technical leaderA passion for documenting how systems workBIG PLUS IF YOU HAVE:Preferably a BS or MS degree in computer science, computer engineering, or other technical discipline10+ years of software development experience especially in a leadership capacityHistory of leading teams maintaining systems at large scaleAbility to effectively interpret technical and business objectives and challenges and articulate solutionsWillingness to learn new technologies and use them to their optimal potentialEvery member of our team must be able to demonstrate the following technical, functional, leadership and business core competencies, including:Agile PracticesProgramming Languages and FrameworksBusiness AnalysisAnalytical ThinkingBusiness Product Knowledge SQL Performance tuningMicroservice architecturesAWS - EC2 / RDS / S3 / SQSKafka / Celery / Flask / Django / Supervisord / MongoDBDev-ops experienceJira or other project management toolPayment systems experienceWebsockets experienceEmployment eligibility to work with American Express in the United States is required as the company will not pursue visa sponsorship for these positions. About the TeamAt 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.