Role & Responsibilities:

The Corporate Governance Team of the General Counsel’s Organization is seeking a Director & Counsel, Assistant Secretary to advise on a variety of corporate governance and related matters at the parent level.

Here’s just some of what you’ll do in this role: 

• Provide legal counsel and strategic support on a variety of corporate governance matters and disclosure control processes
• Provide legal counsel and strategic support on a wide range of disclosure issues and corporate transactions
• Assist the Corporate Secretary in all corporate secretarial functions with respect to the American Express Company, the publicly traded parent company
• Monitor, review and advise colleagues worldwide on key policy and regulatory issues and evolving disclosure trends
• Assist drafting the American Express Proxy Statement and manage the shareholder proposal process
• Assist preparation for the Annual Meeting of Shareholders
• Provide support for the Board of Directors and executive leadership team on governance- and shareholder-related matters
• Benchmark securities and governance issues providing proactive updates and e-mails/memos to team members
• Draft governance policies, including committee charters and related policies
• Advise on insider trading and Section16 issues
• Act in a leadership role in relation to corporate governance developments and drafting corporate policies and public disclosures
• Advise with respect to executive compensation matters
• Advise on ISS and Glass Lewis and other proxy advisory service positions and corporate responses
• Act as a people leader of certain legal professionals in support of AXP corporate secretarial functions
• Assist with managing Board materials, including agendas, review of presentations, drafting materials for Board and Committee meetings, and taking minutes

Minimum qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree & J.D.; good standing member of a State Bar Association
• 7+ years of related legal experience, ideally at least two years in an in-house legal role
• Demonstrated strong knowledge of board governance, best practices, protocols and procedures
• Expertise on issues of corporate and U.S. securities laws
• Experience with coordination and filing of timely and continuous disclosure documentation with the U.S. SEC, the Federal Reserve and the New York Stock Exchange

Preferred qualifications: 

• Business oriented approach to problem solving
• Strong interpersonal skills
• Superior legal and analytic skills
• Excellent legal judgment and drafting skills 
• Detail oriented
• High level of personal accountability
• Ability to work well under pressure and to manage heavy workload in a challenging and fast-paced environment
• Ability to build relationships
• Executive presence and excellent oral communication skills