A Mobile Engineering Manager Gets Real About His Job at American Express

Todd Wilson knows the finance industry has a reputation for moving slowly and being averse to innovation. He just doesn’t see it that way from where he sits at American Express.

Todd, who graduated with a master’s degree in information systems management from Brigham Young University, manages a team of iOS, Android and backend java engineers. It’s their job to take mobile features from design and ideation all the way to deployment (and the hands of cardmembers).

Interested in pursuing a career in mobile engineering? Here’s an inside look at why AMEX is a great place to do it.

Doing Things Differently

When Todd was interviewing for his job with AMEX , the company’s dedication to digital initiatives and commitment to good engineering principles immediately stood out to him. “At the time, you could tell that other brands weren’t doing native mobile development,” he says. “I was surprised by what AMEX had already accomplished.”

As a mobile engineer he’d be challenged every day to exceed consumer expectations of what a mobile banking app could do. So he accepted that job and did exactly that. Recently, Todd received his company’s Edward Gilligan Award for Innovation, which is given to an employee who goes above and beyond to serve cardmembers. So what was his award-winning idea?

Connecting with Customers

“I wanted mobile app users to be able to chat with customer support directly from the app,” he says. The idea may sound simple enough, but the execution was far from straightforward and involved teams from across the company. There was the process of adding a chat engine to the mobile app. Then there were trainings to make sure customer services reps were prepared to assist users via mobile chat. And of course there was a whole lot of software engineering work to be done.

All that hard work and cross-team coordination paid off. AMEX cardholders were excited to use the new feature and the majority of users gave mobile chat a five-star review.

Hard Work, Big Reward

“Doing something meaningful is hard,” says Todd. “It takes a lot of creativity and navigating regulations because everything you do touches millions of people.”

For Todd, who worked his way to a manager position early on in his career, the opportunities for personal growth at AMEX have been amazing. “Maybe there are easier jobs, but to be successful here, I have to stretch and grow,” he says.

That’s a career approach we can all appreciate.

Interested in a career with American Express? They’re hiring. Head this way to check out open positions and apply!