Senior Engineers - job 3 of 7

To qualify for the Senior Engineer position at American Express, candidates must possess a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science, Engineering, Information Systems, or a related STEM field. Additionally, applicants are required to have five years of progressively responsible experience in platform engineering, architecture, design, and implementation, with specific experience in Agile development, cloud administration with AWS, and various programming and monitoring tools.

As a Senior Engineer at American Express, you will play a crucial role in designing and developing digital solutions tailored to customer needs. Your responsibilities will include assessing application performance, validating integration, and optimizing processes through user story analysis. Additionally, you'll be involved in continuous improvement initiatives and collaborating with the engineering team to test and enhance software resilience.

A Senior Engineer at American Express should be proficient in Agile development methodologies and experienced with tools such as Ansible, Terraform, and AWS cloud administration. Familiarity with Docker and Kubernetes for containerization, as well as monitoring tools like ElasticSearch, Grafana, and Prometheus, is also essential. Experience with programming languages such as Python and database technologies like Couchbase and Postgres is highly advantageous.

Yes, telecommuting is available for Senior Engineers at American Express. Employees can work remotely up to two days a week, allowing for a flexible work-life balance while still engaging with the engineering team and contributing to innovative projects.

American Express offers a comprehensive benefits package for Senior Engineers, which includes competitive base salaries, bonus incentives, a 6% company match on retirement savings, extensive medical and dental coverage, paid parental leave, and access to wellness programs. The company is committed to supporting the holistic well-being of its colleagues and provides career development opportunities as well.

When answering this question, be specific about your hands-on experience with AWS services, such as EC2, S3, and RDS. Discuss how you have used cloud services to solve problems or improve application architecture, and mention any relevant certifications or training you have completed related to AWS.

In your response, give examples of how you have utilized Agile practices, like Scrum or Kanban, in project management. Discuss how you collaborated with cross-functional teams, adapted to changes, and delivered value incrementally while maintaining high-quality standards in your engineering work.

Share your approach to performance testing, including tools you have used (like JMeter or LoadRunner) and the metrics you focus on. Discuss how you monitor applications post-deployment through tools such as ElasticSearch or Grafana to ensure optimal performance and user satisfaction.

Describe how you have used Docker to create consistent development environments, and provide examples of how Kubernetes has helped you manage and scale applications in production. Emphasize your understanding of microservices architecture in relation to containerization strategies.

Share your methodology for breaking down complex problems into manageable tasks. Emphasize the importance of analyzing requirements, collaborating with stakeholders, and iterating on solutions based on feedback. Provide a specific example to illustrate your approach.

When answering this, discuss the key components of your code review process, such as ensuring code quality, adherence to best practices, and sharing knowledge among team members. Explain how code reviews improve overall project health and foster collaboration.

Outline your strategies for implementing security best practices, such as conducting regular security audits, utilizing encryption, and overseeing access controls. Discuss how you stay informed about the latest security vulnerabilities and apply this knowledge to your engineering processes.

Explain how you use user stories to understand customer needs and drive the development process. Discuss how you translate user requirements into actionable tasks and prioritize features based on user impact and business value.

Choose a specific project that showcases your technical skills and leadership. Discuss the objectives, your contributions, collaborative efforts, and the measurable outcome or impact on the organization, emphasizing any challenges you overcame along the way.

Discuss the importance of continuous improvement in software development and describe specific practices you have implemented, such as retrospectives, process refinements, or introducing new tools and technologies which enhanced team productivity and project outcomes.