Senior Staff Data Engineer Jobs in USA with Visa Sponsorship
Senior Staff Data Engineer roles attract H-1B visa, O-1, and L-1 visa sponsorship from tech, finance, and healthcare employers. At this seniority level, employers routinely sponsor because replacing this expertise is harder than filing the petition. For detailed occupation requirements, see the O*NET profile.
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Get Access To All JobsJoining 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 Technology organization enables and accelerates the company’s growth strategies, delivering global capabilities and services in support of Amex’s customers and colleagues, while maintaining 24/7 servicing and availability to ensure an uninterrupted, high-quality customer experience. Technology provides the foundation for everything we do in the company while driving differentiation through building and leveraging innovative technology and data insights.
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.
Our focus is on agentic AI development: designing intelligent, adaptive systems that can plan, reason, and act across complex workflows with appropriate levels of autonomy. These systems power autonomous workflows, decision support, and customer-facing experiences—while meeting the high standards for security, explainability, reliability, and compliance required in financial services.
We 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.
The Role
As a Senior Staff Data Engineer – Agentic AI, you will operate as a senior individual contributor within Amex Technology, 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 work closely with Product and UX partners to shape a shared vision for agentic AI experiences. 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 an individual contributor, hands-on, deeply technical role with broad architectural ownership and high organizational impact; however, as the team grows, you will take on increasing responsibility for technical leadership and people development within the agentic AI space. Mentoring, developing and managing direct reports may be in scope for some of our opportunities.
What We’re Looking For
- 12+ years of experience building large-scale distributed systems + strong experience with LLM systems, agentic workflows or advanced ML infrastructure
- Proven ownership of complex, cross-cutting agentic systems spanning multiple teams or products.
- Strong engineering fundamentals across backend systems, APIs, data pipelines, and cloud infrastructure.
- Deep experience across the agentic AI stack, including planning, tool use, memory, and evaluation.
- Fluency with AI-assisted and agentic development workflows.
- Comfort operating in ambiguous problem spaces and translating them into shipped, reliable autonomous systems.
- Ability to influence technical direction and align teams without formal authority.
- Experience in workflow engines, async processing, queues, and streaming systems.
Preferred Qualifications
- 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 is a plus.
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 Arrangement: This role may be filled as either 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. Candidates who do not live within commuting distance of a company office may be eligible for a virtual work arrangement, subject to company policy, business needs, and applicable law. Final work arrangement will be confirmed during the hiring process.
At 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.
We back you with benefits that support your holistic well-being so you can be and deliver your best. This means caring for you and your loved ones' physical, financial, and mental health, as well as providing the flexibility you need to thrive personally and professionally:
- Competitive base salaries
- Bonus incentives
- 6% Company Match on retirement savings plan
- Free financial coaching and financial well-being support
- Comprehensive medical, dental, vision, life insurance, and disability benefits
- Flexible working model with hybrid, onsite or virtual arrangements depending on role and business need
- 20+ weeks paid parental leave for all parents, regardless of gender, offered for pregnancy, adoption or surrogacy
- Free access to global on-site wellness centers staffed with nurses and doctors (depending on location)
- Free and confidential counseling support through our Healthy Minds program
- Career development and training opportunities
For a full list of Team Amex benefits, visit out Colleague Benefits Site.
American Express is an equal opportunity employer and makes employment decisions without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran status, disability status, age, or any other status protected by law. American Express will consider for employment all qualified applicants, including those with arrest or conviction records, in accordance with the requirements of applicable state and local laws, including the California Fair Chance Act, the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers, and the City of Los Angeles’ Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance. For positions covered by federal and/or state banking regulations, American Express will comply with such regulations as it relates to the consideration of applicants with criminal convictions.
We back our colleagues with the support they need to thrive, professionally and personally. That's why we have Amex Flex, our enterprise working model that provides greater flexibility to colleagues while ensuring we preserve the important aspects of our unique in-person culture. Depending on role and business needs, colleagues will either work onsite, in a hybrid model (combination of in-office and virtual days) or fully virtually.
US Job Seekers - Click to view the “Know Your Rights” poster. If the link does not work, you may access the poster by copying and pasting the following URL in a new browser window: https://www.eeoc.gov/poster.
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. 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 Technology organization enables and accelerates the company’s growth strategies, delivering global capabilities and services in support of Amex’s customers and colleagues, while maintaining 24/7 servicing and availability to ensure an uninterrupted, high-quality customer experience. Technology provides the foundation for everything we do in the company while driving differentiation through building and leveraging innovative technology and data insights.
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.
Our focus is on agentic AI development: designing intelligent, adaptive systems that can plan, reason, and act across complex workflows with appropriate levels of autonomy. These systems power autonomous workflows, decision support, and customer-facing experiences—while meeting the high standards for security, explainability, reliability, and compliance required in financial services.
We 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.
The Role
As a Senior Staff Data Engineer – Agentic AI, you will operate as a senior individual contributor within Amex Technology, 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 work closely with Product and UX partners to shape a shared vision for agentic AI experiences. 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 an individual contributor, hands-on, deeply technical role with broad architectural ownership and high organizational impact; however, as the team grows, you will take on increasing responsibility for technical leadership and people development within the agentic AI space. Mentoring, developing and managing direct reports may be in scope for some of our opportunities.
What We’re Looking For
- 12+ years of experience building large-scale distributed systems + strong experience with LLM systems, agentic workflows or advanced ML infrastructure
- Proven ownership of complex, cross-cutting agentic systems spanning multiple teams or products.
- Strong engineering fundamentals across backend systems, APIs, data pipelines, and cloud infrastructure.
- Deep experience across the agentic AI stack, including planning, tool use, memory, and evaluation.
- Fluency with AI-assisted and agentic development workflows.
- Comfort operating in ambiguous problem spaces and translating them into shipped, reliable autonomous systems.
- Ability to influence technical direction and align teams without formal authority.
- Experience in workflow engines, async processing, queues, and streaming systems.
Preferred Qualifications
- 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 is a plus.
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 Arrangement: This role may be filled as either 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. Candidates who do not live within commuting distance of a company office may be eligible for a virtual work arrangement, subject to company policy, business needs, and applicable law. Final work arrangement will be confirmed during the hiring process.
At 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.
We back you with benefits that support your holistic well-being so you can be and deliver your best. This means caring for you and your loved ones' physical, financial, and mental health, as well as providing the flexibility you need to thrive personally and professionally:
- Competitive base salaries
- Bonus incentives
- 6% Company Match on retirement savings plan
- Free financial coaching and financial well-being support
- Comprehensive medical, dental, vision, life insurance, and disability benefits
- Flexible working model with hybrid, onsite or virtual arrangements depending on role and business need
- 20+ weeks paid parental leave for all parents, regardless of gender, offered for pregnancy, adoption or surrogacy
- Free access to global on-site wellness centers staffed with nurses and doctors (depending on location)
- Free and confidential counseling support through our Healthy Minds program
- Career development and training opportunities
For a full list of Team Amex benefits, visit out Colleague Benefits Site.
American Express is an equal opportunity employer and makes employment decisions without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran status, disability status, age, or any other status protected by law. American Express will consider for employment all qualified applicants, including those with arrest or conviction records, in accordance with the requirements of applicable state and local laws, including the California Fair Chance Act, the Los Angeles County Fair Chance Ordinance for Employers, and the City of Los Angeles’ Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring Ordinance. For positions covered by federal and/or state banking regulations, American Express will comply with such regulations as it relates to the consideration of applicants with criminal convictions.
We back our colleagues with the support they need to thrive, professionally and personally. That's why we have Amex Flex, our enterprise working model that provides greater flexibility to colleagues while ensuring we preserve the important aspects of our unique in-person culture. Depending on role and business needs, colleagues will either work onsite, in a hybrid model (combination of in-office and virtual days) or fully virtually.
US Job Seekers - Click to view the “Know Your Rights” poster. If the link does not work, you may access the poster by copying and pasting the following URL in a new browser window: https://www.eeoc.gov/poster.
See all 302+ Senior Staff Data Engineer jobs
Sign up for free to unlock all listings, filter by visa type, and get alerts for new Senior Staff Data Engineer roles.
Get Access To All JobsTips for Finding Visa Sponsorship as a Senior Staff Data Engineer
Target employers with established H-1B track records
Companies that have filed H-1B petitions for data engineering roles in prior years are far more likely to sponsor again. Consistent filing history signals an internal process, legal counsel on retainer, and leadership buy-in for international hires.
Position your seniority as the sponsorship justification
Staff and Senior Staff titles signal specialized expertise that's genuinely hard to source domestically. Frame your experience around proprietary systems, large-scale architecture, and cross-functional leadership, which strengthens the specialty occupation argument in the H-1B petition.
Raise the visa conversation after demonstrating value
Bring up sponsorship after a technical screen or take-home, not in the first outreach. At this level, hiring managers have budget flexibility, but they need confidence in the hire before committing to the legal and administrative overhead of a petition.
Ask specifically about cap-exempt employers
Universities, research institutions, and affiliated nonprofits are exempt from the H-1B lottery cap. Senior Staff Data Engineers at these organizations can receive H-1B approval year-round without competing in the annual lottery, which is a meaningful advantage.
Get your I-140 approved early if you're on an H-1B
Filing an EB-1B or EB-2 NIW I-140 petition early preserves your priority date and unlocks H-1B extensions beyond the standard six-year limit. At Senior Staff level, an approved I-140 also gives you more leverage in job negotiations.
Clarify whether the LCA covers your actual work location
If you're working remotely from a state different from the employer's listed address, the Labor Condition Application must reflect your physical work location. Mismatches can create compliance issues at renewal or during an RFE, so confirm this before accepting an offer.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which visa types do Senior Staff Data Engineers typically get sponsored for?
H-1B is the most common path. Data engineering at the Senior Staff level qualifies as a specialty occupation because the role requires at minimum a bachelor's degree in computer science, information systems, or a closely related field. O-1A is viable for engineers with documented impact, patents, published work, or industry recognition. L-1A or L-1B apply if you're transferring from an overseas office of the same employer.
Does a Senior Staff Data Engineer role qualify as a specialty occupation for H-1B purposes?
Yes, consistently. USCIS has approved H-1B petitions for data engineering roles across thousands of employers. The key requirement is that the position genuinely requires a specific bachelor's degree or higher, not just any degree. Senior Staff roles typically involve distributed systems, data architecture, or pipeline design at scale, which supports the specialty occupation argument clearly. USCIS RFEs on these petitions are relatively uncommon compared to more ambiguous titles.
Does my degree field matter for H-1B sponsorship as a data engineer?
Yes. The degree needs to relate directly to the role. Computer science, software engineering, data science, mathematics, and statistics all support a strong petition. If your degree is in an unrelated field, your employer's attorney will need to build the case around equivalent experience, which requires three years of relevant work experience for every year of missing education. A mismatch doesn't automatically disqualify you, but it adds complexity to the petition.
How competitive is H-1B sponsorship for Senior Staff Data Engineers compared to mid-level roles?
More favorable. Employers are more willing to absorb the cost and administrative effort for Senior Staff hires because the role is harder to backfill. The lottery odds are the same regardless of seniority, but at this level employers are more likely to use premium processing, engage experienced counsel, and respond quickly to RFEs. Cap-exempt employers remain an option worth prioritizing. You can browse Senior Staff Data Engineer roles with confirmed sponsorship on Migrate Mate.
Can I switch employers mid-H-1B as a Senior Staff Data Engineer?
Yes. Under H-1B portability, you can start working for a new employer as soon as they file an H-1B transfer petition, without waiting for approval, as long as your previous H-1B was valid and you're maintaining lawful status. The new employer files a new I-129 petition with an LCA covering your role and location. At Senior Staff level, this process is routine for employers who regularly hire visa holders.
What is the prevailing wage requirement for sponsored Senior Staff Data Engineer jobs?
U.S. employers sponsoring a visa must pay at least the prevailing wage, which is what workers in the same role, area, and experience level typically earn. The Department of Labor sets this rate to make sure companies aren't hiring foreign workers simply because they'd accept lower pay than a U.S. worker. It varies by job title, location, and experience. You can look up current prevailing wage rates for any occupation and location using the OFLC Wage Search page.
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