Financial Crimes Specialist

ABOUT FINANCIAL CRIMES RISK MANAGEMENT AT VARO:

Varo’s Financial Crimes Investigations (FCI) program is made up of forward-thinking creative and enthusiastic individuals, who are constantly striving to safeguard the financial sector from misuse and provide actionable intelligence to law enforcement. Our FCI supports various AML processes, including transaction monitoring alert/case investigations, Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD) reviews of high-risk customers, information sharing and law enforcement requests, and Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) filings. 

ABOUT THE ROLE:

In this foundational role, this person will work on Varo’s FCI Team, and will conduct targeted investigations to identify patterns/trends indicative of money laundering, terrorist financing (ML/TF), fraud, cyber crime, and other potential violations of laws and regulations. We are looking for new team members to join FCI within the Financial Crimes Risk Management/BSA Office at Varo. This is a unique opportunity to get in on the ground floor and help build the risk framework for Varo, the bank of the future. 

By joining Varo’s fast growing FCI team now, there will be much opportunity to take ownership, drive change, find and implement procedural efficiencies, and have a direct impact on the overall success of Varo’s BSA program. Additionally, this person will assist in supporting some of the operational elements within the FCI team, such as facilitating customer reach outs, updating account statues and notes, onboarding new team members, and liaising with other internal teams as needed. This role may also include project based work, collaborating with other teams in the risk organization to enhance efficiency and refine procedures, ensuring risks are appropriately mitigated. 

If you are looking for an opportunity to make AML investigative processes better and look at data as the solution, this role will provide you an opportunity to help build the program at the first all-digital national bank in the United States. If you are not afraid of new challenges, passionate about safeguarding the financial sector, and protecting Varo and its customers, then we want to hear from you!

What you'll be doing

• Review transaction monitoring & surveillance (TMS) alerts, conduct historical transactional reviews, conduct case investigations, and recommend suspicious activity determinations
• Support operational FCI team operational elements, such as facilitating customer reach outs, updating account statues and notes, and liaising with other internal teams
• Prepare case and SAR narratives, summarizing red flags, suspicious activity, and adverse information 
• Refine desktop investigative procedures, making process recommendations to increase efficiency and risk mitigation effectiveness
• Gather feedback and recommendations and translate into business requirements, to improve Varo’s AML program effectiveness

You'll bring the following required skills and experiences

• Worked in other FinTech’s or innovative Financial Institutions, with prior experience in BSA/AML regulations and Financial Crime Compliance
• 1+ years of prior transaction monitoring & surveillance investigations experience in financial crimes, counter-terrorism, anti-bribery, and/or anti-fraud experience
• 1+ years of experience working as an intelligence analyst or in counter threat finance in the DoD, IC, LE or supporting communities, or other relevant experience
• Experience reviewing alerts, conducting case investigations, and drafting/filing Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs)
• Ability to get work done, knowing when to use judgment to make risk based decisions with current (and sometimes limited) information
• Extremely organized and have the ability to prioritize work flows and ensure deadlines are met
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, interpersonal and collaborative skills

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