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- Tasks: Lead complex financial crime investigations and optimise transaction monitoring in a fast-paced fintech environment.
- Company: Join a high-growth fintech revolutionising payments and consumer financial products.
- Benefits: Competitive salary, career development opportunities, and a dynamic work culture.
- Why this job: Make a real impact in combating financial crime while leading a talented team.
- Qualifications: 7+ years in financial crime with strong leadership and investigation skills.
- Other info: Ideal for those passionate about fintech and eager to tackle emerging financial crime risks.
The predicted salary is between 72000 - 108000 £ per year.
A financial crime lead is sought to own complex FIU investigations and transaction monitoring for a high-growth, regulated fintech operating at scale across payments and consumer financial products. This is a senior, hands-on FIU role with direct responsibility for complex investigations, transaction monitoring effectiveness, and regulatory escalation in a fast-moving environment. This role owns complex financial crime investigations and the performance of the transaction monitoring framework.
Key responsibilities:
- FIU investigations and leadership
- Lead senior investigators handling complex, multi-layered Level 3 cases.
- Conduct deep-diving investigations across transaction networks, account relationships, and product flows.
- Identify and assess sophisticated money laundering and financial crime typologies involving layering, structuring, and cross-border activity.
- Own the full investigation lifecycle from escalation through to SAR submission.
- Drive ongoing tuning and optimisation of transaction monitoring scenarios and thresholds.
- Improve alert quality through segmentation, back-testing, and reduction of false positives.
- Partner with data and engineering teams on model performance, detection gaps, and monitoring effectiveness.
- Ensure monitoring remains aligned to regulatory expectations and evolving risk exposure.
- Perform forensic transaction analysis using SQL and large datasets.
- Incorporate OSINT and external intelligence into investigations where required.
- Produce management information and trend analysis on emerging risks and typologies.
- Manage SAR escalations and submissions, ensuring clear rationale, evidential support, and regulatory timelines are met.
- Support regulatory reviews, audits, and internal assurance activity.
- Act as a point of contact for complex FIU matters where escalation is required.
- Support enhancements to transaction monitoring platforms and data infrastructure.
- Work with internal teams on system changes, migrations, or capability upgrades.
- Integrate specialist tooling where needed to support complex investigations.
- Coach and develop investigators on advanced investigative techniques.
- Maintain consistent investigation standards and decision-making quality across the team.
- Stay ahead of emerging financial crime risks relevant to fintech and payments businesses.
Ideal background:
- 7+ years’ experience in financial crime, with significant time spent in FIU or complex investigations roles.
- Proven leadership of complex investigations within fintech, payments, or digital financial services.
- Strong understanding of UK and EU AML frameworks and regulatory expectations.
- Hands-on experience optimising transaction monitoring systems and alert quality.
- Comfortable working directly with data, investigators, and cross-functional teams.
- Track record of high-quality SAR submissions and sound regulatory outcomes.
- Experience operating in fast-growth, product-driven environments.
Nice to have:
- CAMS or equivalent certification.
- Experience with blockchain or digital asset investigations.
- Exposure to advanced analytics or model-driven monitoring approaches.
Head of Transaction Monitoring & Investigations employer: Alexander Barnes
Contact Detail:
Alexander Barnes Recruiting Team
StudySmarter Expert Advice 🤫
We think this is how you could land Head of Transaction Monitoring & Investigations
✨Tip Number 1
Network like a pro! Reach out to people in the fintech and financial crime sectors on LinkedIn. Join relevant groups and engage in discussions. You never know who might have the inside scoop on job openings or can refer you directly.
✨Tip Number 2
Prepare for interviews by brushing up on your knowledge of AML frameworks and transaction monitoring systems. Be ready to discuss your past experiences with complex investigations and how you've optimised alert quality. We want to see your expertise shine!
✨Tip Number 3
Showcase your analytical skills! If you’ve worked with SQL or large datasets, be prepared to talk about specific projects where you performed forensic analysis. Highlight how your insights led to improved monitoring effectiveness or reduced false positives.
✨Tip Number 4
Don’t forget to apply through our website! It’s the best way to ensure your application gets noticed. Plus, we love seeing candidates who take that extra step to connect with us directly.
We think you need these skills to ace Head of Transaction Monitoring & Investigations
Some tips for your application 🫡
Tailor Your CV: Make sure your CV speaks directly to the role of Head of Transaction Monitoring & Investigations. Highlight your experience in financial crime and investigations, especially any hands-on work you've done in fintech or payments. We want to see how your background aligns with our needs!
Craft a Compelling Cover Letter: Your cover letter is your chance to shine! Use it to explain why you're the perfect fit for this senior role. Share specific examples of your leadership in complex investigations and how you've optimised transaction monitoring systems. Let us know what makes you tick!
Showcase Your Data Skills: Since this role involves a lot of data analysis, make sure to highlight your experience with SQL and large datasets. If you've used data to drive investigations or improve monitoring effectiveness, we want to hear about it. Numbers speak volumes!
Apply Through Our Website: We encourage you to apply through our website for a smoother application process. It helps us keep track of your application and ensures you don’t miss out on any important updates. Plus, it shows you're keen on joining our team!
How to prepare for a job interview at Alexander Barnes
✨Know Your Financial Crime Stuff
Make sure you brush up on your knowledge of financial crime, especially in the context of fintech and payments. Be ready to discuss complex investigations you've handled and how you approached them. This will show that you’re not just familiar with the theory but have practical experience too.
✨Showcase Your Leadership Skills
Since this role involves leading senior investigators, be prepared to share examples of how you've successfully led teams in the past. Talk about your approach to coaching and developing others, and how you maintain high standards in investigations. This will demonstrate your capability to lead effectively.
✨Get Comfortable with Data
As the role requires forensic transaction analysis using SQL and large datasets, make sure you can talk confidently about your experience with data analysis. Bring examples of how you've used data to drive investigations or improve transaction monitoring systems. This will highlight your analytical skills.
✨Understand Regulatory Expectations
Familiarise yourself with UK and EU AML frameworks and be ready to discuss how you've navigated regulatory challenges in your previous roles. Being able to articulate your understanding of compliance and governance will show that you’re aligned with the expectations of the role.
