Sanctions Screening Lead - VP

Do you want your voice heard and your actions to count? Discover your opportunity with Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group (MUFG), one of the world’s leading financial groups. Across the globe, we’re 150,000 colleagues, striving to make a difference for every client, organization, and community we serve. We stand for our values, building long‑term relationships, serving society, and fostering shared and sustainable growth for a better world.

With a vision to be the world’s most trusted financial group, it’s part of our culture to put people first, listen to new and diverse ideas and collaborate toward greater innovation, speed and agility. This means investing in talent, technologies, and tools that empower you to own your career. Join MUFG, where being inspired is expected and making a meaningful impact is rewarded.

Overview Of The Department/Section: Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Inc. (MUFG) is one of the world’s leading financial groups. Headquartered in Tokyo and with over 360 years of history, MUFG has a global network with around 3,000 offices in more than 50 markets. The Group has over 180,000 employees, and offers services including commercial banking, trust banking, securities, credit cards, consumer finance, asset management, and leasing.

The Financial Crimes Office for EMEA (FCOE) in London is part of the Global Financial Crimes Division (GFCD) headquartered in New York. FCOE works to ensure the organisation conducts its business in such a way that we protect our reputation, our business, and our clients within the regulatory and legal framework. It is responsible for the establishment and maintenance of effective systems and controls to protect clients’ assets and to mitigate the risk that MUFG might be used to further financial crime.

The Regional EMEA Sanctions Team is structured across three core pillars: EMEA Sanctions Investigations, EMEA Sanctions Advisory, and EMEA Sanctions Programs. This role sits within the EMEA Sanctions Investigations pillar and is responsible for the sanctions screening and investigations process, the majority of which is outsourced. The role holder oversees the processes and provides subject‑matter expertise to ensure ongoing compliance with regulatory requirements, internal policies, and the firm’s risk appetite.

Main Purpose Of The Role: This role supports the execution of MUFG Bank’s financial crime risk appetite, policies, and regulatory obligations by overseeing sanctions screening and investigation activities across transactions and customers for EMEA. Operating within the EMEA Sanctions Investigations Team, the role holder is responsible for working with the outsourced screening and investigations teams to ensure the systems identify, assess, and manage potential sanctions exposure arising from transaction filtering and name‑screening alert review processes.

Key Responsibilities:

• Ensure end‑to‑end monitoring and effective investigation of customer activity and transactions to identify, assess, and manage potential exposure to sanctioned parties in line with applicable sanctions regulations (e.g., Japan, US, EU and UK).
• Oversee the Sanctions Alert Review operations and processes, including day‑to‑day management, training, and supervision of screening staff, and the development and maintenance of sanctions alert review procedures and documentation.
• Oversee sanctions risk assessments on proposed transactions, payments, and customer relationships, ensuring appropriate escalation, documentation, and resolution.
• Collaborate closely with global and regional sanctions colleagues to review higher‑risk or complex transactions and ensure consistent application of sanctions standards across jurisdictions.
• Co‑ordinate with alert adjudication team leads to manage workflows, alert volumes, and resource capacity to meet all service level agreements while maintaining appropriate quality, consistency, and risk controls.
• Ensure sanctions screening systems and processes operate as intended and raise any concerns to TEC teams for immediate resolution.
• Ensure compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act, JMOF, OFAC, EU, UK and EMEA local sanctions, Anti‑Boycott requirements, and other applicable global sanctions regulations, policies, and supervisory expectations.
• Resolve alerts and cases, coordinating with other departments and control functions as required, and ensuring appropriate escalation and communication of material sanctions risks.
• Identify and drive process improvement initiatives across investigations, decisioning, list management, and screening typologies to reduce false positives, address emerging risk patterns, and enhance operational effectiveness.
• Provide accurate management information and reporting on sanctions alert volumes, investigation outcomes, key risk indicators, and emerging trends to support governance and oversight.
• Ensure implementation and compliance with MUFG’s Global Policies, Standards, and Procedures governing the financial crime control framework across EMEA, focusing on sanctions risk management and process efficiency.
• Align team practices with evolving regulatory requirements to ensure compliance.
• Collaborate with regional sanctions SMEs to manage sanctions risk effectively.
• Drive timely and effective resolution of all EMEA sanctions issues.

Skills And Experience:

• Essential: Proven experience in and understanding of sanctions. Strong knowledge of and experience in banking. A good understanding of banking and investment products. Good understanding of financial crime risk in banking. An excellent understanding of the concepts of risk management and control.
• Preferred: Experience in payments. Experience utilising commonly used tools for sanctions screening and reporting tools (e.g., Hotscan, Finscan, GCOP, etc.).

Specifics Of Role:

• Strong analytical skills and decision‑making skills.
• Excellent interpersonal and communication skills, both written & verbal.
• Strong financial sanctions and payments knowledge in particular OFAC, EU and UK regulations.
• The ability to operate with urgency and prioritise work accordingly.
• Strong decision‑making skills, the ability to demonstrate sound judgement.
• Strong relationship building and management skills. Stakeholder management in a matrixed environment.

Personal Requirements:

• Solution oriented and results driven, with a strong sense of accountability.
• Excellent communication skills.
• Organised with a proactive, motivated approach.
• The ability to operate with urgency and to manage large workloads and tight deadlines.
• Excellent attention to detail and accuracy.
• Strong decision‑making skills, the ability to demonstrate sound judgement.
• A structured and logical approach to work, encompassing creative and innovative thinking.
• Excellent interpersonal skills.
• A calm approach, with the ability to perform well in a pressurised environment.

Performance And Duties: The role holder will be assessed in accordance with their employing entity’s performance framework and process with relevant input obtained from the dual hatting entity as relevant. As duties and responsibilities change, the job description will be reviewed and emended in consultation with the role holder. The role holder will carry out other duties as are within the scope, spirit and purpose of the role as requested by their line manager or Department Head.

Managing Conflicts Of Interest: The role holder will have responsibilities for both MUFG Bank and MUFG Securities EMEA plc. The role holder will be required to perform their duties and responsibilities on an entity‑neutral basis, without favour. The role holder is required to follow regulatory requirements applicable to ensure each business is appropriately supported and to maintain the legal entity integrity of each of MUFG Bank and MUFG Securities EMEA plc.

We are open to considering flexible working requests in line with organisational requirements. MUFG is committed to embracing diversity and building an inclusive culture where all employees are valued, respected and their opinions count. We support the principles of equality, diversity and inclusion in recruitment and employment, and oppose all forms of discrimination on the grounds of age, sex, gender, sexual orientation, disability, pregnancy and maternity, race, gender reassignment, religion or belief and marriage or civil partnership.