Senior Financial Crime Investigator in Newcastle

Description

Financial Crime Operations work within Risk Operations. Our role is about safeguarding Nationwide and its members against threats, including money laundering, terrorist financing, sanctions breaches, and bribery and corruption. We perform all first line activities for prevention and detection of financial crime.

In this role you will support our 1st Line colleagues acting as a financial crime specialist and first point of escalation for financial crime suspicions. We are looking for people who have an eye for detail and great at building relationships.

We are happy to consider flexible working approaches to help you perform at your best.

The working hours (35 hours per week) for this role can be between 8am and 6pm Monday to Friday.

At Nationwide we offer hybrid working wherever possible. More rewarding relationships are supported through our hybrid approach, bringing colleagues together across our UK wide estate, whilst also supporting generous access to home working. We value our time in the office to solve problems, to learn, and to feel connected.

For this job you'll be located at our nearest regional office or hub. There will be a need to regularly connect with colleagues for collaboration and in some locations you’ll be expected to spend at least two days a week, or if part time you'll spend 40% of your working time, in the office. If your application is successful, your hiring manager will provide further details on how this works.

Virgin Money is now part of Nationwide

Nationwide acquired Virgin Money in October 2024. Virgin Money continues to serve customers on the high street, and there will be a phased and considered integration over the coming years.

You’ll be employed by Nationwide from day one, delivering real impact and benefitting from a highly competitive range of benefits. We’re a workplace where you’re rewarded, recognised and celebrated.

Nationwide is committed to the redeployment of our employees impacted by change, as such applications for redeployment candidates will be prioritised in this recruitment process.

If you’re a colleague on long-term absence (for example, on parental leave) or a temporary worker, please use your personal email address to submit an application.

Responsibilities

What you’ll be doing

As a Senior Financial Crime Investigator, you will be a Subject Matter Expert in Financial Crime processes and procedures. You will investigate escalated anti-money laundering Unusual Activity Report escalations, confirmed PEPs or true sanction matches and provide ongoing coaching and policy guidance to FC Investigators, as well as constructive feedback on rationales and evidence in escalated cases.

As part of your role you will perform Know Your Customer and Customer Due Diligence assessments and interrogating financial data to assess the likelihood of financial crime.

We are looking for someone with a keen eye for detail and a passion for quality. You will carry out regular quality reviews, provide meaningful feedback, and analyse results to produce reports that help drive performance, consistency, and customer outcomes.

As part of the quality reviews, you will ensure consistent and accurate rationale on retail, complex and corporate/business products, providing insight and feedback on retail customer risk assessments to FC Investigators - poorly rationalised or incorrect decisions could expose the colleague and bank criminal charges, reputational damage and regulatory censure.

You will work with the 2nd line Financial Crime team to provide advice and guidance to 1st line colleagues, documenting the guidance to strengthen financial crime controls to prevent future reoccurrence where possible.

Within this role you will ensure that working practices support MI production through accurate & timely completion of tasks, assist FC Managers in the collation and production of MI and other controls.

About you

As a minimum requirement, you will bring:

• Experience of working within a financial crime environment. Ideally having worked in either an Unusual Activity Reporting (SARs Reporting), Client Screening, Payment Filtering, Transaction Monitoring or an AML role
• We're looking for someone with excellent judgement and decision-making abilities. The successful candidate will be able to analyse complex information, consider potential risks and mitigations, and make balanced, evidence-based decisions in a fast-paced environment
• A keen eye for detail and be able to present your findings/thoughts in a clear and concise manner
• The ability to analyse information and be able to draw conclusions and/or recommendations from the facts/data provided
• The ability to deliver structured coaching & feedback and to manage individual performance
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills

Our customer first behaviours put customers and members at the heart of how we work together. They are the set of behaviours that every colleague needs to display, in every role:

• Feel what customers feel - We step into our customers’ shoes, using their feedback and insights to empathise with them and to understand their needs, so that every decision we make starts and finishes with our customers in mind

• Say it straight - We are brave in speaking out and saying what we think – we’re honest and direct with good intent, openly sharing diverse perspectives to reach the best conclusions and using language everyone can understand

• Push for better - We don’t settle for mediocrity, we challenge the status quo, taking responsibility for continuous improvement and personal development

• Get it done - We prioritise what will have the greatest impact, we are decisive, and we take accountability for delivering brilliant customer outcomes

You can strengthen your application by showing how our customer first behaviours resonate with you, and where you may have already demonstrated these.

Qualifications

The extras you’ll get

There are all sorts of employee benefits available at Nationwide, including:

• 25 days holiday, pro rata

• Private medical insurance

• A highly competitive pension to help you build a strong foundation for retirement

• Access to an annual performance-related bonus

• Training and development to help you progress your career

• A great selection of additional benefits through our salary sacrifice scheme

• Life assurance to provide peace of mind for you and your loved ones in the event of your death

• Wellhub – access to a range of free and paid options for health and wellness

• Up to 2 days of paid volunteering a year

Banking – but fairer, more rewarding, and for the good of society

We forge our own path at Nationwide.

As a mutual, we’re owned by our members - those customers who bank, save or have a mortgage with us. We challenge the financial sector status quo. We don’t see customers as the engine of our own profit. We share our profits with them and put their needs first. Always there when they need us. Supporting them and their lives.

If you’re inspired by fairer finances, passionate about making a meaningful impact, and truly care about our customers, you’re one of us.

At Nationwide, you are challenged to grow and rewarded for doing so. Valued. Recognised. Inspired to be your best. As a community, we want our working lives to count. As a team, we celebrate what we achieve. As a standard-setter, we work for the good of customers, communities, and broader society.

We are purpose-driven. Uncompromisingly customer. Unstoppably Nationwide.

What to do next

If this role is for you, please click the ‘Apply Now’ button. You’ll need to attach your up-to-date CV and answer a few quick questions for us.

We respond to everyone, so we will be in contact shortly after the closing date to let you know the outcome of your application.

Keeping your data and personal information confidential is important to us. To find out more about how we use and process your data, please read our .

If you want to find out more about using AI in our recruitment process, please read more here.

Disability Confident

We’re not just guided by data, we’re driven by the real experiences of our people. We’re a Disability Confident Level 3 Leader, the highest level.

That’s why we’re constantly evolving our policies and practices to make sure everyone feels genuinely supported, valued, and empowered to champion inclusion. Whatever your needs, we’re here to support you. If you need any additional support throughout your application journey, email our team at Recruitment Support.

Apply safely with Nationwide

Recruitment scams can look convincing, so take a moment to check the role is listed on our official careers site and read our guidance on Don’t be conned by a job scam.

The hiring manager for this role is Yasmin Hands, and the main recruitment contact is Amy Baxter.