Senior Financial Crime Investigator in Milton Keynes

Location: Milton Keynes (Fully On-Site)

Are you ready to take the next step in your career within a regulated financial services environment - with a pathway to Deputy MLRO? We are seeking a driven and experienced Senior Financial Crime Investigator to join our growing Compliance team at Viva.com. This role offers the opportunity to work closely with the UK Money Laundering Reporting Officer (MLRO), with a clear development path towards a Deputy MLRO position for the right candidate. This is an exciting opportunity for a highly capable investigator who can apply sound judgement, take ownership of complex cases, and help strengthen Viva’s UK financial crime framework in a fast‑paced fintech environment.

About the Role

This is a senior, hands‑on role combining complex investigative work with oversight responsibilities, quality assurance, stakeholder engagement, and continuous control improvement. You will investigate high‑risk and complex AML matters, provide expert guidance across the business, support the effectiveness of Viva’s financial crime controls, and act as a senior escalation point within the team. The role is fully on‑site in Milton Keynes to support close collaboration, mentoring, and knowledge sharing across Compliance, Product, Operations, and Technology teams.

Key Responsibilities

• Conduct complex financial crime investigations involving AML, CTF, sanctions, and suspicious activity concerns.
• Review and assess alerts generated through transaction monitoring systems, sanctions screening, onboarding reviews, and internal escalations.
• Produce clear, concise, evidence‑based, and regulator‑defensible investigation reports, case rationales, and decision records.
• Identify emerging financial crime typologies, trends, and control weaknesses, escalating concerns and recommending improvements where appropriate.
• Provide risk‑based guidance and challenge to frontline and first‑line teams on AML, CDD, EDD, sanctions, and broader financial crime matters.
• Act as a senior escalation point and subject matter expert for complex, high‑risk, or sensitive onboarding and due diligence cases.
• Support the MLRO in the preparation and submission of Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) to the National Crime Agency (NCA) in line with POCA requirements.
• Use AI‑assisted tools, including LLMs, anomaly detection, clustering, and graph analytics, to enhance investigations and identify complex risk patterns.
• Provide mentoring, coaching, and day‑to‑day guidance to junior investigators and analysts.

Why Join Viva.com

• Opportunity to work closely with senior leadership, including the UK MLRO.
• Progression pathway towards a Deputy MLRO role.
• Dynamic, innovative, and fast‑paced fintech environment.
• Opportunity to influence and strengthen Viva’s UK financial crime framework during a period of continued growth.

Skills & Experience

• 5–7 years’ experience conducting AML/CFT investigations within a regulated fintech, payments, banking, or EMI environment.
• Strong understanding of end‑to‑end AML operations, controls, and regulatory decisioning across the customer lifecycle.
• Demonstrated ability to assess financial crime risk and apply sound, defensible judgement.
• In‑depth understanding of UK regulatory requirements, including MLR 2017, POCA, sanctions obligations, and JMLSG guidance.
• Experience preparing and supporting SAR submissions and engaging with law enforcement where required.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret complex transactional, behavioural, and customer data.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to produce audit‑ready documentation and clear case rationales.

Personal Attributes

• Proactive, detail‑oriented, and solutions‑focused.
• Strong sense of accountability and professional integrity.
• Confident communicator with sound judgement and decision‑making capability.
• Passionate about financial crime prevention, regulatory compliance, and continuous improvement.

A competitive salary, monthly paid bonus scheme, private medical health insurance, pension, 25 days holiday, office gym (Milton Keynes office only), free fruit bowls, beverages, and free breakfast cereals (London office only).