Financial Crime Investigator

About this role

Other Locations

Leeds

Glasgow

Birmingham

Cardiff

Chester

Maidstone

Norwich / Norfolk

Worthing

Edinburgh

Swindon / Wiltshire

Northampton / Northamptonshire

London / Greater London

Bournemouth / Dorset

Dunfermline / Fife Region

Belfast / Antrim

Sheffield / South Yorkshire

Wakefield / West Yorkshire

Manchester

Contract

Permanent (Full Time )

Job description

We have a fantastic opportunity for someone with a passion for investigation, problem-solving, and financial crime prevention to join our team as a Financial Crime Investigator. You will be responsible for conducting Transaction Monitoring reviews, interrogating complex customer and transactional data, and applying your specialist knowledge of AML, Terrorist Financing, and Tax Evasion to identify emerging risks and drive appropriate outcomes. Success in this role requires a curious mindset, strong analytical capability, and the ability to translate complex information into clear, well-reasoned conclusions.

The working hours (35 per week) for this role are to be worked 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.

If we receive a high volume of relevant applications, we may close the advert earlier than the advertised date, so please apply as soon as you can.

What you’ll be doing

As a Financial Crime Investigator within our transaction monitoring team your key responsibilities will be to conduct in-depth investigations into Anti-Money Laundering (AML) transaction monitoring alerts, using a curious and analytical approach to identify unusual activity, perform Know Your Customer (KYC) and Customer Due Diligence (CDD) reviews, and interrogate financial data to assess potential financial crime risks.

You will lead end-to-end investigations into potentially suspicious activity, applying critical thinking and sound judgement to evaluate complex information, identify financial crime indicators, and submit high-quality disclosures to the National Crime Agency where appropriate.

Within this role you will deliver 1st Line Financial Crime activities with a strong focus on identifying risks, analysing trends, and continuously improving processes, ensuring high-quality outcomes, excellent customer service, and compliance with regulatory and legal obligations.

You will also work closely with 1st and 2nd line Financial Crime teams, asking insightful questions and exploring root causes to provide guidance to 1st Line colleagues, while documenting key learnings and control improvements to strengthen the overall financial crime framework and prevent recurrence.

As part of this role, you will immediately escalate any potential true matches on Sanction, PEP and AML investigations, providing full information, analysis and outlining the potential impact.

You will review High Risk Jurisdiction referrals including transactional activity and source of wealth/source of funds analysis and respond to legal orders and police liaison for all Virgin Money enquiries and court documents, ensuring compliance to court timeframes. This includes court attendance on behalf of Virgin Money.

About you

We need you to have

• Proven experience within a Financial Crime environment, with a strong curiosity for understanding complex financial crime risks and conducting investigations relating to Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Terrorist Financing, or Tax Evasion.
• Naturally inquisitive with a keen eye for detail, able to challenge assumptions, identify anomalies, and communicate investigation findings clearly and concisely.
• Strong analytical skills with the ability to interrogate complex information, identify patterns and trends, and draw well-reasoned conclusions and recommendations from available data and evidence during Financial Crime investigations.
• A proactive and self-driven approach, demonstrating the ability to work autonomously, manage competing priorities, and investigate issues through to resolution.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, with the capability to ask insightful questions, influence outcomes, and translate complex information into clear and meaningful messages.
• Proficient in Microsoft Office applications, particularly Excel, with the ability to utilise data analysis techniques to support investigations, identify risks, and generate actionable insights.
• Experience of any AML Prevention, Detection or Investigation system
• Experience of any Sanction, PEP’s & Transaction Monitoring system

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.

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.