Financial Crime Investigator (Transaction Monitoring)

About this role

Job Description

Financial Crime Investigator (Transaction Monitoring)

Fixed Term Contract for 6 Months

Office Based role in : Manchester

Role Purpose

We are building a team of specialist investigators to review and investigate Transaction Monitoring (TM) alerts. You will assess unusual or suspicious activity, reach well-evidenced decisions, and, where required, submit disclosures to the National Crime Agency (NCA). You will operate to a high standard of quality, accuracy and timeliness, in line with our internal policies and regulatory obligations.

Key Responsibilities

• Investigate TM alerts end to end, reviewing customer profiles, account behavior, transaction history and available KYC/CDD information.
• Identify indicators of money laundering, terrorist financing, fraud, sanctions evasion and other financial crime typologies.
• Determine whether activity is suspicious, with clear, documented and defensible rationale.
• Prepare and submit Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) and disclosures to the NCA where required and Manage tipping-off risk and maintain strict confidentiality.
• Escalate complex, high-risk or potentially systemic issues to senior investigators or the MLRO function.
• Meet agreed productivity, quality and SLA targets.
• Complete and pass the internal accreditation process within the required timeframe.

Essential Skills and Experience

• Proven experience investigating TM alerts in a regulated financial services environment.
• Experience drafting SARs or equivalent disclosures to the NCA, or direct exposure to the process.
• Strong analytical skills, with the ability to review large volumes of data and spot patterns and anomalies.
• Excellent written communication, able to produce clear, concise and auditable case narratives.
• Sound judgement and decision-making, with attention to detail under time pressure.
• Comfortable working within defined processes, controls and quality standards

Desirable

• Experience with case management and TM systems.
• Background in retail, commercial or private banking, payments, or wealth management.
• Knowledge of financial crime typologies.
• ICA, ACAMS (CAMS) or equivalent financial crime qualification.

Behaviors

• Accountability and ownership of cases
• Resilience and focus in high-volume environments
• Collaborative, open to coaching and feedback

Working Arrangements

• Office-based at either Edinburgh or Manchester during onboarding and accreditation.
• Flexibility to work hybrid may be offered after successful accreditation, subject to business need and performance.
• Satisfactory completion of pre-employment screening (including right to work, credit and criminal record checks and references).