Operations Officer - Payments Investigations

The Operations Officer - Payments Investigations is responsible for ensuring the accurate, timely, and secure processing of financial transactions by identifying, resolving, and preventing payment-related issues. This role safeguards both the company and its customers from financial loss, operational risks, and regulatory breaches. The officer acts as a contact point between the payment department and correspondent banks/internal Business Units (BU) to clarify all issues related to payments.

Key Accountabilities

• Payment Investigation & Resolution

  • Investigate failed, delayed, rejected, duplicated, or misrouted payments across all channels (SWIFT, RTGS, ACH, internal transfers, etc.).
  • Perform end-to-end tracing of transactions using internal systems and correspondent banking networks.
  • Resolve payment discrepancies by identifying root causes and implementing corrective actions.

• Customer & Stakeholder Communication

  • Provide timely and accurate updates to Branches & relationship managers, and internal business units regarding investigation progress.
  • Liaise with correspondent banks and external partners through SWIFT messages and formal communication.

• Operational Risk & Compliance Adherence

  • Ensure every investigation complies with AML, sanctions screening, fraud monitoring, and regulatory requirements.
  • Escalate suspicious or high-risk transactions to Compliance, AML, or Fraud teams as needed.
  • Maintain solid controls to mitigate operational, financial, and reputational risks.

• Exception Handling & Case Management

  • Work through payment exception queues and ensure timely handling of pending items.
  • Carry out recalls, amendments, returns, chargebacks, and indemnities according to company policy.
  • Maintain accurate, audit-ready documentation for all cases handled.

• Reconciliation & Transaction Validation

  • Reconcile payment breakages, unmatched entries, and pending items from related system reports.
  • Validate incoming and outgoing payment information to prevent errors and rework.
  • Coordinate with reconciliation teams to close outstanding items.

• Process Improvement & Issue Prevention

  • Identify recurring errors, system issues, or process gaps, and recommend enhancements.
  • Support automation, STP (straight-through processing), and operational excellence initiatives.
  • Contribute to reducing turnaround times and improving investigation quality.

• Reporting & Metrics

  • Prepare daily/weekly/monthly reports on investigations, bottlenecks, and trends.
  • Highlight operational risks, root causes, and performance KPIs to management.
  • Track turnaround time (TAT), investigation accuracy, and customer experience metrics.

• Collaboration & Knowledge Sharing

  • Partner with Operations, IT, Treasury, Compliance, and other teams to ensure smooth payment processing.
  • Support training of new team members and share best practices.
  • Act as a subject matter expert (SME) during audits, reviews, or system upgrades.

Specialist Skills / Technical Knowledge Required for this Role

• Leadership
• Teamwork
• Customer Management
• Business Development
• Financial Management
• Commercial & Innovative Problem Solving

Location
United Arab Emirates