About the Role
The Senior Analyst, Financial Crime Compliance is a subject matter expert in the second line of defense, supporting the MLRO in managing and strengthening the Financial Crime Compliance function in the UAE. The role provides expert advisory and judgment on high-risk clients and complex escalations, acting as a strategic partner to Sales, Onboarding, Transaction Monitoring, Legal, and Product, while ensuring adherence to UAE AML/CFT/CPF, sanctions, and payments regulations.
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What You Will Be Doing
- Provide operational advisory on high-risk clients during onboarding, periodic reviews, or trigger events, delivering justified opinions and recommendations. This includes EDD cases, merchant change requests, and screening alerts, with CDD/EDD rigorously performed and documented.
- Present well-justified risk recommendations to the MLRO and DMLRO.
- Investigate alerts reported to Compliance, collaborating with the Financial Crime Investigations Unit (FCIU) and Transaction Monitoring on escalations, and review internal unusual activity reports. Draft Suspicious Transaction/Activity Reports (STR/SARs) for MLRO decisions to ensure the riskiest clients are monitored accordingly.
- Proactively lead or contribute to the development and update of the local compliance framework (policies, procedures, and operating memos) with the support of the DMLRO.
- Provide quick and precise advisory on internal team inquiries regarding the application of procedures.
- Contribute to updating the AML/CFT risk classification and assessing new products, features, and activities, including stored value and card issuing propositions.
- Support the creation of external reports for regulators and internal reports for senior management and the Board, including business-wide and entity-level risk assessments.
- Aid in responses to internal and external audits and regulatory engagements, ensuring timely completion of resulting action plans.
- Perform second line quality assurance testing of CDD/EDD and screening decisions, integrating findings into process and training improvements.
- Conduct regulatory watch and gap analysis between applicable regulations and sanctions and the current framework, monitor emerging typologies, and propose enhancements.
- Draft training materials and presentations, conducting scenario-based training sessions for business units.
- Act as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) in various ad hoc Group and regional Compliance projects.
About You
- Minimum 5+ years of experience in a Compliance function within the banking or payments space.
- Prior experience in Compliance Advisory is ideal. A combination of 2LoD operations experience with exposure to investigations and audit handling is preferred.
- Robust knowledge of financial security topics (KYC, AML/CFT, sanctions) and other compliance topics, including UAE regulatory requirements (CBUAE regulations on retail payment services, card schemes, and stored value facilities) and scheme rules (added advantage).
- Working knowledge of the UAE regulatory environment; experience in a CBUAE regulated or other UAE regulated business is strongly preferred.
- Clear sense of accountability and a positive, solution-oriented, can-do approach.
- Ability to identify inefficiencies, see the bigger picture, challenge the status quo, and define scalable and sustainable processes.
- Well-organized self-starter, able to prioritize quickly and meet deadlines under pressure.
- Strong stakeholder management and communication skills, and a collaborative team player.
- Willingness to learn continuously and stay updated with the payments industry and regulations, both local and international.
- Strong spoken and written English.
- ACAMS, ICA Diploma, or an equivalent certification, and/or a degree in Law or a related field is desirable but not essential.
Additional Information
Bring All of You to Work
We create conditions for high performers to thrive, through real ownership, fewer blockers, and work that makes a difference from day one.
Here, you’ll move fast, take on meaningful challenges, and be recognized for the impact you deliver. It’s a place where ambition meets opportunity, and where your growth is in your hands.
We work as one team, backing each other to succeed. So whatever your background or identity, if you’re ready to grow and make a difference, you’ll feel right at home here.
It’s important we set you up for success and make our process as accessible as possible. So let us know if you need anything to make your experience or working environment more comfortable.
Life at the company
We understand that work is just one part of your life. Our hybrid working model offers flexibility, with three days per week in the office to support collaboration and connection.
