About the Role
The Senior Analyst, Financial Crime Compliance serves as a subject matter expert in the second line of defence, supporting the MLRO in managing and enhancing the Financial Crime Compliance function in the UAE. This role provides expert advisory and judgment on high-risk clients and complex escalations, acts as a strategic partner to Sales, Onboarding, Transaction Monitoring, Legal, and Product teams, and ensures 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 Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD) cases, merchant change requests, and screening alerts, ensuring CDD/EDD is rigorously performed and documented.
- Present well-justified risk recommendations to the MLRO and Deputy MLRO.
- Investigate alerts reported to Compliance, collaborate 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 and ensure rigorous monitoring of high-risk clients.
- Proactively lead or assist in the development and update of the local compliance framework (policies, procedures, and operating memos) with support from the Deputy MLRO.
- Provide quick and precise advisory on internal team inquiries regarding the application of procedures.
- Contribute to updating the AML/CFT risk classification and assess new products, features, and activities, including stored value and card issuing propositions.
- Contribute to external reports for regulators and internal reports for senior management and the Board, including business-wide and entity-level risk assessments.
- Support responses to internal and external audits and regulatory engagements, tracking the timely completion of resulting action plans.
- Perform second line quality assurance testing of CDD/EDD and screening decisions to inform process and training improvements.
- Conduct regulatory watch and gap analysis to compare applicable regulations and sanctions with the current framework, monitor emerging typologies, and propose enhancements.
- Draft training materials and presentations, and conduct 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, preferably in the banking or payments sectors.
- Experience in Compliance Advisory is ideal; otherwise, 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 areas, particularly UAE regulatory requirements (CBUAE regulations on retail payment services, card schemes, and stored value facilities) is advantageous.
- Working knowledge of the UAE regulatory environment; experience in a CBUAE-regulated or other UAE regulated business is strongly preferred.
- Strong sense of accountability and a positive, solution-oriented, can-do approach.
- Ability to identify inefficiencies, consider the bigger picture, challenge the status quo, and define scalable and sustainable processes.
- Well-organized self-starter, capable of prioritizing tasks quickly and meeting deadlines under pressure.
- Strong stakeholder management and communication skills, with the ability to work collaboratively in a team environment.
- Willingness to continuously learn and stay updated with industry and regulatory changes, both local and international.
- Strong spoken and written English skills.
- ACAMS, ICA Diploma or equivalent certification, as well as a degree in Law or a related field, is desirable but not mandatory.
Additional Information
We create conditions that allow high performers to thrive, offering real ownership, fewer blockers, and impactful work from day one. Here, you will move quickly, face meaningful challenges, and be recognized for your contributions. We foster an environment of teamwork and support, welcoming individuals from all backgrounds and identities. If you need assistance to make your experience more comfortable, please let us know.
Life at the company
Understanding that work is one part of life, our hybrid work model supports flexibility, allowing for three days in the office each week to encourage collaboration and connection.
