Director, Compliance and Risk Financial Crimes

Job Description

THE OPPORTUNITY:

The Director, Compliance & Risk – Financial Crimes reports to the Sr. Director of Lending Compliance and BSA Officer and is responsible for leading a team of compliance and risk professionals in designing, implementing and maintaining a comprehensive enterprise Financial Crimes Risk Management Program in compliance with all applicable state and federal laws and regulations pertaining to the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), USA Patriot Act, Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and FACTA. This person will collaborate with risk stakeholders and business partners to ensure processes, systems and controls are in place to effectively identify, detect and respond to patterns, practices or specific activities that indicate or could indicate fraud (internal or external), money laundering or terrorist financing.

The perfect candidate will bring a "Business Partner" mindset and thrive in an organization that is ready to disrupt the norm. If you are creative and passionate and want to work with like-minded people then you will LOVE Freedom Financial.

How you’ll Contribute:

• Embrace a strong risk culture that identifies and provides oversight, credible challenge and escalation of existing and emerging risks and issues
• Provide strategic direction and guidance to line of business senior leaders regarding applicable laws, rules, regulations, enterprise standards and industry best practices
• Provide subject matter expertise and advice to the team and educates business partners on how to mitigate Financial Crimes risk
• Lead the team in conducting an annual Financial Crimes Risk assessment, including analyzing data for each area of risk across all products and services, review of metrics, monitoring, testing and audit/exam activities and industry related information to formulate an objective assessment of the residual risk
• Design monitoring and surveillance strategies to effectively identify unusual activity and establishes the appropriate investigative and case management processes to decision and document the outcomes
• Develop an internal and external fraud prevention and detection strategy that includes data driven intelligence, analytics and reporting
• Design, implement and execute effective investigation protocols for fraud and other related activity
• Complete and file Suspicious Activity Reports, when required
• Establish oversight protocols of the first line of defense Fraud Investigations Team to ensure unusual activity is identified and escalated appropriately
• Direct the team in the development of Financial Crimes policies, procedures, and job aids
• Direct and advise staff in the execution of Compliance and Risk Program requirements such as regulatory change management, risk assessments, issue management, third party risk management, training, metrics and reporting
• Actively engage with external stakeholders such as partner banks, consultants, regulators, etc.
• Lead all aspects of the preparation of key reports for delivery to senior leaders, governance committees, regulators, or the Board of Directors on the state of the Financial Crimes Risk Management Program.
• Lead the development and implementation of a Financial Crimes training curriculum across the company
• Potentially lead a small team of compliance and risk professionals through recruitment, hiring, training, coaching, performance management and related managerial activities

What You’ll Bring:

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience
• Experience in hiring, building and leading a high performing team
• 10+ years financial services compliance, risk management or audit experience with increasing levels of responsibility
• 7 + years’ experience operating within a Compliance Management System, Operational Risk Management Program, or similar and leading one or more program elements
• 5 + years Financial Crimes experience leading a Fraud Prevention & Detection, AML, or Financial Crimes department
• Prior experience interacting with external regulators and third party audit providers
• Strong interpersonal, communication and influencing skill, including the ability to indirectly influence others outside your department
• Ability to communicate effectively, collaborate with others, solve problems creatively and demonstrate high integrity
• Strong analytical and critical thinking skills, with attention to detail and accuracy. Ability to identify root causes, develop tactical and strategic solutions and effectively prioritize work efforts
• Collaborative, able to influence, negotiate and solve problems with business partners and expert teams across the organizational lines
• Strong project management skills, with a proven ability to coordinate across departments and functions
• Self-starter, willing to take ownership and drive initiatives to resolution while reporting appropriately on progress made and escalating when difficulties are encountered
• 10+ years of experience working with applicable laws, rules, and regulations, how they apply to products and services; ability to identify potential gaps or deficiencies related to the regulatory requirements, assess the level of risk and design solutions to resolve the identified gaps
• Strict attention to detail; ability to produce quality work products without mistakes and discrepancies; Ability to review work products produced by others to ensure accuracy
• Ability to thrive in a fast-paced, matrixed work environment
• Strong computer skills, specifically Microsoft Office products

PREFERRED QUALIFICATIONS:

• Advanced secondary degree or professional certification (e.g., CRCM, CAMS, CFE, IACCP)

About Us:

Freedom Financial Network is a leading digital personal finance company, built to help people. We do what traditional banks don’t: Put people first. We believe in treating people like humans, not account numbers. We help everyday people get on, and stay on, the path to a brighter financial future, with innovative technology and personalized support at every step. We help people control expenses, manage debt, save money, plan ahead, and make better financial decisions. By leveraging our proprietary data and analytics and artificial intelligence we offer solutions tailored for each step of a consumer's financial journey, including personal loans, home equity loans, help with debt, and even financial tools and education.

With 2,400 employees across California, Arizona and Texas, we have served more than 1 million customers, resolved more than $15 billion in consumer debt and originated $6.5 billion in loans over the course of our 20 years in business.

Driven by our core values, we’re passionate about supporting our communities and proudly awarded over $500,000 in grants distributed by the Freedom Foundation Fund and the Freedom Family Fund in 2021. We believe in a culture led by diversity, equity, and inclusion, and encourage our employees to bring their full selves to work every day. Our diversity-focused Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) are open to all, whether a member of the ERG community or an ally of the group and we are a member of the Fintech Racial Equity Coalition to address and improve inequality in the fintech industry.

And finally, we take great pride in our achievements. This year we topped the list of Best Place to Work by the Phoenix Business Journal, were a top 100 Corporate Philanthropist by the San Francisco Business Times, a 2021 Most Admired Company and a Tech Company with the Best Company Culture by BestCompaniesAz, a 2021 Top Work Places winner by AZcentral, a BuiltIn Best Places to Work winner, and one of Phoenix Business Journal’s 2022 Healthiest Employers, to name a few.

Attention Agencies & Search Firms: We do not accept unsolicited candidate resumes or profiles. Please do not reach out to anyone within Freedom Financial Network (FFN) to market your services or candidates. All inquiries should be directed to Talent Acquisition only. We reserve the right to hire any candidates sent unsolicited and will not pay any fees without a contract signed by FFN’s Talent Acquisition leader.

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