Senior Manager, AML Investigations (People Leader)

Your opportunity

At Schwab, you’re empowered to make an impact on your career. Here, innovative thought meets creative problem solving, helping us “challenge the status quo” and transform the finance industry together. Please note: This position is M-F during standard business hours with a hybrid work model (4 days in-office, 1 day working from home). It is only available in the areas listed. Candidate must reside or be willing to relocate on their own to one of the listed areas. Applicants must be currently authorized to work in the United States on a full-time basis without employer sponsorship.

The position is within the Anti Money Laundering (AML) Department, part of the Financial Crimes Risk Management (FCRM) organization. The organization assists in the assessment of AML risk presented to our business and the affirmative commitment to comply with laws and regulations governing money laundering activities, those identified under OFAC, as well as other financial crimes. A key objective of the organization is our ongoing commitment to the corporation’s abilities to meet regulatory obligations. Responsibilities of FCRM extend beyond the AML program and include the Corporation’s Anti-Bribery and Identity Theft Program, Internal Investigations, and the safeguarding of customer and corporate assets against Fraud. 

The Sr. Team Manager of AML Investigations plays an integral role leading a subset of the broader AML Investigations (AMLI) team within the second line of defense BSA/AML/Sanctions organization at Charles Schwab.  This position involves the direct supervision of AML staff that investigates potentially suspicious client behavior and transactional activity based on referrals from incident reports, escalated surveillance alerts, and inquiries from law enforcement and regulatory agencies. The team assesses investigative findings to determine whether a Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) is warranted and, when appropriate, files SARs with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network for dissemination to government and law enforcement agencies.  Key accountability will be measured, in large part, based on timeliness and management of case load referrals and appropriate disposition with respect to escalation of cases to Suspicious Activity Reports.  It will also require appropriate management reporting to communicate trends, productivity, and potential gaps.  The successful candidate will also operate in a leadership capacity, providing subject matter expertise in financial crimes investigations, training team members, providing support for workload management strategies, process improvement initiatives, and guidance to internal and external business partners.

What You Are Good At: 

As a Sr. Team Manager, you will serve as a strategic and operational leader of investigation activities by assigned team members and may be asked to lead other related processes and projects. You will need to multitask investigations and a multitude of leadership responsibilities, as well as keeping leadership and business partners informed of findings. Excellent leadership skills are key for this role, withthe ability to lead team members through complex, high-volume investigative workloads. Members of the AML Investigations group must demonstrate a high degree of initiative with limited direct supervision when addressing their daily responsibilities, and team leaders must help support the strategy and direction of their team members in alignment with organizational goals and objectives. All casework must be completed within well-defined regulatory guidelines in a busy and highly scrutinized environment. You should be able to demonstrate consistency in exercising sound judgment and decision-making with respect to risk issues. The ability to effectively balance individual cases, overall workloads, and additional responsibilities at a high level of competency is required.

You will identify procedural and strategic opportunities to mitigate financial crimes risk through collaboration with firm partners and industry peers. The role provides regular updates to management on investigative activity, emerging threats, trends, and key initiatives. You will demonstrate initiative, sound judgment, and cross‑functional collaboration to strengthen oversight of financial crimes risk and its impact on the firm and its clients, while partnering across investigations teams, Corporate Risk Management, Financial Crimes Risk Management, and business stakeholders to achieve these objectives.

What you have

Required Qualifications:  

• Minimum 10 years of financial industry or regulatory experience.
• Minimum of 3-5 years of direct BSA/AML/Financial Crimes experience
• Detailed knowledge of AML, BSA, and OFAC regulations
• Strong understanding of various banking and/or brokerage products operations, systems and business lines.
• Demonstrated ability to effectively work independently while also leading, coaching, and guiding team members.
• Ability to form relationships effectively and quickly, establish trust, respect, competence, and confidence.
• Effective interpersonal, influencing, and facilitation skills, with well-developed verbal and written communication practices.
• Smart time management skills utilizing a risk-based approach to prioritizing and completing daily tasks and managing many active deliverables simultaneously.
• Proven problem-solving skills, experience in handling complex customer issues, the ability to manage high-pressure situations, resolution, and follow-through.
• Thorough knowledge of Microsoft Office applications including advanced experience with Excel, Access, Outlook, PowerPoint, etc…

Preferred Qualifications:

• Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS) certification or equivalent
• FINRA Series 7 or 99 licensing
• Previous people leadership preferred
• Working knowledge of the digital assets ecosystem, including cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, and decentralized finance is preferred
• Experience with blockchain analytics tools (e.g., TRM Labs, Elliptic, Chainalysis) and conducting digital assets investigations using these products is preferred