The Role

The consulting firm is hiring an Assistant Manager for AML Investigations based in Dubai, UAE. The role covers conducting and overseeing AML investigations, reviewing complex transaction monitoring alerts and financial crime referrals, assessing suspicious activity, and supporting regulatory reporting requirements. The position also involves providing technical guidance and coaching to analysts.

Key Responsibilities

AML Investigations & Transaction Monitoring

• Conduct end-to-end investigations of alerts escalated by L1 analysts.
• Review transaction monitoring alerts escalated from TM teams.
• Analyze unusual transaction patterns, customer behavior, and account activity.
• Assess whether activity is consistent with the customer's known profile, business activities, source of funds, and expected account usage.
• Review customer transactional behavior against KYC, CDD/EDD, Source of Funds, and Source of Wealth information.
• Assess customer risk ratings, onboarding information, and ownership structures.
• Identify and investigate potential indicators of money laundering, terrorist financing, sanctions evasion, fraud, and other financial crime risks.
• Analyze complex transaction flows, customer relationships, counterparties, and ownership structures.
• Perform adverse media, sanctions, and open-source intelligence reviews as part of investigations.
• Prepare comprehensive, well-documented investigation reports with clear rationale and conclusions.

Suspicious Activity Assessment

• Assess and determine whether activity warrants escalation for Suspicious Transaction Report (STR/SAR) consideration.
• Support regulatory reporting and responses to law enforcement, regulatory, and internal stakeholder requests.

Case Review & Quality Oversight

• Act as an escalation point for complex and high-risk investigations.
• Review investigator assessments and provide challenge, guidance, and quality oversight.
• Ensure investigations are completed in line with regulatory expectations, internal policies, and audit requirements.
• Promote consistency and quality across case handling and documentation standards.

Stakeholder Engagement

• Liaise with Relationship Managers, KYC teams, Compliance Advisory, Operations, Fraud Risk, and other internal stakeholders to obtain information relevant to investigations.
• Communicate investigation outcomes and risk assessments to senior management and key stakeholders.

Risk Management & Continuous Improvement

• Identify emerging financial crime typologies, trends, and control gaps.
• Contribute to the enhancement of transaction monitoring rules, investigation procedures, and AML controls.
• Support internal audits, regulatory inspections, compliance reviews, and remediation activities.
• Assist in preparing management information, investigation metrics, and reporting packs.

Skills & Experience

Experience

• 5–8 years of experience in AML, Financial Crime Compliance, Transaction Monitoring, or AML Investigations within banking or financial services.
• Minimum 2–3 years handling complex investigations, suspicious activity assessments, and high-risk customer reviews.
• Experience reviewing and coaching analysts, quality assurance, and stakeholder management is preferred.

Knowledge

• Knowledge of AML/CFT regulations, sanctions compliance, and financial crime typologies.

Qualifications

• Professional certification such as CAMS, ICA, CFCS, or equivalent is preferred.

About MENA Careers

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