Financial Crime Manager

London, England
Compliance /
Full-time /
Hybrid
About us:

Avara builds innovative products leveraging blockchain technologies. Avara's suite includes the Aave Protocol, along with the native stablecoin GHO, Lens, an open social network, and Family, a design-first mobile crypto wallet. Avara's vision is to build a people-powered internet that benefits all.

Our culture:

Having cultivated a thriving, collaborative culture, our team is kind, welcoming and passionate about what we are building. We celebrate differences and seek to develop and retain the most talented people from a diverse candidate pool from all over the world. No matter where you are based, no ghost will be left behind and we appreciate every moment we get to work and have fun together. 

About the role:

We are looking for a Financial Crime Manager to join our growing team and support our first line of defence. The Financial Crime Manager will be responsible for helping to ensure that we comply with all applicable laws and regulations related to preventing and detecting money laundering, terrorist financing, fraud, bribery and corruption; and circumventing economic sanctions. The role requires a detailed understanding of the regulatory environment for payments companies and cryptoasset trading firms, as well as a keen eye for identifying and mitigating compliance risks.

How you can make an impact:

    • Complete know-your-customer (KYC) and enhanced due diligence (EDD) checks on customers, partners, and third-party service providers.
    • Conduct complex investigations and analyse customer transactional activity and behavioural patterns to determine if customer activity requires further review.
    • Investigate and escalate suspicious activity and transactions to the Money Laundering Reporting Officers as appropriate.
    • Ensure the effectiveness of transaction monitoring systems and make recommendations for enhancements based on emerging threats and business changes.
    • Conduct periodic financial crime risk assessments of our regulated business.
    • Advise the team on financial crime issues and assist in the development of strategies to mitigate inherent risks.
    • Provide training and ongoing support to frontline staff to raise awareness of financial crime risks and ensure understanding of their responsibilities in detecting and reporting suspicious activities.
    • Develop and maintain compliance policies, procedures, and controls that meet or exceed regulatory requirements and best practice.
    • Support the business with the design and launch of new features, products, and/or markets to ensure all legal and regulatory requirements are met.
    • Monitor compliance with relevant regulations and internal policies.
    • Keep up to date with regulatory, industry, and technology changes in order help identify areas of improvement to increase efficiency and ongoing effectiveness.
    • Provide regular Management Information (MI), training, and support to the business as required.
    • Work with various internal and external stakeholders.

Let's connect if:

    • Bachelor's degree in business, finance, law, or a related field.
    • At least 7 years of relevant experience in a risk or compliance role within a financial services organisation, consultancy firm, or regulator. Experience of both payments and cryptoassets is highly preferred.
    • Deep knowledge of relevant financial crime regulations and best practices, as well as familiarity with relevant industry standards and guidelines.
    • Experience conducting financial crime risk assessments and developing policies, procedures, and controls.
    • Experience with compliance-related tools, including for customer screening purposes, transaction monitoring, blockchain analytics, etc.
    • Excellent analytical and communication skills, with the ability to identify and communicate complex information to both technical and non-technical audiences.
    • Ability to work independently and collaboratively, as well as to manage multiple priorities and deadlines.
Haven’t quite met all the criteria? Let’s not miss out on the chance to speak. Whilst you might not meet every single requirement, you might bring other, more exciting skills to the companies!  

Equal opportunity statement:

Avara celebrates diversity and view each and every team member as a separate individual with their own unique identity. No matter your race, religion, gender, ethnicity, age, (dis)ability, sexual orientation or even the wallet you use, we welcome you at Avara. 
 
As an equal opportunities employer, we take accountability and believe in everyone's potential to build, create and inspire changes. With a mission to build a diverse workforce, we are proud to foster a working environment in which everyone can feel safe and valued for who they are.