Sr. Associate, AML Compliance

Sr. Associate, AML Compliance

Country: United States of America

Your Journey Starts Here:

Santander is a global leader and innovator in the financial services industry. We believe that our employees are our greatest asset. Our focus is on fostering an enriching journey that empowers you to explore diverse career opportunities while nurturing your personal growth. We are committed to creating an environment where continuous learning and development are prioritized, enabling you to thrive both professionally and personally. Here, you will find ample opportunities to connect and collaborate with talented colleagues from around the world, sharing insights and driving innovation together. Join us at Santander, where you are supported by a culture of engagement and a commitment to your success.

An exciting journey awaits, if you are interested in exploring the possibilities We Want to Talk to You!

The Difference You Make:
The Sr. Associate, AML Compliance is responsible onboarding of High Net Worth (HNW) and Ultra High Net Worth (UHNW) clients, as well as various operations including transaction monitoring, AML investigations, SAR filing, enhanced due diligence processes, high-risk customer surveillance, special investigations, and OFAC compliance. The incumbent will work as a subject matter expert supporting the Firms AML/Compliance Team to ensure compliance with Bank Secrecy Act (BSA)/Anti-Money Laundering (AML) related regulations, Office of Foreign Assets related regulations and the USA PATRIOT Act.

• Perform enhanced due diligence (EDD) on new and existing HNW/UHNW clients, including source of wealth, source of funds, and reputational risk reviews.
• Oversee KYC onboarding processes, ensuring compliance with broker-dealer and regulatory requirements.
• Monitor transactions for unusual or suspicious activity, with a focus on high-risk products, cross-border activity, and complex financial structures.
• Investigate, document, and escalate potential suspicious activity, preparing Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) as required.
• Serve as a subject matter expert for HNW AML risks, providing guidance to front office, compliance, and operations teams.
• Collaborate with the AML Compliance Officer to refine policies and procedures tailored to HNW client risk profiles.
• Conduct periodic reviews of client accounts, including negative news searches and ongoing risk assessments.
• Provide AML training and awareness specific to the HNW/UHNW client segment for relationship managers and support staff.
• Liaise with regulators, auditors, and law enforcement on AML-related inquiries and examinations.
• Stay current on emerging risks in wealth management, sanctions, PEP exposure, and financial crime typologies.
• Develops models, metrics, and controls that the company utilizes to identify potential hazardous transactions.
• Serves as a subject matter expert (SME) on AML policy and procedures to the business; provides direction and guidance to employees on appropriate remediation action for high risk accounts.
• Coaches AML Analysts who analyze and research high level customer relationships using all available resources.
• Interacts with various stakeholders within the organization and externally with law enforcement to gather critical information for decision making.
• Serves as a Subject Matter Expert (SME) participating in multiple projects both within the unit and company-wide.
• Provides accurate documentation of account activity, formulates suspicious activity reports on the most complex cases and enhanced due diligence decisions, and recommends appropriate risk-based business actions to be taken.
• Collaborates with complex business units and provides compliance risk expertise and consulting for projects and initiatives with high risk to identify and mitigate regulatory risk.
• Consults with business to develop corrective action plans and effectively manage change to ensure regulatory compliance.
• Provides regulatory guidance as needed.

What You Bring:
To perform this job successfully, an individual must be able to perform each essential duty satisfactorily. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill, and/or ability required. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.

• Bachelor's Degree or equivalent work experience: Finance, Business or equivalent field - Required.
• Master's Degree: Finance, Business, or equivalent field - Preferred.

• Minimum 9+ years of AML/Financial Crime Compliance experience within a broker-dealer, private bank, or wealth management environment.

• Bilingual English/Spanish Required.