Director, Financial Intelligence Unit

Circle is a financial technology company at the epicenter of the emerging internet of money, where value can finally travel like other digital data — globally, nearly instantly and less expensively than legacy settlement systems. This ground-breaking new internet layer opens up previously unimaginable possibilities for payments, commerce and markets that can help raise global economic prosperity and enhance inclusion. Our infrastructure – including USDC, a blockchain-based dollar – helps businesses, institutions and developers harness these breakthroughs and capitalize on this major turning point in the evolution of money and technology.

What you’ll be part of:

Circle is committed to visibility and stability in everything we do. As we grow as an organization, we're expanding into some of the world's strongest jurisdictions. Speed and efficiency are motivators for our success and our employees live by our company values: Multistakeholder, Mindfulness, Driven by Excellence and High Integrity. Circlers are consistently evolving in a remote world where strength in numbers fuels team success. We have built a flexible and diverse work environment where new ideas are encouraged and everyone is a stakeholder.

What you’ll be responsible for: 

Circle is looking for a Director to lead its Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU). You will serve as a key leader within the Financial Crimes Compliance team, liaising with the broader risk and compliance team. You will oversee the investigations process and serve as the senior escalation point of contact and decision maker for resolving complex investigations. You will provide strategic and tactical leadership to further develop the existing FIU surveillance capabilities and establish a world-class operation. You will represent Circle on all FIU matters to both external and internal stakeholders, including regulators and internal audit, and will provide reporting at various levels of Circle governance and oversight committee levels. You will ensure the team completes all processes related to alert resolution, including the filing of SARs, while maintaining high levels of quality. You will set the FIU strategy and proactively identify trends in all areas of FIU’s purview, including AML violations and inquiries, while collaborating with Circle’s broader risk and compliance teams to improve standards, procedures, processes, education, and awareness.

What you'll work on:

• Owning and enhancing existing FIU processes and written policies, standards and/or procedures.

• Continually developing up-to-date knowledge of criminal methods and AML typologies based on trends identified in SARs.

• Maintaining up-to-date knowledge of industry standards and developments in the areas of blockchain technology, KYC, BSA/AML, and OFAC, and updating regulatory requirements and internal policies as appropriate.

• Providing oversight of operations-led investigations, ensuring quality and timely resolution of alerts.

• Producing in-depth and high-quality reports that provide assessments of financial crime (e.g., fraud, money laundering, sanctions, terrorist financing, etc).

• Proactively analyzing transaction data to identify unusual activity.

• Providing recommendations to enhance transaction monitoring and KYC controls based on emerging risks and trends.

• Maintaining an organized, logical and easily searchable records and supporting documentation for all investigations.

• Serving as the senior escalation point of contact and decision maker for resolving complex investigations.

You will aspire to our four core values:

• Multistakeholder - you have dedication and commitment to our customers, shareholders, employees and families and local communities.

• Mindful - you seek to be respectful, an active listener and to pay attention to detail.  

• Driven by Excellence - you are driven by our mission and our passion for customer success which means you relentlessly pursue excellence, that you do not tolerate mediocrity and you work intensely to achieve your goals. 

• High Integrity - you seek open and honest communication, and you hold yourself to very high moral and ethical standards.  You reject manipulation, dishonesty and intolerance.

What you’ll bring to Circle: 

• 12+ years experience performing financial crime investigations and/or financial crime analytics.

• 5+ years experience managing