Sanctions Associate (Tier 2)

About Stripe

Stripe is a financial infrastructure platform for businesses. Millions of companies—from the world's largest enterprises to the most ambitious startups—use Stripe to accept payments, grow their revenue, and accelerate new business opportunities. Our mission is to increase the GDP of the internet, and we have a staggering amount of work ahead. That means you have an unprecedented opportunity to put the global economy within everyone's reach while doing the most important work of your career.

About the team

Did you know that only around 4% of the world’s GDP comes from internet commerce? At Stripe, we believe that this represents a future with almost limitless potential for innovation, creativity and global prosperity. While the promise of a global online economy is palpable, it doesn’t come without significant risk. Each day, bad actors disrupt the trust and safety of the internet and increase the barrier of entry for online businesses. The Financial Crimes team ensures that our platform remains safe, and that prohibited parties are not allowed to utilize our services.

What you’ll do

We are looking for someone who is passionate about fighting financial crimes and solving the puzzle of investigations, is naturally curious, and is comfortable operating in ambiguity and finding creative solutions.

The Tier 2 Sanctions Associate is a key member of the Sanctions Team at Stripe, focused on ensuring compliance with sanctions regulations across multiple jurisdictions. The ideal candidate will conduct in-depth investigations of alerts escalated by the Tier 1 Sanctions Team, drawing on a solid understanding of global sanctions regulations and thriving in a fast-paced environment.

This role demands strong communication and analytical skills and unwavering attention to detail, ensuring the highest quality and accuracy in all investigations. You will clearly articulate risk assessments and recommendations to meet regulatory requirements.

As a Tier 2 associate, you'll collaborate with regional compliance teams and the global sanctions officer to review detailed case documentation, assist with OFAC regulatory filings, and continuously optimize workflows to enhance operational efficiency.

You will be responsible for conducting investigations and making account-level judgments and recommendations for regulatory reporting. You will be confident in looking through data, assessing various indicators, and making judgements on your findings.

The right candidate for this role will have experience in financial crimes compliance, preferably within the fintech or e-commerce space

Responsibilities

• Alert Management and In-Depth Investigations: Conduct thorough analysis of alerts generated from sanctions screening processes,  evaluate and document potential matches against sanctions lists, following established protocols for escalated sanctions alert handling. Draft and articulate recommendations based on the investigation with a clear rationale and supporting evidence.
• Open-Source Research: Utilize a variety of research tools (including but not limited to Clear, Sayari, and open web searches) to conduct extensive investigations that support sanctions risk assessments. Scrutinize corporate registries, governmental databases, and social media platforms for comprehensive insights.
• Customer Communication: Engage with customers to gather further information necessary for completion of the case investigation.
• Fast-Paced Operations: Work efficiently in fast paced environments, prioritizing urgent investigations while maintaining the highest standards of quality and accuracy. Adapt quickly to changing priorities and escalated cases that require immediate attention.
• Ownership of Duties: Demonstrate ownership and accountability for all investigations, ensuring a comprehensive and methodical approach to case resolution coupled with a commitment to delivering high-quality outcomes.
• Regulatory Compliance: Stay well-versed in global sanctions regulations to ensure investigations align with applicable regulations and maintain compliance across multiple jurisdictions.
• Workflow Optimisation: Collaborate with team members to refine optimising existing workflows aimed at reducing false positives. Proactively propose solutions to enhance the sanctions program and improve overall customer experience while managing sanctions risks.
• Team Collaboration: Foster a cooperative team environment by sharing knowledge, providing constructive feedback, and assisting peers with complex case handling to promote collective success.

Who you are

We’re looking for someone who meets the minimum requirements to be considered for the role. If you meet these requirements, you are encouraged to apply. The preferred qualifications are a bonus, not a requirement.

Minimum requirements

• An overall experience of 5 plus years in Financial Crime Operations and a minimum of 3 years of hands on experience in Sanctions Roles.
• Experience conducting in-depth open source research across a wide range of information sources, including the web and global social media platforms
• General awareness of money laundering, terrorism financing, and sanctions trends and regulatory developments
• Independently analyze and evaluate information from various data sources to determine a course of action for a matched case
• Ability to clearly record by writing the rationale & documenting the evidence of the decision making process about the match being positive or false for analytical, presentation, and audit purposes
• Excellent written, spoken and interpersonal skills,
• Excellent problem-solving skills and demonstrated ability to work independently, analyze problems and data sets to make complex investigation decisions
• Self-disciplined, diligent, proactive and detail oriented
• You're willing to periodically work a weekend day for which you will receive a weekday off; the SDC operates during daytime hours with shifts from the morning through early evening

Preferred Qualifications

• 5 years of experience in sanctions compliance, anti-money laundering (AML)/Financial Crime Operations, with a thorough understanding of global sanctions regulations.
• ACAMS/CGSS Certified
• Knowledge of USA Patriot Act, US Treasury/OFAC Code of Federal Regulations,UK HMT sanctions regulations, EU Sanctions and Anti-Money Laundering Directives, etc. 
• Knowledge in payments and the fintech industry 
• Familiarity with SQL and ability to use template or premade SQL queries as part of investigations