Sanctions & Screening Review Specialist

About Uphold

Uphold is a financial technology company that believes on-chain services are the future of finance. It provides modern infrastructure for on-chain payments, banking and investments. Offering Consumer Services, Business Services and Institutional Trading, Uphold makes pioneering financial services easy and trusted for millions of customers in more than 140 countries.

Uphold integrates with more than 30 trading venues, including centralized and decentralized exchanges, to deliver superior liquidity and optimal execution. Uphold never loans out customer assets and is always 100% reserved.
The company pioneered radical transparency and uniquely publishes its assets and liabilities every 30 seconds on a public website (Transparency Page).

Uphold strips away the complexity and lack of transparency to open up Web3 finance for everyone.

To learn more about Uphold, please visit https://uphold.com.

The opportunity: 
Uphold is seeking a Sanctions & Screening Review Specialist to support the execution and continuous enhancement of our global screening program. This role is responsible for the second-line review and disposition of screening alerts, including name screening, transaction screening, and evasion detection across Uphold’s global ecosystem.
You will focus on applying expert judgment to complex name-matching and risk scenarios, providing clear escalation outcomes for sanctions (OFAC, UK, EU, UN) and Politically Exposed Persons (PEP), including secondary PEP and Related Close Associate (RCA) determinations. This is a hands-on, individual contributor role that requires a blend of investigative curiosity, technical understanding of screening controls, and the ability to operate effectively in a fast-paced crypto environment.

What you’ll be doing primarily:
Technical Adjudication: Act as a specialized second-line reviewer for escalated Sanctions, PEP, and RCA alerts, performing deep-dive research to provide definitive, audit-ready dispositions.
Control Optimization: Partner with the Global Head of Sanctions and cross-functional teams to assist in tuning efforts for screening tools; identify "noise," perform root cause analysis on false positives, and suggest logic enhancements.
Complex PEP/Secondary PEP Assessment: Lead investigations into”PEP” and  "Secondary PEP" relationships, synthesizing public records and database hits into concise, risk-based summaries.
Evasion Detection: Monitor alert trends for potential sanctions evasion patterns and technical control gaps, recommending corrective actions or enhanced monitoring where necessary.
Cross-Functional Guidance: Provide sanctions screening advisory to Product, Engineering, and Operations teams to ensure compliance requirements are embedded into the customer lifecycle.
Regulatory Readiness: Drive exam-readiness through high-quality screening documentation, rationales, and BRDs.

Required Qualifications:

• 4-5 years of experience in sanctions compliance, with a focus on second-line oversight in a fintech or high-volume financial institution.
• Domain Expertise: Deep knowledge of global sanctions regimes (OFAC, EU, UK, UN) and a sophisticated understanding of PEP/RCA risk profiles and red flags.
• Screening Tech Savvy: Familiarity with the "mechanics" of screening - you understand string-matching algorithms, fuzzy logic, and how threshold tuning impacts risk coverage.
• Investigative Rigor: Demonstrated ability to use screening platforms (e.g., World-Check, Bridger, ComplyAdvantage) and OSINT tools to resolve complex "gray area" matches.
• Analytical Communication: Excellent written skills, with the ability to translate complex data-driven investigations into clear, executive-ready memos.
• Integrity & Ownership: A high degree of discretion and the ability to take full ownership of escalation outcomes within established governance frameworks.

Nice to haves:
Relevant professional certification: (CAMS, CGSS, CSS, CFCS, or ICA Diploma).
Crypto-native expertise: Proficiency in blockchain analytics tools (e.g., Chainalysis, TRM Labs, or Elliptic) is a significant advantage.
Regulatory intelligence: Experience reviewing enforcement actions and translating those findings into internal control improvements.
Technical fluency: Familiarity with data analysis tools (SQL or similar) for ad-hoc investigations and reporting.

What We Offer

• Innovation and Impact: Contribute to pioneering projects in a dynamic and challenging environment.
• Competitive Compensation: Performance bonuses, and comprehensive benefits on top of a competitive salary.
• Strong Company Culture: Thrive in a supportive, collegiate environment with values of integrity, teamwork, accountability, and excellence.
• Global Collaboration: Participate in regular updates, strategy sessions, and networking opportunities across the group.
• Development Opportunities: Access training and mentorship programs.
• Flexibility: Enjoy options to work from home, other locations, or adjust your hours.
• Inclusive Environment: Value and respect diverse perspectives.
  

Our Benefits

• Annual bonus program based on individual, team and company performance.
• Generous PTO, healthcare, and employee assistance programs.
• Engaging events and celebrations.
• Well-stocked office kitchen with a foodie culture.

Visit our careers page for more exciting opportunities, if this role isn’t the perfect fit.

EEOC Employer

We're proud to be an Equal Opportunity Employer and we celebrate our employees' differences, including race, color, religion, gender identity, national origin, age, military service eligibility, veteran status, sexual orientation, marital status, disability, and any other protected classes. Difference makes us stronger and better - together.