Sr. Analyst - Complex Investigations

Pathward, N.A.

$60K — $100K *
Finance & Insurance
5 - 7 years of experience
Job Overview by Ladders

Qualifications

  • Bachelor's degree in Finance, Criminal Justice, Accounting, Business, or related field.
  • CAMS or equivalent AML certification strongly preferred.
  • Advanced certifications (e.g., CFE, CFCS) a plus.
  • 5+ years of experience in BSA/AML, Sanctions, or Fraud investigations with a focus on complex casework and SAR filing.
  • Proven ability to independently navigate multi-account and multi-entity investigations.
  • Expertise in financial-crime typologies and relevant transaction monitoring systems.

Responsibilities

  • Conduct complex, high-risk investigations across various financial products and customer types.
  • Manage ongoing activity reviews and examiner-referred cases according to escalation criteria.
  • Analyze KYC/CDD and transactional data to formulate defensible investigative conclusions.
  • Escalate identified risks and control gaps based on case analysis.
  • Draft comprehensive SAR narratives and ensure thorough documentation for regulatory compliance.
  • Collaborate with cross-functional teams to coordinate on complex financial-crime cases.
  • Provide coaching and feedback to junior analysts, contributing to their development.

Benefits

  • Health insurance coverage.
  • 401(k) retirement benefits.
  • Life insurance and disability benefits.
  • Paid time off.
  • Eligibility for annual performance-based incentives.
Full Job Description
About the Role:

The Senior Analyst, Complex Investigations conducts the review, investigation, and resolution of the Bank's most complex and high-risk financial crime matters across AML, Sanctions, and Fraud domains. As a senior individual contributor, the role independently executes multi-account, multi-entity, and cross-product investigations, produces defensible SAR narratives and decisioning, and applies advanced typologies and investigative techniques. The Senior Analyst operates within the escalation and quality frameworks owned by leadership, serves as a technical resource and informal coach to less-experienced analysts, and ensures all investigative outputs are consistent, well-documented, and regulator-ready under OCC, FinCEN, and internal program standards.

What You Will Do:

Complex Investigations & Case Execution
  • Independently conduct complex and high-risk investigations across products and customer types, including multi-account, multi-entity, and cross-product matters.
  • Handle repeat SAR subjects, continuing activity reviews, and examiner-referred matters in line with established escalation criteria.
  • Analyze transactional, KYC/CDD, and open-source information to reach sound, defensible investigative conclusions.
  • Identify and escalate systemic or thematic risks, unusual typologies, and potential control gaps emerging from casework to leadership.

SAR Decisioning, Narratives & Documentation
  • Draft clear, complete, and defensible SAR narratives and decisioning that withstand examiner, audit, and law-enforcement scrutiny.
  • Ensure all investigative documentation meets the five-element documentation baseline and internal quality standards.
  • Prepare Continuing Activity Reports (CARs) and support 314(a)/314(b), OFAC, and PEP-related investigative activity as needed.

Quality, Escalation & Governance
  • Operate within the escalation and quality frameworks owned by leadership; apply routing and escalation criteria consistently.
  • Partner with QC/QA teams by responding to feedback, remediating identified defects, and helping surface systemic trends.
  • Maintain consistency with enterprise investigative standards and methodologies across AML, Fraud, and Sanctions domains.

Technical Expertise & Coaching
  • Serve as a subject-matter resource on advanced typologies, investigative techniques, and analyst judgment.
  • Provide informal coaching, case feedback, and peer review to less-experienced analysts; support onboarding and training initiatives.
  • Contribute to the continuous improvement of procedures, desktop procedures, checklists, and reference guides based on casework insights.

Cross-Functional Collaboration
  • Coordinate with AML, Fraud, Sanctions, Compliance Advisory, Legal, and Technology partners on complex financial-crime scenarios spanning multiple risk domains.
  • Support regulatory examinations, internal audit, and validation efforts by preparing case artifacts and responding to information requests.

What You Will Need:
  • Bachelor's degree required (Finance, Criminal Justice, Accounting, Business, or related field).
  • CAMS or equivalent AML certification strongly preferred.
  • Advanced certifications (e.g., CFE, CFCS) a plus.
  • 5+ years of BSA/AML, Sanctions, or Fraud investigations experience, including complex or high-risk casework and SAR filing.
  • Demonstrated ability to independently investigate multi-account, multi-entity, and cross-product matters.
  • Strong command of financial-crime typologies, transaction monitoring systems (e.g., Actimize, FCRM), and watchlist/screening tools (e.g., Bridger).

The responsibilities listed above are not all inclusive and may be changed at any time.

Salary range: $60,000 - $100,500

The salary range reflects the minimum and maximum target for a new hire in this role. Individual pay within the range will be determined by multiple factors which can include but are not limited to a candidate's experience, qualifications, skills, and location. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary for your location during the hiring process. Ranges may be modified in the future.
This role is also eligible for an annual performance-based incentive opportunity. Pathward offers a comprehensive benefits package for eligible employees, including health insurance, 401(k) retirement benefits, life insurance, disability benefits, paid time off, and more.

#LI-Remote

Don't have everything listed under qualifications? If you're excited about this role but your experiences don't match exactly to everything in the posting, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other Pathward roles.

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