Financial Crime Assurance Analyst (Hiring Immediately)

About Us at GoCardless

GoCardless is a global bank payment company. Over 100,000 businesses , from start-ups to household names, use GoCardless to collect and send payments through direct debit, real-time payments and open banking.

GoCardless processes US$130bn+ of payments annually, across 30+ countries ; helping customers collect and send both recurring and one-off payments , without the chasing, stress or expensive fees. We use AI-powered solutions to improve payment success and reduce fraud. And, with open banking connectivity to over 2,500 banks , we help our customers make faster, more informed decisions.

We are headquartered in the UK with offices in London and Leeds , and additional locations in Australia, France, Ireland, Latvia, Portugal and the United States.

At GoCardless, we're all about supporting you ! We’re committed to making our hiring process inclusive and accessible . If you need extra support or adjustments, reach out to your Talent Partner — we’re here to help!

And remember: we don’t expect you to meet every single requirement. If you’re excited by this role, we encourage you to apply!

The Role

The Assurance Manager is a key role in the Financial Crime Compliance team, that reports directly into the Group MLRO and will be responsible for operating the second line oversight framework. The role will be responsible for monitoring and testing our financial crime risk controls, working with our auditors to ensure that audit reviews go smoothly, and will be responsible for driving closure of open issues.

This is a hands-on role that has both a long-term, strategic focus as well as getting the day-to-day things done.

What excites you:

• Providing assurance of our financial crime risk controls through regular testing, thematic reviews, targeted deep-dive reviews, and data analysis — assessing adequacy of GoCardless’ financial crime policies, procedures and systems.
• Planning, preparing, and executing the end-to-end annual Financial Crime Compliance Assurance program.
• Drafting reports that outline findings and corresponding action plans to mitigate issues found during reviews.
• Pulling, and then slicing and dicing large data (advanced Excel etc.) to identify and monitor risk indicators.
• Managing and/or overseeing day-to-day regulatory/external/internal exams related to financial crime — including preparation, coordination, and response activities.
• Logging and tracking to completion of assurance, audit, self-identified and other related risks and issues, to validate remediation efforts, as well as escalate to relevant stakeholders where appropriate.
• Supporting the development, introduction and completion of project and business solutions to resolve any financial crime related matters.
• Delivering targeted financial crime training and conducting root cause lessons learned sessions for the Compliance Operations and Sales teams to drive continuous improvement in areas identified during reviews.
• Developing cross-functional skills within the global team and demonstrating a proactive willingness to support, own, and execute tasks from start to finish.
• Supporting the wider Regulatory Compliance Assurance team as required, providing insight and assistance to ensure firm-wide adherence to evolving regulatory standards globally.

What excites us:

• Deep understanding of risks and controls. Knowledge of ML/TF, KYC/CDD, and transaction monitoring is a plus.
• 4+ years’ experience in assurance or risk management (2LoD/3LoD/Audit). This is a 2LoD oversight-based role, distinct from operational 1LoD functions such as KYC/EDD, QA/QC, or Alert Investigation.
• Comfortable with developing methodology for testing the design and operating effectiveness of controls.
• Organised and have an ability to articulate and recommend practical remediations, and track issues to closure.
• Excellent project and stakeholder management.
• Have objective verbal and writing skills to write and communicate clear and concise assurance reports which are accessible to non-financial crime experts.
• Deliver targeted presentations that succinctly report on the effectiveness of our issue management process.
• Understanding of financial crime model calibration — knowledge of fuzzy matching logic and ‘tuning’ testing including AtL and BtL testing.

Base salary range: £46,400 - £69,600

Base salary ranges are based on role, job level, location, and market data. Please note that whilst we strive to offer competitive compensation, our approach is to pay between the minimum and the mid-point (£46,400 - £58,000) of the pay range until performance can be assessed in role. Offers will take into account level of experience, interview assessment, budgets and parity between you and fellow employees at GoCardless doing similar work.

The Good Stuff!

• Wellbeing : Dedicated support and medical cover to keep you healthy.
• Work Away Scheme : Work from anywhere for up to 90 days in any 12-month period.
• Hybrid Working : Our hybrid model offers flexibility, with in-office days determined by your team.
• Equity : All permanently employed GeeCees get equity to share in our success.
• Parental leave : Tailored leave to support your life's great adventure.
• Time off: Annual holiday leave based on your location, supplemented by 3 volunteer days and 4 wellness days.

Life at GoCardless

We're an organisation defined by our values ; We start with why before we begin any project, to ensure it’s aligned with our mission. We make it happen , working with urgency and taking personal accountability for getting things done. We act with integrity , always. We care deeply about what we do and we know it's essential that we be humble whilst we do it. Our Values form part of the GoCardless DNA, and are used to not only help us nurture and develop our culture, but to deliver impactful work that will help us to achieve our vision.

Diversity & Inclusion

We’re building the payment network of the future , and to achieve our goal, we need a diverse team with a range of perspectives and experiences. As of July 2024, here’s where we stand:

• 45% identify as women
• 23% identify as Black, Asian, Mixed, or Other
• 10% identify as LGBTQIA+
• 9% identify as neurodiverse
• 2% identify as disabled

If you want to learn more, you can read about our Employee Resource Groups and objectives here as well as our latest D&I Report

Sustainability at GoCardless

We’re committed to reducing our environmental impact and leaving a sustainable world for future generations. As co-founders of the Tech Zero coalition , we’re working towards a climate-positive future . Check out our sustainability action plan here.

Find out more about Life at GoCardless via X , Instagram and LinkedIn .