Sanctions Investigations Team Lead

Binance; United Arab Emirates; Remote; AED 446,000 - 714,000; Full time

Job summary

Binance is seeking a senior Investigations Leader to own end-to-end sanctions investigations, evidence packs, and disposition documentation. You will guide throughput, triage, and capacity planning while collaborating with regulators and external auditors.

You will build SOPs, playbooks, and escalation protocols, while driving process improvements and AI-assisted workflows to reduce false positives and improve efficiency across time zones.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of sanctions or financial crime investigations in crypto/finance.
• Direct people leadership including performance management and coaching.
• Experience building SOPs, playbooks, and escalation protocols.
• Familiarity with regulatory exams, audits, or independent reviews and evidence packs.
• Experience driving process improvements to reduce false positives and cycle time.
• Hands-on experience with blockchain analytics tools (Chainalysis/Elliptic/TRM Labs).
• Strong knowledge of global sanctions regimes (OFAC/UN/EU/UK) and CTF requirements.
• Experience with sanctions reporting obligations beyond SARs/STRs.

Responsibilities

• Own end-to-end investigation quality: scoping, evidence standards, narrative quality, and disposition documentation.
• Act as escalation point for complex or high-value matters; endorse dispositions.
• Ensure dispositions are defensible under sanctions regimes and audit requirements.

Skills

Sanctions investigations

People leadership

SOPs & playbooks

Regulatory audits

Process improvement

Blockchain analytics tools

Sanctions frameworks

Reporting obligations

Education

Finance, Law, Criminal Justice, CS degree

Tools

Chainalysis

Elliptic

TRM Labs

Job description

Binance is a leading global blockchain ecosystem behind the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume and registered users. We are trusted by 300+ million people in 100+ countries for our industry-leading security, user fund transparency, trading engine speed, deep liquidity, and an unmatched portfolio of digital-asset products. Binance offerings range from trading and finance to education, research, payments, institutional services, and more. Our mission is to increase the freedom of money and financial access for people around the world.

About The Role

What You’ll Do

Investigation leadership and quality

• Own end-to-end investigation quality for the team: case scoping, evidence standards, narrative quality, disposition rationale, and closure documentation
• Act as escalation point and reviewer for complex, high-value, or politically exposed matters; make or endorse disposition recommendations
• Ensure every disposition is defensible against applicable sanctions regimes and internal standards, and is documented to withstand regulatory, audit, and independent review

Operational performance

• Manage intake, triage, and ageing across the team's queue; ensure matters are prioritised by risk and progressed within SLAs
• Own team capacity planning: allocation, coverage across time zones, and surge handling
• Track and report team throughput, cycle time, QA outcomes, and escalation volumes to senior management and governance forums
• Identify and drive process improvements that reduce false positives and manual effort without weakening controls

Regulatory and stakeholder engagement

• Represent the team in interactions with regulators, external auditors, and independent reviewers; own response quality and evidence packs
• Partner with Sanctions Advisory on interpretive questions and novel typologies, and with Technology on screening rule tuning, model changes, and tooling
• Escalate material or time-sensitive exposure to Financial Crime Compliance leadership and, where required, to the business and Legal
• Coordinate with law enforcement, industry bodies, and peer institutions where appropriate and approved

Team and capability

• Set clear performance expectations; manage, coach, and develop investigators, including career progression and succession coverage
• Build sanctions and CTF technical depth within the team: typologies, evasion techniques, digital-asset and cross-border payment risks
• Partner with Compliance Training on mandatory and role‑specific training; ensure the team's knowledge stays current with evolving regimes and designations
• Drive adoption of investigative tooling and AI-assisted workflows, including validating output quality before scaling

Governance and control

• Maintain team SOP, investigation playbooks, and escalation protocols; keep them current and aligned to policy
• Ensure records, retention, and confidentiality standards are met, including for the most sensitive matters
• Support internal audit, risk assessment, and control‑testing exercises; own remediation of team-level findings

What We’re Looking For

• 7+ years of experience in sanctions investigations, CTF investigations, or financial crime investigations in a crypto or financial services environment
• Direct people leadership experience, including performance management, coaching, and career development of investigators
• Demonstrated ability to build SOPs, playbooks, and escalation protocols
• Experience with regulatory exams, external audits, or independent reviews, including owning the evidence pack and remediating findings
• Experience driving process improvement with measurable outcomes, reducing false positives or cycle time without weakening controls
• Hands‑on experience with blockchain analytics tools: Chainalysis, Elliptic, TRM Labs, or equivalent
• Exposure to emerging evasion typologies and digital-asset risks, including mixers, chain hops, and nested VASPs
• Strong working knowledge of global sanctions frameworks (OFAC, UN, EU, UK) and CTF regulatory requirements
• Working knowledge of sanctions‑specific reporting obligations beyond SARs/STRs, including blocking and rejected transaction reporting

Nice To Haves

• Degree in Finance, Law, Criminal Justice, Computer Science, or a related field
• Experience managing third-party or BPO investigation capacity, including quality scorecards, sampling, and corrective action
• Experience designing or running a QC or QA programme, including sampling methodology and how scores translate into action

Why Binance

• Shape the future of finance
• Collaborate with world‑class talent in a user‑centric global organization with a flat structure
• Tackle challenging projects in a fast‑paced and innovative enviornment with autonomy
• Thrive in a results‑driven workplace with opportunities for career growth and continuous learning
• Competitive salary and company benefits
• Remote‑first, work‑from‑home arrangement (may vary depending on the nature of the role and team)

Binance is committed to being an equal opportunity employer. We believe that having a diverse workforce is fundamental to our success.

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