Senior Compliance Associate - Automation & Systems

Kraken; Abu Dhabi; On-site; AED 350,000 - 550,000; Full time

Job summary

Kraken is seeking an experienced AML/financial crime leader to oversee transaction monitoring optimization, automation, and regulatory alignment across a fast-growing fintech/crypto environment. You will design monitoring scenarios, tune thresholds, and drive innovative AI-enabled solutions with Product, Engineering, and Compliance leadership.

The role emphasizes collaboration across FIU, vendor integrations, and scaling controls for new products and geographic expansion, with an eye toward

Qualifications

• 5+ years in AML/financial crime or FIU operations.
• 3+ years designing, testing, and tuning transaction monitoring rules.
• Experience with case management platforms and monitoring infrastructure.
• Experience in regulated financial institutions with EU/UK/US licenses preferred.
• Ability to drive process automation in compliance programs.
• Cross-functional collaboration with Product, Engineering, Data, Operations.
• Strong analytical and data interpretation using dashboards.
• Experience in fintech/payments/crypto environments.
• Familiarity with AI/ML or LLM-enabled compliance tools.
• Experience with blockchain analytics tools such as Chainalysis, TRM Labs, Elliptic.

Responsibilities

• Lead transaction monitoring optimization, including rule testing, threshold tuning, and new monitoring scenarios.
• Drive automation across FIU processes to improve efficiency and effectiveness.
• Evaluate and implement AI-enabled tools to enhance alert triage and SAR filing.
• Collaborate with Product, Engineering, and Operations on integrations and tooling.
• Align monitoring frameworks with regulatory expectations with Compliance leadership.
• Design scalable FIU processes for expansion into new products and regions.

Skills

AML/Financial crime

Transaction monitoring

Rule design & tuning

Data analysis

Cross-functional collaboration

AI/ML / LLM tools

Blockchain analytics

Vendor integrations

Regulatory expectations

Fintech/crypto experience

Education

ACAMS/CAMS-Audit/CFCS

Tools

Chainalysis

TRM Labs

Elliptic

Job description

The opportunity

• Lead transaction monitoring optimization, including rule testing, threshold tuning, and the design and rollout of new monitoring scenarios to improve detection quality and reduce false positives

• Identify and drive automation and workflow improvements across FIU processes to increase operational efficiency and effectiveness

• Evaluate and implement emerging technologies, including LLM and AI-enabled tools, to enhance alert triage, investigations, SAR filing and FIU operational capabilities

• Partner with Product, Engineering, and Operations to support vendor integrations, monitoring infrastructure improvements, and FIU tooling enhancements

• Collaborate with Compliance leadership, including RCOs and MLROs, to maintain well-governed transaction monitoring frameworks aligned with regulatory expectations

• Support FIU scalability by designing processes and monitoring strategies that enable expansion into new products, regions, and increased transaction volumes

What you bring

• 5+ years of experience in AML, financial crime compliance, or FIU operations, with deep knowledge of transaction monitoring frameworks, suspicious activity detection, and regulatory expectations under BSA/AML regimes

• 3+ years of experience designing, testing, and tuning transaction monitoring rules, including threshold optimization, scenario design, and alert reduction strategies

• 3+ years of experience working with transaction monitoring systems and compliance tooling, including case management platforms, monitoring infrastructure, and investigative workflows

• Experience working in a regulated financial institution, preferably one licensed to operate in the EU, UK, and/or United States

• Experience driving process optimization or automation initiatives within compliance or financial crime programs to improve operational efficiency and scalability

• Experience working cross-functionally with Product, Engineering, Data, or Operations teams to implement monitoring controls, vendor integrations, or compliance technology solutions

• Strong analytical and data interpretation skills, with experience using metrics, dashboards, and data analysis to evaluate monitoring effectiveness and improve detection quality

• Experience operating in fast-growing fintech, payments, or crypto environments, with the ability to design scalable compliance controls that support new product launches and geographic expansion

• Experience working with AI, machine learning, or LLM-enabled compliance tools, including investigative automation or alert triage technologies

• Familiarity with blockchain analytics tools such as Chainalysis, TRM Labs, Elliptic, or similar crypto investigative platforms

• Experience supporting vendor selection, implementation, or integration of regtech solutions

Nice to haves

• ACAMS, CAMS-Audit, CFCS, or similar financial crime certifications

Unless a specific application deadline is stated in the job posting, applications are accepted on an ongoing basis.

Please note, applicants are permitted to redact or remove information on their resume that identifies age, date of birth, or dates of attendance at or graduation from an educational institution.

We consider qualified applicants with criminal histories for employment on our team, assessing candidates in a manner consistent with the requirements of the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance.