AFC Lead - Risk Identification and Controls

Aberdeen; City of Edinburgh; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading Wealth & Investments group in Edinburgh is looking for an Anti-Financial Crime Lead. This role focuses on risk identification and control within the Global Anti-Financial Crime function. Responsibilities include leading investigations, overseeing risk assessment frameworks, and coordinating with stakeholders. The ideal candidate will have extensive experience in anti-financial crime, risk management, and strong analytical skills. A commitment to creating an inclusive workplace is also emphasized.

Benefits

40 days’ annual leave

16% employer pension contribution

Discretionary performance-based bonus

Private healthcare

Flexible benefits including gym discounts

Qualifications

• Proven expertise in leading Financial Crime Enterprise-Wide Risk Assessments.
• Demonstrated capability in leading investigations and managing suspicious activity reporting.
• Strong experience designing and embedding financial crime risk and control frameworks.

Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and maintain the AFC Enterprise-Wide Risk Assessment framework.
• Act as the UK Nominated Officer for financial crime investigations.
• Manage system enhancements, user access controls, and data integrity.

Skills

Extensive experience in anti-financial crime

Risk management

Regulatory compliance

Strong analytical skills

Excellent communication skills

Job description

Job Description

At Aberdeen, our ambition is to be the UK’s leading Wealth & Investments group.

Strengthening talent and culture is one of our strategic priorities. We strive to make Aberdeen a great place to work so that we can attract and retain the industry’s best talent.

Our people put our stakeholders at the heart of everything they do by helping us to make a positive difference to the lives of our clients, customers, colleagues, shareholders, and society.

We are focused on growing our direct and advised wealth platforms and repositioning our specialist asset management business to meet client demand. We are committed to providing excellent client service, supported by leading technology and talent.

Aberdeen Comprises Three Businesses, Interactive Investor (ii), Investments, And Adviser, Each Of Which Focuses On Meeting And Adapting To Our Clients’ Evolving Needs

• interactive investor, the UK’s second largest direct-to-consumer investment platform, enables individuals in the UK to plan, save, and invest in the way that works for them.
• Our Adviser business provides financial planning solutions and technology for UK financial advisers, enabling them to create value for their customers.
• Our Investments business is a specialist asset manager that focuses on areas where we have both strength and scale to capitalise on the key themes shaping the market, through either public markets or alternative asset classes.

About The Department

The Anti‑Financial Crime (AFC) function sits within Risk & Compliance and plays a critical role in protecting the organisation, its clients, and broader financial markets. The team partners closely with the business and corporate functions to identify, assess, and manage financial crime risk, ensuring robust governance, regulatory compliance, and effective controls across all jurisdictions in which Aberdeen operates.

About The Role

The Anti‑Financial Crime Lead – Risk Identification & Control is responsible for shaping and executing the organisation’s approach to risk identification, investigations, and control within the Global AFC function.

This role includes acting as the UK Nominated Officer, coordinating financial crime investigations, designing and overseeing the Financial Crime Enterprise‑Wide Risk Assessment (EWRA) methodology, and managing key systems owned by the second line of defence.

Reporting to the Deputy Global Head of Anti‑Financial Crime, the role requires strong technical expertise, strategic judgement, and the ability to influence senior stakeholders across the organisation and other corporate functions.

Key Responsibilities

• Design, implement, and maintain the AFC Enterprise‑Wide Risk Assessment framework, ensuring it remains effective and aligned to regulatory expectations
• Lead the annual EWRA process, including planning, stakeholder engagement, analysis, reporting, and presentation to senior management and governance committees
• Oversee the operation and compliance of AFC‑owned systems within the second line of defence
• Manage system enhancements, user access controls, and data integrity to support effective risk identification and control
• Own and lead financial crime investigations, ensuring timely, thorough, and compliant outcomes
• Act as the UK Nominated Officer, providing oversight of suspicious activity reporting and managing the end‑to‑end reporting lifecycle
• Provide expert advisory support on financial crime risk identification and control, including maintenance of AFC risk methodologies and country risk assessments
• Design and deliver targeted training to promote best practice and address capability gaps
• Build and maintain strong relationships with internal and external stakeholders, including regulators and auditors
• Manage and develop a team of two professionals, providing clear objectives, coaching, and performance management

About The Candidate

• Extensive experience in anti‑financial crime, risk management, and regulatory compliance
• Proven expertise in leading Financial Crime Enterprise‑Wide Risk Assessments
• Strong experience designing and embedding financial crime risk and control frameworks
• Demonstrated capability in leading investigations and managing suspicious activity reporting
• Experience managing risk and control systems with a strong focus on governance and data quality
• Strong analytical skills and the ability to translate complex risk information into actionable insight
• Proven leadership capability, with experience developing teams and influencing senior stakeholders
• Excellent communication skills, including engagement with regulators and auditors

We are proud to be a Disability Confident Committed employer. If you have a disability and would like to apply to one of our UK roles under the Disability Confident Scheme, please notify us by completing the relevant section in our candidate questionnaire. One of our team will reach out to support you through your application process.

Our Benefits

There's more to working life than coming home with a good salary. We have an environment where you can learn, get involved and be supported.

When you join us, your reward will be one of the best around. This includes 40 days’ annual leave, a 16% employer pension contribution, a discretionary performance‑based bonus (where applicable), private healthcare and a range of flexible benefits – including gym discounts, season ticket loans and access to an employee discount portal. You can read more about our benefits here.

Our business

Enabling our clients to be better investors drives everything we do. Our business is structured around three distinct areas – our vectors of growth – focused on our clients’ changing needs. You can find out more about what we do here.

An inclusive way of working

Whatever way you like to work, if you have the talent and commitment to join our team, we’d like to hear from you.

At Aberdeen we’ve adopted a ‘blended working’ approach. This approach combines the benefits of face‑to‑face collaboration, coaching and connecting in our offices with the flexibility of working from home. It enables colleagues to find a balance that works for their roles, their teams, our clients and our business.

An inclusive culture, where diverse perspectives drive our actions, is at the core of who we are and what we do. If you need assistance with your application, or a reasonable adjustment to your interview arrangements – for example, because you are neurodivergent, or have a physical, sensory, cognitive, mental, visible or invisible disability – please let us know and we’ll be happy to help.

We’re committed to providing an inclusive workplace where all forms of difference are valued and which is free from any form of unfair or unlawful treatment. We define diversity in its broadest sense – this includes but is not limited to our diversity of educational and professional backgrounds, experience, cognitive and neurodiversity, age, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, religion or belief and ethnicity and geographical provenance. We support a culture that values meritocracy, fairness and transparency and welcomes enquiries from everyone.

If you need assistance or an adjustment due to a disability, please let us know as part of your application and we will assist.