Financial Crime Lead

NatWest Group; Birmingham; On-site; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

A prominent banking institution in Birmingham seeks a Financial Crime Lead to oversee financial crime risk frameworks and guide a team on compliance with legal standards. In this leadership role, you will analyze financial crime risks, establish controls, and mentor specialists, ensuring a balance between effective risk management and customer service. The ideal candidate will have strong analytical skills and a proven ability to influence decision-making at senior levels.

Qualifications

• Deep industry knowledge with a focus on financial crime.
• Ability to translate complex regulations into practical solutions.
• Experience in building high-performing teams.

Responsibilities

• Analyze and pre-empt financial crime risks.
• Guide a team in aligning strategy with regulations.
• Establish resilient controls and oversight mechanisms.

Skills

Analytical skills

Stakeholder relationship management

Risk management

Coaching and mentoring

Investigative skills

Job description

Join us as a Financial Crime Lead

• You’ll analyse, investigate, and pre‑empt financial crime risks that affect our customers, society, and our bank, making protection practical, proportionate, and effective

• You’ll help prevent money laundering, sanctions breaches, terrorist financing, bribery, and corruption as you embed controls that safeguard customer journeys

• In this high‑profile leadership role, you’ll guide a team that keeps our strategy aligned to policy, law, and regulation, while supporting Commercial and Institutional growth

What you'll do

You’ll set and steward our financial crime framework, defining risk appetite, aligning policy and standards to legal and regulatory requirements, and translating complex expectations into clear, workable controls. You’ll build strong partnerships across customer businesses, product, and frontline teams to deliver proportionate, customer‑focused solutions. We’ll look to you for expert advice on financial crime risks to safeguard trust and enable sustainable commercial growth.

You’ll strengthen governance and assurance as you enhance the visibility of vulnerabilities across customer journeys, improve decision‑ready Management Information (MI), and make sure the function’s forums, documentation, and escalation routes work seamlessly.

You’ll be instrumental in:

• Establishing and maintaining resilient controls that support efficient customer journeys and keep risks within appetite

• Directing and advising your team to maintain robust oversight of financial crime risk frameworks, systems, and controls

• Partnering with customer businesses and product teams to address risk concerns across portfolios, lifecycles, geographies, and products through pragmatic financial crime advice.

• Making sure stable and effective governance for the Financial Crime function, with the right forums, MI, and escalation

• Overseeing adherence to the bank’s global standards and regulatory requirements

The skills you'll need

As a Financial Crime Lead, you’ll turn complex regulation into practical controls, protecting customers and enabling sustainable growth. You’ll bring deep industry knowledge, a broad grasp of risk‑management principles, and the ability to translate political and legislative developments into clear guidance for the business. You’ll expertly balance top‑notch risk management with great customer service.

You’ll showcase your skill in coaching a group of financial crime specialists, developing their ability to spot weaknesses across customer journeys that financial criminals can exploit. You’ll also empower your team to think analytically and constructively challenge our ways of working.

You’ll also need:

• Strength in developing senior stakeholder relationships and representing franchise risk owners at senior governance committees, influencing decisions with clarity and evidence

• Expertise in directing oversight of risk frameworks, systems, and controls, and advising on enhancements that keep risks within appetite

• Excellent analytical, investigative, and research skills, producing high‑quality intelligence and executive‑level reports

• A thorough understanding of financial‑crime typologies, and how policies, systems and controls mitigate them

• Experience building high‑performing teams with strong coaching or mentoring skill

• The ability to collaborate across boundaries, network effectively, and build relationships internally and externally