Senior Specialist Financial Crime Oversight

Coventry Building Society; Coventry; Hybrid; GBP 65,000 - 95,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

28 days holiday + bank holidays

Annual discretionary bonus

Pension with matched contributions

Life assurance

Job summary

The Senior Specialist in Financial Crime Oversight at Coventry Building Society will provide independent oversight of economic crime controls across the business, aiming to ensure effective operation and regulatory compliance. Working in the second line Risk function, you will engage stakeholders, challenge findings, and report to senior governance committees, helping to strengthen the control environment.

The role supports continuous improvement of assurance methodologies and requires knowledge

Qualifications

• Experience of working to an Assurance methodology when executing design and operational effective reviews.
• Excellent stakeholder management and communication skills with a proven ability to influence and challenge senior management.
• Good knowledge of AML, sanctions, fraud and economic crime regulatory requirements.

Responsibilities

• Review and assess economic crime controls across the business.
• Engage with stakeholders at all levels to understand how controls operate in practice.
• Provide constructive challenge, identify opportunities for improvement, and report findings to senior leaders and governance committees.

Skills

Stakeholder management

Attention to detail

AML knowledge

Sanctions knowledge

Fraud knowledge

Economic crime regulations

Job description

As a Senior Specialist in Financial Crime Oversight, the successful candidate will play a key role in protecting the Group, its customers and its stakeholders from economic crime risks, including money laundering, terrorist financing, sanctions breaches and fraud.

Working within the second line Risk function, they will provide independent oversight and assurance over the controls designed to prevent economic crime, helping the Group demonstrate that its controls are operating effectively and delivering the intended outcomes. This is particularly important as the organisation continues to deliver significant economic crime change and enhance its first-line controls testing capabilities.

The role holder will review and assess economic crime controls across the business, engaging with stakeholders at all levels to understand how controls operate in practice and whether they are effectively managing risk. They will provide constructive challenge, identify opportunities for improvement, and report findings to senior leaders and governance committees, helping to strengthen the Group's control environment and meet regulatory expectations.

Why Join Us?

• Make a real impact in protecting customers and the Group
• Leverage your knowledge and experience to help the Group develop, improve, and adapt a broad range of financial crime risk controls in an evolving risk environment.
• Provide experience based insights to support continuous improvement of the Assurance methodology
• Create a positive impact for charities close to your heart through dedicated community volunteering days.
• Network with senior leaders across the business
• Access development opportunities in Economic Crime Risk, Policy, Advisory or Leadership roles

We operate on a team led hybrid approach. You need to be prepared to come into the office for business needs, with at least 1 day a week in the Coventry & / or Manchester office ideally 9 to 5pm – Mon to Fri.

Our benefits include:

• 28 days holiday a year plus bank holidays and a holiday buy/sell scheme
• Annual discretionary bonus scheme
• Personal pension with matched contributions
• Life assurance (6 times annual salary)

About you

For this role you’ll need to have:

• You’ll have experience of working to an Assurance methodology when executing design and operational effective reviews
• You’ll have excellent stakeholder management and communication skills with a proven ability to influence and challenge senior management
• You consistently deliver with high attention to detail and quality standards
• You will have good knowledge of AML, sanctions, fraud and economic crime regulatory requirements.

Experience in these areas would be helpful:

• Previous experience working within AML/Sanctions/Fraud teams, Economic Crime Risk or Internal Audit.
• Experience within banking, building societies or financial services.
• Professional economic crime qualifications such as ICA, ACAMS or equivalent

About us

In 2025, Coventry Building Society purchased The Co-operative Bank. Bringing together our purpose-led building society with the UK’s original ethical bank was the start of an exciting journey.

Trusted by over four million people, we’re a mutually owned business free from shareholders, and with our combined experience of almost 300 years, our ethics and dedication will continue to guide us. Together, we have shared values and an ethical approach towards our members, customers and colleagues.

We’re officially recognised as a ‘Great Place to Work’ and our benefits go beyond basic pay, with a discretionary bonus scheme, a culture of reward and recognition and comprehensive support for wellbeing.

We’re serious about equality, of race, age, faith, disability, and sexual orientation and we celebrate diversity. By working together, we know you’ll build more than just a career with us.

Flexibility and why it matters

We understand the need for flexibility, so wherever possible, we’ll consider alternative working patterns. Have a chat with us before you apply to see what the possibilities are for this role.

Proud to be a Disability Confident Committed Employer

We’re proud to offer an interview or assessment to every disabled applicant who meet the minimum criteria for our vacancies. As part of the application process, disabled applicants can opt in for the Disability Confident Interview Scheme. If there are ever occasions where it is not practicable to interview all candidates that meet the essential criteria, such as when we receive a high number of applications, we commit to interviewing disabled candidates who best meet the minimum essential and desirable criteria.