Financial Crimes Manager

M1 Finance; Chicago (IL); Hybrid; USD 150,000 - 170,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Competitive pay

Stock options

Health insurance

Dental insurance

Vision insurance

Disability insurance

Life insurance

401(k) match

Unlimited PTO

Open leadership communication

Job summary

M1 Finance in Chicago seeks a Financial Crimes Manager to lead Fraud and AML, reporting to the Chief Compliance Officer. This hands-on leadership role oversees end-to-end financial crimes lifecycle and a team of investigators, leveraging data and analytics to scale controls.

You will drive AML program governance, KYC/EDD frameworks, regulatory reporting, and cross-functional partnerships to build scalable fintech risk controls in a growth environment.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of progressive experience in BSA/AML, fraud, or financial crimes compliance with regulated financial institutions.
• CAMS or CFE/CAFS certification(s) or equivalent required.
• Deep working knowledge of BSA, USA PATRIOT Act, FinCEN, OFAC, FINRA, and SEC requirements, including SAR drafting, filing, and governance.
• Experience managing and developing a team of analysts or investigators.
• Experience with transaction monitoring and surveillance systems, including alert tuning, scenario design, and model calibration.
• Strong analytical skills and comfort working with data; ability to translate regulatory requirements into scalable operational controls.
• Excellent judgment, written communication, and the ability to defend decisions to regulators, auditors, and senior management.

Responsibilities

• Lead the day-to-day execution and continual enhancement of the AML Program under the AML Compliance Officer, ensuring regulatory requirements are met.
• Oversee the team's execution across all critical decision points in the financial crimes lifecycle from onboarding to offboarding and funds recovery.
• Manage CIP, KYC, CDD, and EDD framework including oversight of customer risk ratings and ongoing monitoring.
• Provide senior-level oversight for complex investigations including unusual activity, SARs, and regulatory reporting obligations.
• Improve surveillance through alert calibration, scenario development, data analytics, and automation.
• Identify opportunities to leverage AI and analytics to strengthen surveillance, investigations, and monitoring.
• Support the FinCrime oversight framework for AML and Fraud investigations and controls.
• Partner with Product, Engineering, Operations, Legal, and Risk to design scalable controls for new products.
• Monitor new regulatory developments and oversee implementation impact on business activities.
• Lead, mentor, and develop Fraud and AML personnel fostering accountability and continuous improvement.

Skills

BSA/AML compliance

Fraud investigations

Team leadership

Data analytics

Regulatory reporting

Regulatory communication

Education

CAMS or CFE/CAFS certification

Tools

Surveillance systems

Job description

• Compensation: USD 150000 - USD 170000 - yearly

Company Description

M1 Finance has created a personal wealth-building platform made for the modern era, uniting personal perspective and automated ease. We seamlessly combine free investing and low cost borrowing all in one intuitive, automated Finance Super App, and we’re driven by a mission to empower personal financial well-being. We believe that financial well-being is fundamental to overall well-being, and we strive to deliver products that are simpler, smarter, and stronger than those created by our boring, entrenched, and slow-moving competitors in the personal finance industry.

Our clients have already trusted us with over $13 billion of assets, we’re currently helping hundreds of thousands of people grow and manage their wealth with our industry-leading automation and tools.

We’re looking for passionate people who want to improve and build on what we’ve created and take responsibility to help others build something meaningful and sustainable for their futures.

We mean it when we say, “M1 is yours to build.”

If this sounds interesting to you, read on!

Job Description

We are seeking a Financial Crimes Manager to lead our Fraud and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) function across our self-directed retail broker dealer and SEC-registered investment advisor. This is a hands-on leadership role sitting within the Legal and Compliance function, reporting directly to the Chief Compliance Officer. You will own the end-to-end financial crimes lifecycle, manage a team of Fraud and AML professionals, and serve as the senior escalation point for the firm's most complex investigations. This is a hands-on leadership role at a growing financial institution where you will shape how technology, data, and advanced analytics are used to detect and prevent financial crime at scale.

What You'll Do

• AML Program leadership: Lead the day-to-day execution and continuous enhancement of the firm's AML Program under the direction of the AML Compliance Officer, ensuring compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), USA PATRIOT Act, and FINRA, SEC, FinCEN, and OFAC requirements.
• Own the end-to-end FinCrimes lifecycle: Oversee the team's execution across all critical decision points in the financial crimes lifecycle, from new user onboarding through offboarding and funds recovery.
• Customer due diligence: Manage a comprehensive Customer Identification Program (CIP), Know Your Customer (KYC), Customer Due Diligence (CDD), and Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD) framework, including oversight of customer risk rating methodologies and ongoing monitoring activities.
• Investigations: Provide senior-level oversight and strategic guidance for complex investigations involving unusual activity, suspicious activity reporting (SAR), and regulatory reporting obligations.
• Surveillance: Improve surveillance effectiveness through ongoing alert calibration, scenario development, data analytics, and automation.
• AI and analytics: Identify opportunities to leverage artificial intelligence and advanced analytics to strengthen surveillance, investigations, and monitoring.
• Oversight framework: Support the development and maintenance of the compliance FinCrime oversight framework, specifically for AML and Fraud investigations and controls.
• Cross-functional partnership: Partner with Product, Engineering, Operations, Legal, and Risk teams to design scalable financial crime controls for new products and features.
• Horizon scanning: Monitor new financial crime regulatory developments and maintain oversight of the implementation of those developments that impact business activities.
• Team leadership: Lead, mentor, and develop Fraud and AML personnel while fostering a culture of accountability, collaboration, and continuous improvement.

Qualifications

• 7+ years of progressive experience in BSA/AML, fraud, or financial crimes compliance, with meaningful experience at a broker dealer, fintech, or other regulated financial institution.
• CAMS or CFE/CAFS certification(s) or equivalent required.
• Deep working knowledge of the BSA, USA PATRIOT Act, and FinCEN, OFAC, FINRA, and SEC requirements, including SAR drafting, filing, and governance.
• Experience managing and developing a team of analysts or investigators.
• Experience with transaction monitoring and surveillance systems, including alert tuning, scenario design, and model calibration.
• Strong analytical skills and comfort working with data; ability to translate regulatory requirements into scalable operational controls.
• Excellent judgment, written communication, and the ability to defend decisions to regulators, auditors, and senior management.

Nice to Have

• FINRA registrations (SIE, Series 7, and/or Series 24), or willingness to obtain.
• Experience applying machine learning, AI, or advanced analytics to financial crime detection.
• Experience as the AMLCO or Deputy AMLCO.
• Exposure to investment advisory (RIA) or banking environments, including OCC or Federal Reserve regulatory frameworks.
• Experience building or scaling financial crime programs in a high-growth environment.

Salary range $150,000-170,000

Additional Information

Our Values

Our team embodies our core principles and if these principles speak to you – we’d love to talk with you.

• Mission drivenWe know that financial well-being has a dramatic impact on an individual’s quality of life. We are passionate about helping people in this domain.
• Extreme ownershipWe are responsible for the results to our clients, teammates, and shareholders. We own everything in our domain that affects these results.
• BoldnessThinking small is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Thinking big inspire results. We would rather fail at the meaningful than succeed at the trivial.
• Ruthless prioritizationWe want to do more than we possibly can. We are disciplined with the use of our precious people, time and money. That means saying no to a lot of good ideas so we canfocus on the most important thing.
• Integrity We earn and maintain trust by always prioritizing our clients’ interests; it must never be compromised.

• Competitive Pay and Stock Options
• Comprehensive health, dental, vision, disability, and life insurance
• Retirement benefit with employer match
• Unlimited PTO
• Transparent and open communication with leadership

M1 is an equal opportunity employer and values diversity across the company. M1 does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, or disability status.