Manager, Sanctions Operations — BSA/AML & Sanctions Operations

Pathward, N.A.; United States; Hybrid; USD 72,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

Health insurance

401(k) retirement benefits

Life insurance

Disability benefits

Paid time off

Job summary

Pathward, N.A. is seeking a Manager of Sanctions Operations to provide day-to-day leadership of OFAC, 314(a), and PEP screening queues. The role includes second-level reviews of dispositions and ensuring SLA adherence across high-volume workflows.

You will supervise the sanctions team, manage escalation routing, and partner on model changes and testing affecting operations, while supporting audits and regulatory examinations.

Qualifications

• Bachelor's degree required.
• CAMS required; CGSS preferred.
• 5-8 years of BSA/AML or sanctions screening experience.
• 2+ years of people leadership in an operations or screening environment.
• Hands-on experience with OFAC/314(a)/PEP screening platforms and disposition workflows.
• Track record of holding SLAs and managing high-volume queues.
• Strong operational and queue-management discipline in a high-volume screening environment.
• Working knowledge of OFAC/sanctions regulations, 314(a), and PEP screening.

Responsibilities

• Manage daily operations of the OFAC, 314(a), and PEP screening queues within defined service standards (OFAC 30 days, 314(a) 14 days, PEP 30 days).
• Supervise the Sanctions Operations Lead and analyst team; balance workload to avoid bottlenecks.
• Provide a second-level review of screening dispositions and ensure audit-ready documentation.
• Monitor productivity and SLA metrics; reduce overtime as new analysts onboard.
• Manage escalation workflow and route true matches for blocking/reporting.
• Collaborate on model changes, list updates, and testing affecting queues.
• Support audits, independent testing, and OCC examinations for sanctions operations.

Skills

BSA/AML experience

Sanctions screening

Leadership

OFAC/314(a)/PEP screening

SLA management

Data-driven metrics

Audit-ready communication

Education

Bachelor's degree in Finance, Business, Criminal Justice, Accounting, or related field

Tools

Bridger or comparable

Job description

We are a hybrid, remote-office company dedicated to growing our talent anywhere!

We have onsite locations in: Sioux Falls, SD, Scottsdale, AZ, Louisville, KY, Troy, MI, Franklin, TN, Easton, PA.

At Pathward, we take tremendous pride in our purpose to create financial inclusion for all™. We area financial empowerment company that works with innovators to increase financial availability, choice, and opportunity for all. We strive to remove barriers that traditional institutions put in the way of financial access, and promote economic mobility by providing responsible, secure, high quality financial products.

We are a team of problem solvers and innovators who celebrate our differences and know that our unique perspectives make us stronger and well-positioned for success. We celebrate, and embrace, our team members through our *HUMBLE*HUNGRY*SMART approach, and we believe that we are strongest when we embrace the voices of our employees, customers, partners, and the communities we serve.

About the Role:

The Manager, Sanctions Operations provides day-to-day operational leadership of the OFAC, 314(a), and PEP screening queues. The role provides a second review point over disposition quality, and directly addresses sustainability of SLAs.

What You Will Do:

• Manage daily operations of the OFAC, 314(a), and PEP screening queues, holding all three within service standard (OFAC 30 days, 314(a) 14 days, PEP 30 days).
• Supervise the Sanctions Operations Lead and analyst team; allocate workload to eliminate concentration of the escalation queue on a single analyst.
• Provide a second-level review point over screening dispositions and ensure documentation meets the five-element baseline.
• Monitor productivity and SLA metrics; reduce reliance on overtime and weekend working as new analyst capacity onboards.
• Manage the OFAC/314(a)/PEP escalation workflow and route true matches for blocking/reporting.
• Partner with the Manager, Sanctions Program on model changes, list updates, and testing that affect the operational queue.
• Support audit, independent testing, and OCC examination walkthroughs for sanctions operations.

What You Will Need:

• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Business, Criminal Justice, Accounting, or related field required.
• CAMS required; CGSS preferred.
• 5-8 years of BSA/AML or sanctions screening experience.
• 2+ years of people leadership in an operations or screening environment.
• Hands-on experience with OFAC/314(a)/PEP screening platforms (Bridger or comparable) and disposition workflows.
• Track record of holding SLAs and managing high-volume queues.
• Strong operational and queue-management discipline in a high-volume screening environment.
• Working knowledge of OFAC/sanctions regulations, 314(a), and PEP screening.
• People-leadership and workload-balancing skills; ability to remove single points of failure.
• Data-driven approach to SLA, productivity, and quality metrics.
• Clear, audit-ready written communication.

Products & Services Knowledge

Screening dispositions differ by product and by the party’s role in the transaction, so the Manager, Sanctions Operations must know how Pathward's products generate the alerts their team clears. Working knowledge is expected in:

• Card Issuing / Prepaid — how consumer, corporate-funded, and government/institutional card constructs determine which party is screened, and how the source of funds drives customer vs. non-customer designation.
• Acquiring (Merchant & ATM) — ISO/payment-facilitator and ATM sponsorship activity and the downstream merchant/sub-merchant relationships that generate screening hits.
• Digital Payments & Faster Payments (Visa Direct / Mastercard Send) — real-time push/pull disbursements requiring sender and recipient screening within tight SLAs.
• Tax Products, Consumer Lending, Commercial Finance, and Commercial Deposits — ongoing OFAC screening populations Pathward retains as bank of record / depository institution.
• The escalation model in which program managers refer potential OFAC matches to Pathward for review, blocking, and reporting.

The responsibilities listed above are not all inclusive and may be changed at any time.

Salary range: $72,000 - $120,000

The salary range reflects the minimum and maximum target for a new hire in this role. Individual pay within the range will be determined by multiple factors which can include but are not limited to a candidate's experience, qualifications, skills, and location. Your recruiter can share more about the specific salary for your location during the hiring process. Ranges may be modified in the future.
This role is also eligible for an annual performance-based incentive opportunity. Pathward offers a comprehensive benefits package for eligible employees, including health insurance, 401(k) retirement benefits, life insurance, disability benefits, paid time off, and more.

#LI-Remote

Don't have everything listed under qualifications? If you're excited about this role but your experiences don't match exactly to everything in the posting, we encourage you to apply anyway. You may be just the right candidate for this or other Pathward roles. Pathward is an equal employment opportunity employer and considers candidates for roles without regard to their race, sex, national origin, ethnicity, age, disability or any other category protected by law.

Who we are:

Our commitment to inclusion is woven into our DNA. We believe that we are strongest when we embrace the voices of our employees, customers, partners, and the communities we serve.

We provide equal employment opportunities (EEO) to all employees and applicants for employment without regard to race, color, ethnicity, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, transgender status, pregnancy, national origin, age (age 40 and over), disability, genetic information, marital status, hair texture or hairstyle, ancestry, service in the uniformed services, protected veteran status, status as a victim of domestic violence or any other class protected by federal, state and local laws.

Applications will be accepted for a minimum of 3 days after posting, and there is no predetermined date by which applications should be submitted.

Knowingly submitting false information will result in disqualification for consideration of future positions, termination of employment and forfeiture of other rights.