Head of Transaction Monitoring & Investigations

Alexander Barnes is leading the search for a Financial Crime Lead to own complex FIU investigations and transaction monitoring for a high-growth, regulated fintech operating at scale across payments and consumer financial products.

This is a senior, hands‑on FIU role with direct responsibility for complex investigations, transaction monitoring effectiveness, and regulatory escalation in a fast‑moving environment.

This role owns complex financial crime investigations and the performance of the transaction monitoring framework.

• Lead senior investigators handling complex, multi‑layered Level 3 cases.
• Conduct deep‑diving investigations across transaction networks, account relationships, and product flows.
• Identify and assess sophisticated money laundering and financial crime typologies involving layering, structuring, and cross‑border activity.
• Own the full investigation lifecycle from escalation through to SAR submission.
• Drive ongoing tuning and optimisation of transaction monitoring scenarios and thresholds.
• Improve alert quality through segmentation, back‑testing, and reduction of false positives.
• Partner with data and engineering teams on model performance, detection gaps, and monitoring effectiveness.
• Ensure monitoring remains aligned to regulatory expectations and evolving risk exposure.

• Perform forensic transaction analysis using SQL and large datasets.
• Incorporate OSINT and external intelligence into investigations where required.
• Produce management information and trend analysis on emerging risks and typologies.

• Manage SAR escalations and submissions, ensuring clear rationale, evidential support, and regulatory timelines are met.
• Support regulatory reviews, audits, and internal assurance activity.
• Act as a point of contact for complex FIU matters where escalation is required.

• Support enhancements to transaction monitoring platforms and data infrastructure.
• Work with internal teams on system changes, migrations, or capability upgrades.
• Integrate specialist tooling where needed to support complex investigations.
• Coach and develop investigators on advanced investigative techniques.
• Maintain consistent investigation standards and decision‑making quality across the team.
• Stay ahead of emerging financial crime risks relevant to fintech and payments businesses.

• 7+ years’ experience in financial crime, with significant time spent in FIU or complex investigations roles.
• Proven leadership of complex investigations within fintech, payments, or digital financial services.
• Strong understanding of UK and EU AML frameworks and regulatory expectations.
• Hands‑on experience optimising transaction monitoring systems and alert quality.
• Comfortable working directly with data, investigators, and cross‑functional teams.
• Track record of high‑quality SAR submissions and sound regulatory outcomes.
• Experience operating in fast‑growth, product‑driven environments.

• CAMS or equivalent certification.
• Experience with blockchain or digital asset investigations.
• Exposure to advanced analytics or model‑driven monitoring approaches.