Analyst-Compliance

American Express•Phoenix, AZ

About The Position

The Sanctions Analyst will assist with OFAC/Sanctions activities to ensure American Express’ activities meet all applicable regulatory requirements and standard industry practices. The Sanctions Analyst will develop a deep understanding of American Express products, services, customers, entities, and geographic locations to effectively mitigate sanctions-related risks.

Requirements

Bachelor's degree or equivalent work experience in Business, Finance, Criminal Justice, Risk Management, or a related field.
1–3 years of experience in sanctions compliance, AML, financial crimes, compliance, risk management, or investigations within a financial institution or regulated environment.
Basic understanding of U.S. sanctions regulations (OFAC) and global sanctions frameworks.
Experience conducting investigations, analyzing complex information, and making risk-based decisions.
Strong analytical, critical thinking, and problem-solving skills.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to clearly document investigative findings.
Strong organizational skills with the ability to manage multiple priorities and meet established service level agreements (SLAs).
Proficiency with Microsoft Excel, Word, and other Microsoft Office applications.
Employment eligibility to work with American Express in the United States is required as the company will not pursue visa sponsorship for these positions.

Nice To Haves

Experience supporting sanctions screening, alert adjudication, or sanctions investigations.
Knowledge of OFAC regulations, sanctions screening processes, and sanctions compliance best practices.
Experience with sanctions screening platforms (e.g., Bridger Insight, FircoSoft, Oracle Mantas, Actimize, or similar tools).
Experience working with internal watchlists, sanctions reporting, or regulatory reporting obligations (e.g., OFAC blocking and rejection reports).
Ability to interpret regulatory guidance and apply it to investigative decision-making.
Experience partnering with cross-functional stakeholders, including Compliance, Legal, Operations, and Business teams.
Experience identifying process improvement opportunities and enhancing operational controls.
Relevant professional certifications such as CAMS, CGSS, or ACFCS are a plus.

Responsibilities

Serve as the primary escalation point for enterprise-wide escalations of likely sanctions matches.
Track all escalations sent to Global Sanctions (via Bridger & sanctions email) for review, ensuring SLA thresholds are met.
Analyze and make decisions on all screening alerts escalated for Global Sanctions for review in Bridger.
Update match metrics tracking
Compile and edit Enterprise Wide Internal Watchlist entries
Complete investigations for all incremental sanctions oversight processes (IP, CADENCE, Brand Protection output, etc.).
Partner with MCOs/LOBCOs to identify card member information and appropriately action accounts.
BTL (Below the Line) testing
Investigate & track account closures, conduct additional account and spend analysis, block funds, & report to OFAC as required
Oversee business and compliance inventory SLAs.
Provide business and compliance alert adjudication support.
Support enterprise inventory reporting.
Support match metrics reporting
Provide subject matter expertise regarding Sanctions and PEP regulations.
Identify regulatory OFAC/Sanctions compliance issues/concerns and make suggestions and/or take corrective actions to implement solutions to improve controls/operations.
Investigate apparent breaches of regulation/compliance standards, make recommendations as appropriate, and execute implementation of corrective measures.
Review and analyze OFAC/Sanctions inquiries and potential hits.
Prepare OFAC block and reject reports.
Investigate all AML (GAITS) referrals when sanctions concerns are identified.