Compliance Operations Manager, Transaction Monitoring

Caliza • New York, NY

9d • Remote

About The Position

Caliza is hiring a Compliance Operations Manager, Transaction Monitoring, to own and operate its transaction monitoring program for cross-border payments and fiat and stablecoin flows. The role reports to the Chief Risk Officer and is remote in the United States or Latin America. There are no direct reports initially, but the manager will build and lead a team of transaction monitoring analysts as volume scales.

The manager will own the real-time transaction monitoring implementation, partner with Engineering on requirements and user acceptance testing, and continually improve the tooling. They will develop, test, tune, document, and validate AML rules, scenarios, thresholds, and typology coverage; manage alert triage, investigations, case decisions, and held or pended transactions; and oversee SAR and STR decisions and filings across applicable jurisdictions. The role also handles fraud patterns, sanctions-adjacent escalations, law-enforcement and bank requests, and serves as the primary transaction-monitoring contact for regulators, examiners, auditors, and partner banks.

The position calls for strong AML and transaction-monitoring expertise in financial services, hands-on experience implementing a monitoring system with Engineering, sound analytical skills including SQL, and clear, defensible judgment and writing. Professional working fluency in English is required; Spanish or Portuguese is a plus. The schedule should overlap with US Eastern and Brazil time zones.

Benefits vary by country and may include health coverage, paid time off and holidays, a home office or equipment allowance, a professional development budget, and in-person team offsites. Candidates outside the US may be employed through an employer of record or engaged as contractors, with terms structured according to local law and market practice.

Requirements

• At least 6 years of experience in AML, BSA, or financial crime compliance, including at least 3 years focused on transaction monitoring at a fintech, payments company, money services business, crypto business, or bank.
• Hands-on experience implementing or migrating a transaction-monitoring system, including writing requirements, testing rules, and launching the system with an Engineering team.
• Track record writing and tuning AML rules and thresholds and documenting the rationale for examiners and auditors.
• Deep familiarity with cross-border payment, remittance, and B2B money movement typologies, as well as fraud patterns in real-time payments.
• Direct experience making SAR decisions and filing with FinCEN, including narrative writing and continuing-activity reviews.
• Experience supporting regulatory examinations, independent audits, or bank-partner due diligence on a transaction-monitoring program.
• Ability to query transaction data in SQL and build analyses to support tuning decisions and explain findings in plain language.
• Clear, concise writing and defensible judgment in a fast-moving, ambiguous environment.
• Professional working fluency in English.
• Ability to work hours overlapping with US Eastern and Brazil time zones.
• Authorization to work in the country of residence; visa sponsorship is not available.

Nice To Haves

• Experience with stablecoin or digital asset transaction monitoring, including on-chain analytics and Travel Rule compliance.
• Certifications such as CAMS, CFE, CAMS-FCI, CCI (Certified Cryptocurrency Investigator), or CAMS-Audit.
• Spanish or Portuguese language skills.

Responsibilities

• Own the real-time transaction monitoring implementation and partner with Engineering to update requirements, conduct user acceptance testing, and improve monitoring tools.
• Write and tune AML rules, scenarios, and thresholds for fiat and stablecoin flows across payment corridors, mapped to documented typology coverage.
• Conduct above-the-line and below-the-line testing and ongoing tuning to reduce false positives without creating coverage gaps.
• Maintain transaction-monitoring policies, procedures, investigation playbooks, QA standards, and model and rule validation documentation, including preparation for independent validation and audits.
• Define and report transaction-monitoring metrics for Compliance leadership and the Board, including alert volumes, aging, dispositions, SLA adherence, and filing timeliness.
• Run daily alert triage, investigation workflows, case management, and disposition tracking.
• Review held and pended transactions; decide whether to release, return, or escalate them; and follow up with customers and integration partners for information and documentation.
• Detect and investigate fraud patterns, including account takeover, authorized push payment and social engineering scams, mule activity, and first-party fraud.
• Lead SAR and STR decisioning and filing for the US, Bermuda, and relevant LATAM jurisdictions, meeting applicable deadlines and continuing-activity review requirements.
• Manage sanctions-adjacent escalations and requests from law enforcement and partner banks, including 314(a) and 314(b) requests and RFIs, in coordination with Compliance and Legal.
• Serve as the primary contact for transaction-monitoring questions from regulators, examiners, auditors, correspondent banks, and sponsor banks.
• Build a culture of clear documentation, sound judgment, and fast, well-reasoned decisions.
• Build and lead a team of transaction-monitoring analysts as volume scales.

Benefits

• Health coverage may be available, depending on country of employment.
• Paid time off and holidays may be available, depending on country of employment.
• Home office or equipment allowance may be available, depending on country of employment.
• Professional development budget may be available, depending on country of employment.
• In-person team offsites may be available, depending on country of employment.

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Manager
• Education Level: No Education Listed