Compliance Senior Lead - Sanctions Operations

Kraken

6d•$72,600 - $145,200•Remote

About The Position

Kraken is seeking a senior sanctions compliance professional to join its Global Sanctions Compliance function in a fully remote role. Reporting directly to the Chief Sanctions Officer, this position reviews, escalates, and resolves sanctions risk across Kraken’s global operations. The role focuses on complex cases generated by sanctions controls and the first line of defence, while helping make the operation faster and more scalable as volumes grow. The successful candidate will conduct reviews across screening, blockchain monitoring, anti-circumvention controls, and account opening and maintenance processes. They will analyze data and accounts, coordinate with regional and other compliance teams, support regulatory investigations and reporting, and help improve workflows using automation and AI-assisted tools with appropriate human oversight.

Requirements

At least 5 years of experience in compliance, sanctions, or financial crime compliance, including hands-on sanctions investigations; ideally gained in financial services such as banking, crypto, or fintech.
Working knowledge of major sanctions regimes, including US OFAC, EU, UK, and UN programs.
Experience writing sanctions reviews or investigation narratives.
Strong analytical and writing skills, sound judgment, and a detail-oriented, problem-solving approach.
Knowledge of crypto, banking, or payment processes, procedures, and systems.
Experience with case management systems such as Hummingbird, Zendesk, or equivalent.
Hands-on experience using automation and AI tools, such as Claude or ChatGPT.
Effective verbal and written communication skills, including the ability to convey complex issues and manage stakeholders across global and regional compliance partners.
Ability to collaborate effectively with colleagues across functions.
Ownership of work product and a record of delivering results in a fast-paced environment.
High degree of integrity and discretion, and ability to handle confidential and sensitive information.
Bachelor’s degree or equivalent practical experience.

Nice To Haves

ACAMS (CAMS) or ACSS sanctions certification.
Prior regulatory experience or blockchain analytics vendor experience, such as attributing sanctions risk.
Experience supporting regulatory exams, audits, or enforcement-related inquiries.

Responsibilities

Perform sanctions reviews in response to escalations from blockchain monitoring, name screening, transaction screening, anti-circumvention controls, and account sign-up and maintenance rules.
Review escalated name-screening and transaction-screening alerts, resolving them accurately and on time.
Review blockchain-monitoring alerts for direct and indirect sanctions exposure.
Analyze Kraken accounts for potential sanctions circumvention risk.
Review account-opening documentation escalated by Kraken’s first line of defence.
Review large data sets to support proactive and ad-hoc risk analyses.
Communicate with Regional Compliance Officers and other Compliance teams, reflecting regional perspectives while maintaining sanctions-program integrity.
Coordinate with teammates to establish streamlined processes and use automation and AI-assisted tools where appropriate, with human oversight.
Prepare regulatory reports in response to investigations as needed.
Prepare and deliver presentations as needed.