Financial Crimes Manager & CFT/AML Officer

First Community Bank•Lexington, SC

16h

About The Position

The Financial Crimes Manager & CFT/AML Officer leads the Bank’s enterprise financial crimes compliance program, including CFT/AML, BSA, OFAC, fraud risk coordination, and related regulatory reporting. The role establishes and maintains risk-based policies, controls, monitoring, investigations, training, and governance; advises management and the Board of Directors; and ensures timely corrective action. The position is appointed by the Bank’s Board of Directors and approved annually. The officer oversees the financial crimes team and program operations, including alert review, investigations, enhanced due diligence, transaction monitoring, sanctions screening, regulatory filings, higher-risk customer monitoring, and case records. The role coordinates across Bank departments and with external authorities, leads regulatory examinations and audits, reports on program effectiveness and risks to the Board and its committees, and promotes a strong culture of compliance.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree or at least 5 to 7 years of progressively responsible experience in CFT/AML, BSA, OFAC, fraud, financial crimes investigations, or related banking compliance; or an equivalent combination of education and experience.
Strong written, verbal, and presentation skills, including the ability to explain complex risk, legal, and regulatory matters to diverse audiences, including the Board of Directors.
Advanced analytical, investigative, decision-making, and problem-solving skills, including the ability to evaluate complex transactions, customer relationships, typologies, control gaps, and competing risks.
Working knowledge of CFT/AML, BSA, OFAC, customer identification, customer due diligence, beneficial ownership, sanctions, information-sharing, suspicious activity reporting, fraud, and financial crimes governance requirements.
Proficiency with office productivity tools, data analysis, case-management systems, transaction-monitoring systems, sanctions-screening tools, and regulatory filing platforms.
Strong organization, judgment, discretion, time management, and attention to detail, with the ability to prioritize sensitive matters and meet regulatory deadlines.
Strong understanding of money laundering, terrorist financing, sanctions evasion, fraud, cyber-enabled financial crime, and related typologies and controls.

Nice To Haves

Experience leading a financial crimes compliance function, managing personnel, overseeing investigations and regulatory filings, and interacting with executive management, directors, auditors, regulators, and law enforcement.
Experience with financial crimes technology, including Verafin and FIS Horizon.
Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (CAMS) certification.
Certified Regulatory Compliance Manager (CRCM) or another relevant financial crimes, compliance, fraud, or risk-management certification.

Responsibilities

Lead the Bank’s enterprise financial crimes program and ensure compliance with applicable CFT/AML, BSA, USA PATRIOT Act, OFAC, and related requirements across business units.
Maintain and periodically update risk-based financial crimes policies and procedures, and ensure consistent understanding and execution across the Bank.
Conduct and document enterprise financial crimes risk assessments, evaluate control design and effectiveness, and present annual assessments, mitigating factors, and significant residual risks to the Audit Committee.
Manage a team responsible for alert review, customer investigations, enhanced due diligence, transaction monitoring, sanctions screening, regulatory reporting, and ongoing monitoring of higher-risk customers and activities.
Oversee accurate, complete, documented, and timely submission of Currency Transaction Reports, Suspicious Activity Reports, Designations of Exempt Person, and other required filings.
Coordinate with the Security Officer and other stakeholders to identify, assess, investigate, and monitor fraud and other financial crimes risks; ensure reporting decisions are thoroughly documented.
Respond to law enforcement and governmental authority requests regarding suspicious activity, investigations, and regulatory filings.
Supervise, coach, and direct financial crimes personnel; establish performance expectations, escalation protocols, quality standards, and professional development plans.
Serve as the senior internal subject-matter expert for CFT/AML, BSA, OFAC, fraud, and related financial crimes matters, advising Bank departments and business units.
Maintain role-based financial crimes training, including onboarding, periodic, targeted remedial, and annual Board training.
Provide annual and interim Board and committee reporting on program effectiveness, risk indicators, investigations and filings, emerging threats, staffing, systems, testing, and corrective actions.
Prepare and update the Financial Crimes staffing and resource assessment at least annually using risk, volume, complexity, productivity, and service-level metrics.
Maintain complete, accurate, secure case-management and referral records, including the Suspicious Activity Internal Referral Spreadsheet (GAFFE).
Support cross-functional identification, assessment, investigation, and mitigation of fraud and other financial crimes risks.
Serve as co-chair of the Bank’s BSA/Compliance Committee and coordinate enterprise reporting and escalation of material financial crimes risks.
Chair the SAR Committee and ensure consistent, supported decisions, appropriate escalation, confidentiality, and timely follow-through.
Promote the Bank’s financial crimes risk-management efforts through training and communication of risk trends and program priorities to employees, management, committees, and the Board.
Monitor compliance and program effectiveness through quality assurance, sampling, management information, trend analysis, and control testing; escalate deficiencies and oversee corrective action.
Partner with Internal Audit, Compliance, Enterprise Risk Management, Information Security, Legal, Operations, and business leadership to address financial crimes compliance risk.
Remain current on relevant laws, regulations, guidance, enforcement actions, typologies, sanctions, fraud trends, products, delivery channels, and technologies.
Review new or revised products, services, systems, customer segments, and delivery channels for financial crimes risk and recommend controls before implementation.
Serve as lead contact for financial crimes regulatory examinations, audits, and independent testing; coordinate responses, remediation plans, and supporting documentation.