Financial Crimes Quality Assurance Analyst

Pathward, N.A.•Remote, TN

2d•$43,000 - $70,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Financial Crimes Quality Assurance (QA) Analyst is responsible for executing within the quality assurance program focused on Second Line of Defense (2LoD) Financial Crimes activities, including oversight, review, challenge, and governance functions across BSA/AML, Sanctions, and Fraud. This role ensures that 2LoD processes—such as alert oversight, customer risk rating governance, policy interpretation, and escalation decisions—are performed with consistency, accuracy, and in alignment with regulatory expectations and internal standards. The Analyst will assess the effectiveness of 2LoD outputs, provide credible challenge within Compliance, and deliver insights to strengthen oversight and risk management practices.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree in Finance, Business, Risk Management, or related field
3–7+ years of experience in Financial Crimes (AML, Sanctions, Fraud), with direct experience in 2LoD Compliance / Financial Crimes oversight, or Quality Assurance / Testing of Financial Crimes functions
Strong knowledge of BSA/AML and sanctions regulatory expectations
Strong knowledge of 2LoD roles and responsibilities within a three lines of defense model
Strong knowledge of Financial crime risk management frameworks and governance practices
Experience reviewing complex financial crime cases and providing oversight or challenge
Strong analytical and judgment skills
Strong sense of independence and professional skepticism
Ability to assess quality of judgment and oversight (not just execution)
Excellent written and verbal communication skills
Ability to influence and challenge peers within Compliance
Attention to detail with a focus on consistency and governance
Strong organizational and problem-solving skills

Nice To Haves

CAMS, CFE, CRCM, or similar certifications
Experience with Customer Risk Rating (CRR) or Transaction Monitoring model governance
Experience leveraging data analytics or reporting tools in QA

Responsibilities

Perform detailed QA reviews of 2LoD casework, memos, and decisions to evaluate accuracy and completeness, appropriateness of risk-based judgments, and alignment with internal standards and regulatory expectations.
Evaluate the quality of 2LoD oversight, including whether issues are appropriately identified, escalated, and resolved.
Identify inconsistencies in decision-making and gaps in challenge or governance.
Conduct horizontal reviews across 2LoD outputs to identify systemic weaknesses in oversight practices, trends in ineffective challenge or missed escalation opportunities, and inconsistencies in policy interpretation.
Develop insights into emerging risks and control blind spots within 2LoD.
Assist with the development and maintenance of QA methodologies specific to 2LoD activities, including test scripts tailored to oversight and challenge functions, defect taxonomy focused on governance, escalation, and decision quality, and scoring frameworks to assess effectiveness of 2LoD outputs.
Ensure clear differentiation between 1LoD execution errors and 2LoD oversight deficiencies.
Document QA findings with clear articulation of gaps in 2LoD oversight, challenge, or governance, root cause and impact on risk management effectiveness, and assign severity ratings based on risk exposure and regulatory implications.
Track and validate remediation of identified issues within Compliance.
Provide independent challenge within the 2LoD function, ensuring high standards of oversight and accountability.
Support regulatory exams by demonstrating the effectiveness and rigor of 2LoD oversight and QA practices.
Identify opportunities to enhance 2LoD QA through standardization of oversight practices, enhanced documentation and governance protocols, and use of data analytics to identify anomalies or inconsistencies in 2LoD outputs.