Global Financial Crimes: Digital Assets Financial Crimes Advisory Officer

Morgan Stanley•New York, NY

18h•Onsite

About The Position

In the Legal & Compliance division, we assist the Firm in achieving its business objectives by facilitating and overseeing the Firm's management of legal, regulatory and franchise risk. This is an Executive Director level position which provides Global Financial Crimes coverage and programmatic oversight as part of a team responsible for establishing, maintaining, and overseeing the Firm's global digital assets and crypto financial crimes risk strategy across all business units. Since 1935, Morgan Stanley is known as a global leader in financial services, always evolving and innovating to better serve our clients and our communities in more than 40 countries around the world. In Global Financial Crimes, you will play a critical role in identifying potentially suspicious activity, protecting vulnerable individuals, and safeguarding the integrity of the financial system. GFC coordinates the day-to-day implementation of the Firm's financial crime prevention efforts, including the governance, oversight, and execution of the Firm's Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Sanctions, Anti-Corruption, and Government and Political Activities Compliance programs. If you are passionate about financial crimes prevention, seeking a rewarding and dynamic career, and focused on making a difference, then GFC might be the right team for you.

Requirements

8-10+ years of experience in financial crimes risk management, AML/sanctions compliance, or regulatory oversight within a large, complex financial institution or regulator.
Demonstrated experience operating in a 2LOD or risk oversight role with enterprise or global scope.
Strong understanding of digital assets and blockchain based products, including custody, trading, staking, stablecoins, and market infrastructure.
Proven ability to set global standards and provide effective challenge across multiple business lines and regions.
Strong communication skills with experience presenting to senior management, governance committees, and regulators.
Experience overseeing or assessing blockchain analytics and crypto investigative capabilities from a risk oversight perspective.
Familiarity with crypto related investigations, transaction monitoring, and SAR frameworks (governance and oversight).
Ability to understand and assess a wide variety of complex products, services, and client types.
Highly motivated self-starter able to work independently while collaborating and coordinating as part of a global program.
Strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with the ability to provide viable solutions in a time-sensitive environment.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with strong attention to detail.
Strong project management skills.
Sound judgment and an ability to appropriately escalate issues internally.
Proven ability to handle highly confidential information with appropriate discretion.
Outstanding interpersonal skills and a team-player attitude.
Proficiency with Microsoft Office (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and Outlook).
Certification as an Anti-Money Laundering Specialist by ACAMS or equivalent AML certification/license - or certification within first 15 months of employment

Responsibilities

Define and maintain the global digital assets financial crimes risk strategy applicable across all Firm business units, legal entities, and geographies.
Establish enterprise wide risk drivers, control expectations, and residual risk tolerances for crypto and blockchain based activities.
Design and oversee the Global Crypto Financial Crimes Framework, including policies, standards, risk assessments, and minimum control requirements.
Ensure global alignment with BSA/AML, OFAC, FinCEN, FATF, and other relevant regulatory regimes, while accounting for jurisdictional differences.
Design and support implementation of expectations for the Crypto Investigations Target Operating Model (TOM) across GFC and Fraud, including segmentation principles, on chain vs. off chain investigative standards, escalation frameworks, governance, quality assurance, and consistency standards.
Establish GFC expectations for the use of blockchain analytics and forensic tools across business units.
Participate in enterprise and business specific digital asset product approval and governance forums as an independent risk function.
Provide consistent 2LOD challenge on crypto products, platforms, client segments, and transactional capabilities proposed by any business unit.
Review and challenge First Line risk assessments for material changes, including new asset types, protocols, jurisdictions, or client use cases.
Oversee and support internal audit, independent testing, and global regulatory examinations related to digital assets financial crimes risk.
Identify cross business thematic issues, systemic control gaps, and emerging risks, and escalate via enterprise governance forums.
Represent GFC Digital Assets Advisory in global regulatory engagements, ensuring clear, consistent, and defensible articulation of the Firm's digital assets financial crimes risk framework.
Participate in special projects as needed.