Manager, BSA/AML Operations – Cases (Case Operations)

Pathward, N.A.

3d•$72,000 - $120,000•Remote

About The Position

The Manager, Case Operations leads the day-to-day execution and oversight of Pathward’s Suspicious Activity Monitoring (SAM) case investigation function within the BSA/AML & Sanctions Operations team. The role ensures compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act, AML regulations, and OCC supervisory expectations, and directly supervises the investigation, documentation, and disposition of escalated cases. It supports a well-governed, risk-based, and sustainable investigation and reporting framework and the organization’s BSA/AML compliance program. The manager leads analysts handling SAM case investigations, enhanced due diligence, and escalations; oversees operational performance, investigation quality, queues, aging, and regulatory responsiveness; and coordinates with the Alerts and SAR Filing teams, Compliance, Technology, Data Analytics, Program Management, and Assurance. The position also contributes to BSA/AML policies, procedures, controls, customer due diligence, sanctions screening, suspicious activity identification, and risk assessments. The role maintains accountability for case investigation and disposition, suspicious activity identification and SAR referrals, CTR accuracy and timeliness, EDD escalations, and complete, defensible responses to 314(a) requests and law-enforcement and regulatory inquiries. It leads and develops analysts, oversees quality reviews, reports operational and risk metrics to management and the Board, supports root-cause analysis and remediation, and partners on SAM rule tuning and optimization. It also maintains case procedures and reference materials and supports analyst training and mentorship. The manager and analysts need working, product-level knowledge of funds flows, typologies, and party designations across Pathward’s card issuing and prepaid products; tax products; merchant and ATM acquiring; digital and faster payments; consumer lending, commercial finance, and commercial deposits; and the Bank-vs-Program-Manager framework.

Requirements

Bachelor’s degree.
Solid experience in BSA/AML operations, financial crimes investigations, and SAM programs within a regulated financial institution.
Demonstrated experience leading or supervising analysts.
Working knowledge of Actimize, FCRM, and enterprise transaction monitoring systems.
Strong analytical, communication, and organizational skills, including the ability to manage queues, SLAs, and staff capacity.
Working, product-level knowledge of funds flows, typologies, and party designations across relevant Pathward products and the program-manager model.

Nice To Haves

Professional certifications, such as CAMS.

Responsibilities

Directly supervise analysts responsible for SAM case investigations, enhanced due diligence, and escalation activities.
Manage cases generated through transaction monitoring systems and manual referrals.
Oversee operational performance, including case volumes, aging, investigation quality, regulatory responsiveness, SLAs, and quality standards.
Ensure cases are investigated, documented, and dispositioned in line with Pathward policies, procedures, and regulatory requirements.
Maintain accountability for SAM investigations and dispositions, suspicious activity identification and SAR referrals, CTR accuracy and timeliness, and EDD escalations.
Ensure timely, complete, and defensible responses to 314(a) information requests, law-enforcement inquiries, subpoenas, and regulatory requests.
Monitor daily queues and workload distribution, proactively manage backlogs, and escalate issues.
Lead, coach, develop, and performance-manage analysts.
Perform and oversee quality reviews of investigations and SAR referrals for consistency, completeness, and defensibility.
Promote accountability, consistency, and continuous improvement across SAM Case Operations.
Compile and report KRIs and KPIs for management and Board reporting, including case volume and aging, SLA performance, SAR referral trends, staffing capacity, productivity, and emerging typologies.
Translate operational data into risk-focused narratives for senior management and Board oversight aligned with OCC expectations.
Support root-cause analysis of operational issues, trends, or findings; assess control effectiveness, identify gaps, and recommend risk-based remediation.
Ensure remediation is sustainable and aligned with Pathward’s enterprise risk management framework.
Partner with FCC Program Management, Data Analytics, and Technology Assurance to tune and optimize SAM rules and scenarios, evaluate alert and case quality, and govern, test, and document rule changes.
Support development, implementation, and maintenance of BSA/AML policies, procedures, desktop procedures, and controls for the case function.
Assist with BSA/AML program components, including customer due diligence, sanctions screening, and suspicious activity identification, where applicable.
Contribute to risk assessments covering BSA/AML risks across products, services, customers, and geographic locations.
Maintain and update SAM case procedures, checklists, sample narratives, and reference guides.
Support analyst training, quality assurance, mentorship, and professional growth.