Senior Transaction Monitoring Analyst

Astra

1d•$100,000 - $125,000•Remote

About The Position

Astra is hiring a Senior Transaction Monitoring Analyst to build, operate, and improve its transaction monitoring program for an instant-payments platform serving businesses across banking, BaaS, payroll, lending, crypto, and other financial services. The analyst will design and tune monitoring rules, analyze payment activity, investigate escalated alerts, and prepare suspicious activity referrals for sponsor banks. This hands-on role requires financial-crimes expertise, technical skill working directly with transaction data, and the ability to independently disposition complex cases. The role reports to the Head of Compliance and works closely with Product, Engineering, Operations, and Compliance. The analyst will develop risk-based monitoring across ACH, RTP, FedNow, debit networks, and other payment rails; investigate customer and transaction activity; use SQL to assess monitoring performance; and recommend adjustments as products, customers, and risks evolve. The position also supports sponsor-bank inquiries, audits, examinations, and monitoring requirements for new products and payment flows before launch. Astra describes itself as a remote-first company hiring only within the U.S.

Requirements

At least 4 years of experience in BSA/AML, financial-crimes compliance, or transaction monitoring within fintech, payments, or banking.
Hands-on experience designing, implementing, and tuning monitoring rules, beyond reviewing alerts.
Track record of independently conducting complex investigations and escalating suspicious activity.
Strong command of BSA/AML requirements, financial-crimes typologies, and risk-based monitoring.
Working knowledge of payment rails, particularly ACH, RTP, and debit networks.
Experience managing alert queues while maintaining quality and timeliness.
Ability to work independently and cross-functionally in a fast-paced environment, with rigorous attention to detail and documentation.
Strong SQL skills for querying and analyzing large transaction datasets.
Experience configuring, testing, and optimizing rules in platforms such as Unit21, Sardine, Actimize, or Verafin.
Ability to translate detection requirements into rule logic, including thresholds, velocity calculations, aggregation windows, and behavioral patterns.
Experience using data to evaluate rule effectiveness and reduce false positives.
Working knowledge of API-driven payment architecture and rails including ACH/NACHA, RTP, FedNow, and Visa Direct.

Nice To Haves

Bachelor's degree in finance, economics, computer science, criminal justice, or a related field; exceptional relevant experience is considered equally.
CAMS, CFE, or equivalent certification.
Experience at a payments fintech, BaaS company, or processor operating under a sponsor-bank model.
Prior experience building or significantly improving a transaction monitoring program.
Exposure to embedded finance, payroll, lending, card disbursements, or real-time payments.
Python or similar tools for transaction analysis, rule testing, or automation.
Familiarity with model validation, rule governance, and sponsor-bank expectations.
Startup experience spanning technical implementation and day-to-day compliance operations.

Responsibilities

Design, build, test, maintain, backtest, and tune transaction monitoring rules across ACH, RTP, FedNow, debit networks, and other payment rails.
Develop risk-based scenarios for typologies such as structuring, velocity anomalies, and rapid movement of funds, and identify gaps in monitoring coverage.
Translate financial-crimes risks into monitoring logic and thresholds, configuring rules with Product and Engineering as needed.
Document rule rationale, configuration, test results, and change history.
Investigate potentially suspicious transactions and customer activity using transaction histories, customer data, and other sources.
Document investigative findings and dispositions, including clear narratives and recommendations.
Prepare and submit suspicious activity referrals to sponsor banks in coordination with the Head of Compliance.
Respond to sponsor-bank information requests and support follow-up reviews.
Track alert volumes, backlogs, and case aging to support timely operations.
Use SQL and other tools to query transaction data and evaluate monitoring performance.
Analyze activity across customers, payment rails, and use cases to identify emerging risks and coverage gaps.
Report on alert volumes, false-positive rates, rule performance, and investigation outcomes.
Recommend changes to thresholds, scenarios, and segmentation as products and customers evolve.
Work with Product and Engineering on monitoring capabilities, data availability, and case-management workflows.
Partner with Compliance and Operations on complex investigations, emerging risks, and escalation procedures.
Support sponsor-bank inquiries, audits, and examinations with documentation and analysis.
Define monitoring requirements for new products and payment flows before launch.
Improve internal compliance tooling through automation and operational feedback.
Feed investigation insights back into rules, scenarios, and workflows.