Wire Operations Specialist

Bankwell Financial Group•New Canaan, CT

About The Position

The Temporary Wire Operations Specialist provides staff augmentation support to Payment Operations with a dedicated focus on wire transfer processing. This temporary role supports the accurate, timely, and controlled processing of domestic and, as applicable, international wire activity in accordance with Bankwell procedures, approval requirements, cutoff times, and applicable regulatory expectations. The position is intended to help with wire processing volume and related operational follow-up.

Requirements

Prior banking or financial services operations experience required, with hands-on wire processing experience strongly preferred.
Experience with domestic wires required; international, FX, SWIFT, or correspondent banking wire experience is a plus.
Working knowledge of wire transfer controls and applicable regulatory expectations, including OFAC/sanctions screening, BSA/AML awareness, client authentication, and secure handling of sensitive data.
Exceptional attention to detail and accuracy when reviewing beneficiary instructions, bank information, approvals, dollar amounts, cutoff times, and transaction documentation.
Ability to work efficiently in a high-volume, deadline-driven environment while following established procedures and escalation protocols.
Strong problem-solving skills and the ability to investigate and resolve wire exceptions, rejects, returns, or incomplete instructions.
Proficiency with Microsoft Office, particularly Outlook and Excel, and the ability to learn wire platforms and bank systems quickly.
Strong communication skills and the ability to work effectively with Payment Operations team members and internal business partners.
High degree of professionalism, confidentiality, reliability, and accountability in a temporary staff augmentation assignment.

Nice To Haves

international, FX, SWIFT, or correspondent banking wire experience

Responsibilities

Process assigned incoming and outgoing wire transfer activity accurately and within established deadlines, procedures, approval requirements, and control expectations.
Review wire requests and related documentation for completeness, required approvals, client authorization, callback or verification requirements, and alignment with Bankwell procedures.
Perform or support OFAC/sanctions screening and escalate potential matches, exceptions, unusual activity, or processing concerns to Bankwell management, Compliance, or Fraud as required.
Monitor wire queues, cutoff times, pending items, repair items, rejects, returns, and other wire-related exceptions to support timely resolution.
Investigate and resolve assigned wire processing errors or exceptions, including missing or incomplete information, formatting issues, beneficiary/bank details, returns, and rejected items.
Coordinate with internal partners, including Retail Banking, Private Banking, Treasury Management, Compliance, Fraud, Finance, and IT, as needed to complete wire processing and resolve wire-related issues.
Maintain clear, accurate, and audit-ready documentation of wire activity, approvals, exception handling, callbacks/verifications, and required supporting records.
Assist with daily balancing, settlement support, wire reporting, and other wire-specific operational controls as assigned.
Protect confidential client and bank information and follow all information security, dual-control, segregation-of-duties, and escalation requirements.
Perform other wire-processing-related duties as assigned by Payment Operations leadership.