Lead Cross-Asset Trade Surveillance & AML Job Chicago area,Illinois USA,Finance & Banking

Department: Compliance

Reports To: AML Compliance Officer, tastytrade

Employment Type: Full-Time

Salary: $101,000-$120,000

About the Role:

tastytrade is a FINRA-regulated broker-dealer and NFA member offering equities, futures, crypto, and prediction market products to retail clients. We are seeking a Senior Surveillance Specialist to help build out, operate, and continuously improve our cross-asset trade surveillance and AML transaction-monitoring program. This role spans both the design and day-to-day execution of surveillance: developing and tuning detection logic, investigating alerts and customer escalations, monitoring cryptocurrency and blockchain activity, and preparing regulatory reporting — not simply administering an existing vendor tool.

The role supports surveillance coverage that satisfies FINRA's supervisory and anti-manipulation requirements (e.g., Rules 3110 and 3310), the parallel NFA/CFTC framework governing futures (e.g., NFA Compliance Rules 2-4 and 2-9, and CFTC Rules 180.1/180.2 and CEA Section 4c(a)), and the firm's BSA/AML and KYC/KYT obligations under the Bank Secrecy Act and USA PATRIOT Act.

What You'll Do:

Design, build, and test surveillance scenarios/alerts across equities, options, futures, crypto, and prediction markets, covering manipulative and abusive trading patterns (e.g., spoofing, layering, wash trading, front-running, marking the close, insider trading, cross-product/cross-market manipulation, uneconomical trading).

Tune and validate surveillance thresholds and models; document methodology, coverage, and testing/back-testing results to demonstrate reasonable design under FINRA Rule 3110 and NFA Compliance Rule 2-9.

Conduct first- and second-level review of surveillance alerts and customer escalations; investigate potential violations of FINRA, SEC, NFA Compliance Rule 2-4 (Just and Equitable Principles of Trade), CFTC Rules 180.1/180.2, CEA Section 4c(a), and internal policies.

Conduct thorough investigations into suspicious transactions or activities, collaborating with Compliance, Legal, and Operations to gather necessary information and evidence.

Monitor cryptocurrency transactions and blockchain activity for signs of suspicious or illicit behavior, using blockchain analytical software to satisfy the firm's Know Your Transaction (KYT) requirements and identify potential risks.

Draft, review, and file Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) arising from trade surveillance in accordance with BSA/AML requirements; maintain SAR documentation and related recordkeeping.

Report and escalate suspicious activities to appropriate regulatory or law enforcement agencies as required; prepare regulatory reporting and respond to inquiries, exams, and requests for information from FINRA, the SEC, and the CFTC/NFA.

Communicate with customers on monitoring and surveillance-related matters.

Partner with Compliance, Legal, and Technology teams to define requirements for new or enhanced surveillance tools, including vendor system implementation or in-house build.

Maintain and update Written Supervisory Procedures (WSPs) covering trade surveillance, market manipulation, and associated SAR filing across all product lines, including futures-specific procedures required under NFA Compliance Rule 2-9.

Monitor for emerging manipulation typologies specific to newer product types (e.g., crypto market abuse, prediction market-specific manipulation such as outcome manipulation or coordinated wash trading).

Coordinate with the CAT reporting team as needed to support surveillance investigations that rely on CAT data (CAT reporting itself is owned by a separate team).

Track and report key surveillance metrics (alert volumes, false-positive rates, SAR filing statistics, case aging) to senior…