FinCrime Compliance & Assurance Officer

We're expanding our wealth offering and the financial crime complexity that comes with it is growing. We want someone who is not only able to manage our current risk exposure but who will grow with us as our product range and customer wealth evolves.

This is a senior second‑line‑of‑defence (2

LoD) position within Chip's small Financial Crime Compliance function. You will own end‑to‑end compliance monitoring and assurance, provide expert advisory to our first‑line operations teams, and play a pivotal role in how we identify, assess, and mitigate financial crime risk across our growing portfolio of savings and investment products.

Reporting directly to the MLRO / Head of Financial Crime Compliance, you will be a capable, growing specialist – someone who can work with real independence, communicate risk clearly, and contribute meaningfully to improving Chip's control framework across all areas of financial crime risk.

• Execute Chip's Financial Crime Compliance Monitoring Plan end‑to‑end, across AML, fraud, sanctions, PEPs, and broader financial crime controls – including scoping, fieldwork, control testing, reporting, and issue tracking through to closure.
• Apply data analytics and AI‑assisted tooling confidently across your monitoring work – using them to sharpen coverage, improve efficiency, and raise the quality of findings.
• Produce clear, well‑evidenced assurance reports with actionable findings for relevant governance forums.
• Contribute to enterprise‑wide risk assessments (EWRA), supporting the assessment of inherent risk, control effectiveness, and residual risk across Chip's product and customer base.
• Identify and flag control gaps, contributing to recommendations for improvement and supporting the tracking of remediation actions through to completion.
• Support horizon scanning activity with gap analysis, monitoring regulatory developments and emerging financial crime typologies relevant to Chip's risk profile.
• Review and assess internal Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) and escalations referred from first‑line teams, providing quality assurance on escalation decisions prior to MLRO escalation for sign‑off.
• Assist with the handling of Law Enforcement Agency (LEA) requests, supporting the preparation of timely, accurate, and appropriately documented responses.
• Maintain meaningful MI to track financial crime risks, control performance, and monitoring outcomes – building AI‑assisted reporting where it adds efficiency and clarity.
• Contribute to the MLRO Annual Report, including drafting sections on financial crime risk, control environment, and assurance activity.

• You’ll have around 5 years' of financial crime experience, including at least half that time in a 2
  
  LoD role. We will consider strong candidates with less experience where they can demonstrate genuine depth across compliance monitoring, assurance, and FC operations oversight. Experience across both lines of defence experience are required.
• Experience in a retail savings, investment, or wealth management environment is advantageous, particularly where this has involved exposure to complex customer risk profiles and the financial crime risks associated with investment and wealth products.
• Thorough, hands‑on knowledge of the UK Financial Crime regulatory framework.
• Proven experience conducting compliance monitoring and assurance reviews, including control testing methodology, sampling, and findings reporting.
• Experience contributing to enterprise‑wide risk assessments with an understanding of inherent risk, control assessment, and residual risk conclusions.
• Direct experience with SAR drafting, review, and escalation decisions.
• Working knowledge of KYC controls, PEP and sanctions screening processes, EDD obligations, and high‑risk customer processes.
• Excellent communication as well as strong MI and data skills. Comfortable building and presenting management information and findings in a way that tells a clear story.
• Organised and self‑directed, with the ability to manage multiple work streams and deadlines independently.
• ICA, CAMS, or equivalent professional qualification is desirable, though not essential if…