BSA Investigations Team Lead

The BSA Investigations Team Lead is responsible for leading and overseeing a team of analysts conducting Bank Secrecy Act (BSA), Anti-Money Laundering (AML), and financial crime investigations. This role ensures investigations are thorough, timely, well-documented, and consistent with applicable regulatory requirements, internal policies, and risk standards.

The BSA Investigations Team Lead serves as a subject-matter resource for complex investigations, provides quality assurance and coaching, monitors team performance, and partners with the BSA Officer and Deputy BSA Officer, Risk, Legal, Fraud, and other stakeholders to identify and mitigate financial crime risks.

• Lead, coach and develop a team of BSA/AML analysts.
• Develops, maintains and revises policies and procedures with regards to BSA investigations.
• Provide proactive advice and guidance to the front and back-office personnel on BSA AML OFAC compliance matters.
• Oversee the review of transaction monitoring alerts and suspicious referrals.
• Direct deep-dive investigations into complex financial crimes and money laundering.
• Ensure accurate and timely filing of Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) with FinCEN.
• Maintain compliance with federal banking laws and regulatory standards.
• Conduct performance reviews, training, and mentoring for team members.
• Partner with legal, risk, and law enforcement teams as needed.
• Lead, coach, and develop a team of BSA/AML investigators, including setting performance expectations and providing ongoing feedback.
• Oversee the investigation of transaction monitoring alerts, suspicious activity referrals, escalations, and other financial crime cases.
• Review complex and high-risk investigations and provide guidance on investigative strategy, documentation, and disposition.
• Ensure investigations are completed accurately, thoroughly, and within established service-level and regulatory time frames.
• Identify trends, typologies, emerging risks, and patterns of suspicious activity and communicate findings to senior management.
• Oversee the preparation and quality of Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs), including ensuring appropriate supporting documentation and clear investigative narratives.
• Ensure investigative decisions are supported by appropriate evidence, analysis, and risk-based rationale.
• Escalate significant or potentially systemic risks to senior Compliance leadership and other appropriate stakeholders.
• Partner with BSA/AML Compliance, Fraud, Sanctions, Legal, Risk, and Operations teams on complex investigations and emerging financial crime risks.
• Support regulatory examinations, internal audits, independent testing, and other compliance reviews related to BSA/AML investigations.
• Develop and maintain investigation procedures, quality-control processes, and performance metrics.
• Conduct quality assurance reviews and identify opportunities to improve investigative consistency, efficiency, and effectiveness.
• Monitor team workloads and case inventories to ensure appropriate resource allocation and timely case resolution.
• Stay current on regulatory developments, enforcement trends, emerging financial crime typologies, and industry best practices.
• Participate in the development and enhancement of transaction monitoring and investigative processes and systems.
• Provide management reporting and analysis regarding investigation volumes, trends, aging, outcomes, and risk indicators.

• Develop and update internal logs or reports as needed.
• Responsible for monitoring analysts productions with regards to BSA investigations, request for information, etc.
• Assists with OFAC related issues as appropriate.
• Makes decisions based on Bank standards, policies and established procedures as well as compliance with the regulatory agencies.
• Decisions are also based on risk associated with the bank’s activities, to promote a safe and sound banking environment.
• Communicate effectively with other Departments
• Perform other related duties as required to accomplish the objectives of the position

Bachelor's degree (B.A) from qualified college or university preferred plus a minimum of 5 plus years of BSA AML compliance experience and preferably with at least two or three years of BSA management or BSA team-lead experience; ACAMS or CRCM certification preferred.

• Bachelor’s degree in business, criminal Justice, or a related field, or equivalent professional experience.
• 5+ years of experience
  in BSA/AML, financial crimes compliance, investigations, fraud, or a related field.
• 2+ years of management or team-lead experience
  overseeing investigators or compliance professionals.
• Strong knowledge of AML/CFT OFAC and FinCEN requirements, suspicious activity investigations, and financial crime risk management.
• Experience with transaction monitoring, case management, fraud detection, sanctions screening, or AML investigative platforms.
• Experience responding to regulatory examinations or…