VP, Compliance Model Governance & Supplier Management

Role Summary/Purpose

The VP, Compliance Model Governance and Supplier will serve as the business and technical owner of Synchrony’s BSA/AML transaction monitoring and watchlist screening models, critical for combating financial crime and ensuring regulatory compliance. The successful candidate will be responsible for managing key aspects of the model governance process, including development, vendor management, monitoring, validation, implementation and regulatory responses. You will lead strategic initiatives to enhance the robustness, effectiveness, and accuracy of these models through rigorous oversight, collaboration with Model Risk Management (MRM), Compliance, Data Management, and external third-party vendors.

This position is accountable for maintaining the highest standards in model performance, regulatory adherence, and supplier management, and will play a pivotal role influencing senior leadership decisions and regulatory examinations.

We’re proud to offer you choice and flexibility. At Synchrony, our way of working allows you to have the option to work from home, near one of our Hubs or come into one of our offices. Occasionally you may be required to commute to our nearest office for in person engagement activities such as business or team meetings, training and culture events.

Governance & Strategic Model Ownership

• Lead the full lifecycle governance of AML transaction monitoring and watchlist screening models, including model selection, development, validation, implementation, ongoing monitoring, tuning, and retirement.
• Lead model projects working closely with vendors and/or cross-functionally
• Work on data collection, data cleansing, methodology evaluation, model assessment, model development, testing and validation.
• Maintain comprehensive model documentation needed to meet regulatory requirements.
• Lead the model monitoring process, including root cause drivers of any material shifts in model performance and maintain model change logs
• Manage audit and validation requests, and develop remediation plan for timely resolution on any issues uncovered through those requests
• Act as the senior escalation point for model-related risks, regulatory inquiries, and audit findings.

Leadership & Stakeholder Engagement

• Direct and mentor AML model analysts, fostering cross-functional collaboration and knowledge sharing.
• Build trusted advisor relationships with Legal, Data Management, Operations, Technology and third-party vendors to drive continuous improvement.
• Present regular model performance and risk reports to senior leadership, regulatory bodies, and risk committees.

Model Performance & Continuous Improvement

• Champion ongoing model performance monitoring and tuning initiatives to proactively identify model degradation, false positives/negatives, and emerging risks.
• Lead efforts to innovate and enhance existing models leveraging advanced analytics, AI/ML techniques, and new data sources.

Third-Party & Vendor Management

• Own the end-to-end management of third-party model providers, including rigorous onboarding, due diligence, performance monitoring, and contract compliance.
• Lead vendor risk assessments, audits, and remediation activities to safeguard the integrity and reliability of outsourced models.
• In collaboration with Sourcing and Legal, negotiate service level agreements and model performance expectations with external partners.

Regulatory & Audit Readiness

• Maintain comprehensive, audit-ready documentation of model governance activities, validations, tuning, and issue remediation.
• Proactively engage with examiners and internal auditors, ensuring Synchrony’s AML models meet or exceed regulatory expectations.
• Lead response efforts to regulatory inquiries, internal findings, and industry developments related to AML/OFAC compliance modeling.

• Hands-on model development or validation experience

• 6+ years’ hands-on programming skills utilizing Python, SAS, SQL, AWS, Data Lake to perform statistical analysis and manage complex or large amounts of data.

• Bachelor’s degree required; advanced degree (MBA, MS in Data Science, Finance, or related field)…