Manager, Sanctions Operations — BSA​/AML & Sanctions Operations

Manager, Sanctions Operations — BSA/AML & Sanctions Operations

Remote

At Pathward, we take tremendous pride in our purpose to create financial inclusion for all™. We are a financial empowerment company that works with innovators to increase financial availability, choice, and opportunity for all. We strive to remove barriers that traditional institutions put in the way of financial access, and promote economic mobility by providing responsible, secure, high quality financial products.

We are a team of problem solvers and innovators who celebrate our differences and know that our unique perspectives make us stronger and well-positioned for success. We celebrate, and embrace, our team members through our HUMBLEHUNGRYSMART approach, and we believe that we are strongest when we embrace the voices of our employees, customers, partners, and the communities we serve.

The Manager, Sanctions Operations provides day-to-day operational leadership of the OFAC, 314(a), and PEP screening queues. The role provides a second review point over disposition quality, and directly addresses sustainability of SLAs.

• Manage daily operations of the OFAC, 314(a), and PEP screening queues, holding all three within service standard (OFAC 30 days, 314(a) 14 days, PEP 30 days).
• Supervise the Sanctions Operations Lead and analyst team; allocate workload to eliminate concentration of the escalation queue on a single analyst.
• Provide a second-level review point over screening dispositions and ensure documentation meets the five-element baseline.
• Monitor productivity and SLA metrics; reduce reliance on overtime and weekend working as new analyst capacity onboards.
• Manage the OFAC/314(a)/PEP escalation workflow and route true matches for blocking/reporting.
• Partner with the Manager, Sanctions Program on model changes, list updates, and testing that affect the operational queue.
• Support audit, independent testing, and OCC examination walkthroughs for sanctions operations.

• Bachelor's degree in Finance, Business, Criminal Justice, Accounting, or related field required.
• CAMS required; CGSS preferred.
• 5–8 years of BSA/AML or sanctions screening experience.
• 2+ years of people leadership in an operations or screening environment.
• Hands-on experience with OFAC/314(a)/PEP screening platforms (Bridger or comparable) and disposition workflows.
• Track record of holding SLAs and managing high-volume queues.
• Strong operational and queue-management discipline in a high-volume screening environment.
• Working knowledge of OFAC/sanctions regulations, 314(a), and PEP screening.
• People-leadership and workload-balancing skills; ability to remove single points of failure.
• Data-driven approach to SLA, productivity, and quality metrics.
• Clear, audit-ready written communication.

Screening dispositions differ by product and by the party's role in the transaction, so the Manager, Sanctions Operations must know how Pathward's products generate the alerts their team clears. Working knowledge is expected in:

• Card Issuing / Prepaid — how consumer, corporate-funded, and government/institutional card constructs determine which party is screened, and how the source of funds drives customer vs. non-customer designation.
• Acquiring (Merchant & ATM) — ISO/payment-facilitator and ATM sponsorship activity and the downstream merchant/sub-merchant relationships that generate screening hits.
• Digital Payments & Faster Payments (Visa Direct / Mastercard Send) — real-time push/pull disbursements requiring sender and recipient screening within tight SLAs.
• Tax Products, Consumer Lending, Commercial Finance, and Commercial Deposits — ongoing OFAC screening populations Pathward retains as bank of record / depository institution.
• The escalation model in which program managers refer potential OFAC matches to Pathward for review, blocking, and reporting.

The responsibilities listed above are not all inclusive and may be changed at any time.

Salary range: $72,000 – $120,000

The salary range reflects the minimum and maximum target for a new hire in this role. Individual pay within the range will be determined by multiple factors which can include but are not…