Head of Financial Crimes Risk Management

About the role

This role involves comprehensive leadership of Rain's financial crimes risk management, including serving as the designated BSA Officer with direct reporting to the Board. You will be responsible for developing, implementing, and maintaining a risk-based BSA/AML compliance program, ensuring adherence to regulatory requirements and industry best practices. This includes overseeing policy development, risk assessments, independent testing, and training, while also managing relationships with regulatory bodies like FinCEN and federal banking regulators.

A key part of the position is designing and overseeing the sanctions screening and compliance program to meet OFAC regulations. You will also manage customer identification (CIP), customer due diligence (CDD/EDD) frameworks, and ongoing customer monitoring processes. Additionally, you will lead the transaction monitoring program, including scenario development and optimization, and oversee investigations, suspicious activity reporting (SARs), and currency transaction reporting (CTRs).

Success in this role means building and leading a high-performing financial crimes team within a startup environment, developing annual risk assessments, and implementing technology solutions for screening and monitoring. You will collaborate with Product, Engineering, and Operations teams to integrate controls and establish key performance indicators for program effectiveness. Your expertise will also extend to managing risk-based due diligence for platform partners and third-party issuers.

The salary for this role ranges from $50,000 to $999,000 USD annually, reflecting a broad potential compensation band.

Skills that matter here

• BSA/AML compliance: This role requires leading the entire BSA/AML program, including policy, risk assessments, and regulatory reporting.
• OFAC sanctions: You will design and oversee the company's sanctions screening and compliance program.
• KYC & Customer Risk Management: The role involves overseeing customer identification, due diligence, and ongoing monitoring frameworks.
• Transaction Monitoring: You will lead the transaction monitoring program, including scenario development and suspicious activity investigations.
• Regulatory examinations and audits: Experience managing these processes is crucial for maintaining compliance and external relationships.
• Fintech, digital assets, or emerging payment technologies: Experience in these areas is a bonus, indicating familiarity with the company's operational context.

Who this role suits

• A leader with over a decade of experience in BSA/AML compliance, including at least five years in a leadership capacity.
• Someone who has previously served as a BSA Officer with direct regulatory reporting responsibilities.
• An individual adept at building modern, technology-enabled risk management and compliance functions in high-growth or startup environments.
• A strong communicator capable of presenting complex compliance information to Board-level audiences.

From the employer

What You’ll Do

• BSA/AML Program Leadership

Serve as the designated BSA Officer with direct Board reporting responsibility

Develop, implement, and maintain a risk-based BSA/AML compliance program aligned with regulatory requirements and industry best practices

Oversee all aspects of the Bank Secrecy Act compliance program including policy development, risk assessments, independent testing, and training

Present regular updates to the Board of Directors on program effectiveness, emerging risks, and remediation efforts

Maintain relationships with FinCEN, federal and state banking regulators, and other supervisory agencies

• OFAC & Sanctions Compliance

Design and oversee the sanctions screening and compliance program, ensuring adherence to OFAC regulations and other economic sanctions requirements

Coordinate sanctions-related reporting and regulatory inquiries

• KYC & Customer Risk Management

Oversee customer identification program (CIP) and customer due diligence/enhanced due diligence (CDD/EDD) frameworks

Manage customer risk rating, ongoing customer monitoring and periodic review processes

• Transaction Monitoring & Investigations

Lead transaction monitoring program including scenario development, tuning, and optimization

Oversee investigation of alerts and identification of suspicious activity

Manage Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) and Currency Transaction Report (CTR) filing processes

Develop case management protocols and quality assurance procedures

• Platform Partner Risk Management

Establish risk-based due diligence framework for platform partners and third-party issuers

Monitor partner compliance with BSA/AML obligations and contractual requirements

Implement oversight and audit procedures for partner programs

• Strategic & Operational Management

Build and lead a high-performing financial crimes team in a startup environment

Develop annual risk assessments and program testing schedules

Implement technology solutions for screening, monitoring, and case management

Establish key performance indicators and metrics for program effectiveness

Collaborate with Product, Engineering, and Operations on controls integration

Manage relationships with external vendors and service providers

You Are Likely to Succeed If You Have:

• 10+ years of progressive experience in BSA/AML compliance, with at least 5 years in a leadership role
• Previous experience serving as a BSA Officer or in a similar capacity with regulatory reporting responsibilities
• Deep expertise in BSA/AML regulations, OFAC sanctions, FinCEN guidance, and relevant federal banking laws
• Proven track record building modern, technology-enabled risk management and compliance functions
• Experience leading investigative teams that prepare regulatory reports (SARs, CTRs, 314(a) requests)
• Strong understanding of card issuing, payment processing, or banking operations
• Experience managing regulatory examinations and audits
• Demonstrated ability to build compliance programs in high-growth or startup environments
• Excellent communication skills with ability to present to Board-level audiences

Bonus Attributes:

• Advanced degree (MA, MBA, JD, or relevant field)
• Experience in fintech, digital assets, or emerging payment technologies
• Knowledge of stablecoin operations, cryptocurrency compliance, or virtual asset regulations
• Familiarity with fintech and global specific risk scenarios and typologies
• Prior experience at a federal banking regulator or enforcement agency
• CAMS (Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist) certification

Things That Enable a Fulfilling, Healthy and Happy Experience at Rain:

• Unlimited time off 🌴 Unlimited vacation can be daunting, so we require Rainmakers to take 10 days minimum for themselves.
• Flexible working ☕ We support a flexible workplace, if you feel comfortable at home please work from home. If you’d like to work with others in an office feel free to come in. We want everyone to be able to work in the environment in which they are their most confident and productive selves. New Rainmakers will have a stipend to create a comfortable atmosphere at home.
• Easy to access benefits 🧠 For US Rainmakers, we offer comprehensive health, dental and vision plans for you and your dependents, as well as a 100% company subsidized life insurance plan.
• Retirement goals💡 Plan for the future with confidence. We offer a 401(k) with a 4% company match.
• Equity plan 📦 We offer every Rainmaker an equity option plan so we can all benefit from our success.
• Rain Cards 🌧️ We want Rainmakers to be knowledgeable about our core products and services. To support this mission, we issue a card for our team to utilize the card for testing.
• Health and Wellness 📚 High performance begins from within. Rainmakers are welcome to use their card for eligible health and wellness spending like gym memberships/fitness classes, massages, acupuncture - whatever recharges you!
• Team summits ✨ Summits play an important role at Rain! Time spent together helps us get to know each other, strengthen our relationships, and build a common destiny. Expect team and company offsites both domestically and internationally.