Associate, Financial Crimes Compliance

Job Description

Job Description

Vestwell is the financial technology company powering the new savings economy. The New York City-based fintech platform redefines how people save for the critical aspects of life across retirement, education, and healthcare savings needs. Today, Vestwell enables over 790,000 businesses and more than 2.75 million active savers, with over $57 billion in assets saved across all 50 United States. 

Vestwell offers a range of products, including workplace-delivered retirement plans, employer-offered student loan repayment benefits, and various savings accounts for education, emergencies, and individuals with disabilities.

Vestwell's platform serves a diverse clientele, including financial advisers, employers, third-party administrators, financial institutions, payroll providers, government agencies, and individual savers. To learn more, visit vestwell.com

Who Are We Looking For?

Vestwell is seeking a Financial Crimes Compliance Associate to be part of our growing Legal and Compliance Team. In this role you will take ownership of day-to-day fraud detection and anti-money laundering operations across all three of our business lines to manage fraud risk and comply with regulatory requirements. You will report to the Manager of Financial Crimes Compliance and will work cross-functionally and in close collaboration with our Client, Operations and Services Teams. The role will have a significant impact by understanding, analyzing and controlling key risk for the company as we continue to scale. 

What Will You Be Doing? As a Financial Crimes Compliance Associate, you will serve as a strategic, exempt individual contributor responsible for monitoring, analyzing, and mitigating financial crime risk. This role requires independent judgment, strong analytical skills, and the ability to interpret and apply regulatory requirements to protect the company and its clients. You will collaborate across teams to ensure accurate escalation, investigation, and resolution of suspicious activity while supporting compliance initiatives.

Your responsibilities will include, but are not limited to:

• Fraud Detection & Analysis: Analyze daily high-risk fraud indicators and surveillance reports to identify suspicious activity, applying critical thinking and regulatory knowledge to assess potential risk.
• Typology Development : Identifying emerging fraud patterns and trends, and communicate them for adaptations to reporting and training materials.
• Regulatory Interpretation: Interpret applicable financial crimes and anti-money laundering regulations, applying them to business operations and client activity to ensure compliance and mitigate risk.
• Escalation & Reporting: Review, research, and respond to escalated surveillance and screening alerts. Prepare detailed escalation memos to alert clients or internal stakeholders of potential suspicious activity.
• Collaboration & Issue Resolution: Partner with Client, Operations, and Services Teams to track, research, and resolve inquiries, complaints, and escalations related to potential financial crimes.
• Data Logging & Reporting: Maintain accurate records of suspicious activity investigations and prepare data for management and client reporting.
• Process Improvement & Compliance Projects: Collaborate on improving procedures, workflows, and platform features to enhance efficiency and effectiveness of security reviews. Support Legal and Compliance team initiatives to scale financial crime mitigation strategies.
• Independent Judgment: Exercise discretion and analytical judgment when reviewing alerts, escalating issues, and recommending procedural or operational improvements.

Requirements

The Necessities

• A Bachelor's degree in business, finance and/or criminal justice 
• Experience performing fraud detection or anti-money laundering functions.
• Comfort working in a fast-paced start-up environment with a substantial degree of autonomy.
• Exceptional analytical and detail-oriented aptitude; a high degree of accuracy is required.
• Strong critical-thinking skills, with the ability to analyze information, identify patterns, and make sound, evidence-based decisions.
• Ability to manage time effectively, set priorities, and meet deadlines.
• Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
• Proficiency with productivity tools, especially JIRA.
• Experience with research tools like LexisNexis.

The Extras

• Experience working at a financial institution or fintech or high growth startup. 
• Experience drafting SARs or responding to FinCEN 314(a) requests.
• Familiarity with identity-verification platforms such as Plaid or Persona.

This role could be based in our New York City, Austin, King of Prussia, or Scottsdale office and will be part of Vestwell's hybrid in-office operation.

The expected base salary range for this position is $60K - $70K base. This position is eligible to participate in the Company Bonus Pool and is eligible to receive new hire equity in the Company. Please note that salary bands are based on New York and other similar metro areas and may differ based on where the role is ultimately hired.

Full-Time Employee Benefits
We're an innovative, high-growth company with an exciting future ahead. At Vestwell, we prioritize employee wellbeing through comprehensive health benefits, generous time off, and a dedicated Employee Wellbeing Committee. Our hybrid work model offers flexibility while providing access to our collaborative offices in Midtown Manhattan, Austin, King of Prussia, and Scottsdale. And, of course, as a company focused on helping people save for the future, we offer a competitive 401(k) plan.

Interview Process
Our interview process starts the same for every candidate with 1-2 introductory conversations to learn more about your background, interests, and what you're looking for, while also giving you the opportunity to learn more about Vestwell and the team. From there, the process varies by role but typically includes a skills or experience-based assessment, such as a coding interview, portfolio review, or deeper discussion of your relevant experience. Successful candidates then move on to a virtual or in-person interview panel. Before extending an offer, we complete a reference check with a current or former manager and a peer. Throughout the process, we prioritize transparency, clear communication, and minimizing surprises.

For your awareness you will only receive correspondence from View email address on ziprecruiter.com any other domain not ending in vestwell.com is not our Recruitment team.

Vestwell's  Privacy Policy. Attention California residents: In the course of conducting our business and complying with federal, state, and local government regulations governing such matters as employment, tax, insurance, etc., we must collect Personal Information from you. Should you accept employment with Vestwell you may view our California Privacy Rights Act here:  Vestwell's California Privacy Rights Policy.