Advisory - BRS - Know Your Customer (KYC), AML for Transfer Agency Operations - Manager - Belfast

Job Description:

We are seeking a skilled and proactive AML/KYC Manager in AML regulatory compliance to lead our Transfer Agency Operations team. In this role, you will oversee the AML refresh team, ensuring that investor accounts are properly reviewed and that risk profiles are updated in accordance with current regulatory standards, internal policies, and client-specific guidelines. You will play a key role in leading AML/KYC assessments, driving the necessary documentation for complex entities, and ensuring full compliance with financial crime prevention regulations

Key Job Responsibilities:

- Team Leadership & Oversight: Lead and manage the AML/KYC team to ensure efficient processing of AML/KYC assessments and reviews related to account openings and maintenance, provide subject matter expertise in assessing the risk of complex client structures, beneficial ownership, and other high-risk factors, and meet established deadlines. - Documentation & Compliance Management: Oversee the tracking and management of pending AML/KYC documentation for investor accounts and fund promoters, ensuring all documentation is provided on time and meets regulatory standards. - High-Risk Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD): Manage/ support the EDD process for high-risk clients, investors, and counterparties, ensuring all risk factors are appropriately assessed and mitigated. - PEP, Sanction, and Negative Media Screening: Ensure screening for Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs), sanctions lists, and negative media, and actioning screening results. - Transaction Monitoring: monitoring financial transactions for suspicious or unusual activity, and investigations into flagged transactions. - Query Management: Supervise the resolution of AML-related inquiries from clients and investors, ensuring responses are timely, accurate, and in line with compliance requirements. - Reporting & Analysis: Direct the preparation, review, and maintenance of AML reports, ensuring they are accurate and delivered to clients and investors within the required timeframes. - Regulatory Compliance: Ensure that team procedures are continuously updated to stay in line with the latest AML/KYC regulations, financial crime prevention policies, and client-specific requirements. - Audit & Review Support: Lead the preparation and participation in AML reviews and audits, ensuring that all regulatory and client requirements are met and providing support throughout the audit process. - Process Improvement: Drive initiatives to improve team processes, enhance efficiency, and maintain high standards of compliance and risk management. - Training: Participate in developing training material and provide training to team members within the department (including new hires).

Desired Skills:

- Extensive AML Knowledge: In-depth understanding of AML regulations, laws, and industry best practices, both locally and internationally. - Management Experience: Proven experience in managing or leading teams within compliance, AML, or a related field, with a focus on process optimization and staff development. - Regulatory Expertise: Strong familiarity with AML/KYC compliance requirements, financial crime prevention practices, and how they apply to transfer agency operations. - Collaboration & Leadership: Ability to work cross-functionally with various departments and lead a team effectively, fostering a cooperative and compliance-driven environment. - Organizational Skills: Highly organized, proactive, with excellent time-management skills and the ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced environment.

Additional Skills:

- Exceptional communication skills, with the ability to manage and engage various stakeholders at all levels. - Strong decision-making capabilities and the ability to drive change within a compliance framework. - Ability to mentor and guide team members while managing performance and professional development. - A proactive approach to problem-solving and driving continuous improvement in compliance operations.

Experience:

- Minimum 7+ years of experience in AML regulatory compliance, with a specific focus on AML periodic reviews, enhanced due diligence (EDD), transaction monitoring, and screening. . - In-depth knowledge of the regulatory landscape affecting the funds sector, including AML/KYC regulations, FATF recommendations, and other relevant global regulations. - Strong experience with high-risk client identification and management, including PEP, sanction, and negative media screening.

Qualifications/ Certifications:

- Bachelor's degree in business, law, accounting, finance or a related field (preferred). - Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist (ACAMS) is highly desirable.

Equity, diversity and inclusion

At Grant Thornton, we provide equitable opportunities for all our colleagues. We are a responsible, sustainable business where equity, diversity and inclusion (ED&I) is at the forefront of our workplace culture agenda, and today, we continue to build and develop on our existing ED&I structure and strategy to meet our workplace culture needs. People are at the heart of our business and teams built with varied individuals present diverse viewpoints, which need to be heard and valued.

We are all at our best when we are able to be ourselves and we view integrity and authenticity as integral values to bring to our day-to-day work-life at the firm. We are excited to see the personality and perspectives you will bring to our team because we know we will all benefit from them. Diversity of thought, background and experience enables better decision-making, improves the quality of our delivery, and helps us to meet the needs of our clients. Our firm is built on people and their ideas, so we want to hear all the new perspectives and fresh thinking you have to offer. You form the bedrock of our firm’s best-practice principles and we will champion you as leaders from day one.

Reward and benefits

Our reward and benefits are designed to create an environment where our people can flourish. We are committed to building a culture where our people have access to the necessary benefits to help promote a healthy lifestyle and thrive.

Recognition

We want to create a culture of recognition and celebrating success, by saying thank you to people who surpass our expectations and recognising the right values and behaviours. Our Shout Out recognition scheme is our way of highlighting and promoting achievements. Whether you simply want to say thank you, celebrate a special occasion or give an award for doing something exceptional, you can do all of this and more through the scheme.

We are Grant Thornton

Grant Thornton Ireland is rapidly approaching 3,000 people, in 9 offices across Ireland, Isle of Man, Gibraltar and Bermuda. With a presence in over 149 countries around the world and a global network of 73,000 people, we bring our clients the local knowledge, national expertise and global presence to help them succeed – wherever they’re located.

At GT, we work as trusted advisors, bringing local knowledge and national expertise, with a global presence, to help businesses succeed – wherever they are located. We make business more personal by investing in building relationships and empowering our clients to make the right decisions for their organisation now and for the future. Whether that is working with the public sector to build thriving communities, with regulators and financial institutions to build trust, or with a diverse range of businesses to help them achieve their goals, Grant Thornton Ireland work hard to support clients to act on the issues that matter.

At GT Ireland we don’t just predict your future, we build it.

A Career at GT

Looking for a more fulfilling role in professional services? One where fresh thinking, collaboration and diversity are valued? At Grant Thornton we do things differently.

What does this mean for you?

A career in a more inclusive working environment, a more collaborative work culture, a more supported, flexible working role, more possibilities to grow and more opportunities to help shape the future for your clients. We respect and value your experience. And we want you to bring your authentic self to work and be at your best. It is how it should be.

Grow with us

At Grant Thornton, we care about our people and work hard to make you feel valued. If you are looking to deepen and develop your skills, knowledge, and experience throughout your career, then that is what you will get, and more.

Our Benefits

Please follow this link for information on our generous benefits package.