AML Technology Application Lead

Location: Johnston, RI, United States, Iselin, New Jersey, United States, Irving, Texas, United States, Charlotte, North Carolina, United States, Phoenix, Arizona, United States

Employment Type: 1ST

Description

At Citizens, we invest in the people who design and deliver innovative technology solutions that protect our customers and the financial system. As AML & Sanctions Technology Application Lead, you will be responsible for the strategic direction, engineering oversight, and operational stability of the bank’s Financial Crimes technology platforms, including Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Sanctions screening systems.

This role covers Customer Identification Program (CIP), Risk Scoring, Transaction Monitoring, Case Management, Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) filing, and Sanctions screening capabilities leveraging platforms such as Actimize, LexisNexis Bridger, and LexisNexis Continuity. You will lead modernization initiatives, cloud migrations, and integration of advanced technologies such as microservices, event-driven architectures, and AI/ML-based detection models.

Key Responsibilities:

Platform Strategy & Engineering

• Lead design, configuration, and delivery of AML and Sanctions platforms across AWS cloud, SaaS, and on-prem environments.
• Hands on experience implementing technical solutions for transaction monitoring, case management, SAR workflows, CIP/KYC/CDD, and sanctions screening systems.
• Ability to diagnose and resolve product and environment issues, apply hotfixes and product patches, and manage production incident resolution to ensure system stability.
• Drive modernization, automation, and optimization of AML and Sanctions processes using containerization (Docker/Kubernetes), CI/CD pipelines, and DevOps practices.
• Experience in automating functional testing.

Cloud & SaaS Integration

• Manage application deployment, hosting, and integration within AWS cloud, including real and batch data ingestion, controls and monitoring.
• Oversee integration with SaaS vendor environments ensuring compliance with internal security and cloud policies. 
• Implement API-first architecture, Kafka-based event streaming, and microservices for real-time alerting and data ingestion.
• Ensure systems comply with AML and Sanctions requirements.
• Implement audit, logging, and control frameworks aligned with regulatory expectations, and internal risk policies.
• Lead remediation initiatives for regulatory exams, audits, and compliance testing.

Regulatory Alignment & Risk Management

• Ensure systems comply with AML and Sanctions requirements.
• Implement audit, logging, and control frameworks aligned with regulatory expectations, and internal risk policies.
• Lead remediation initiatives for regulatory exams, audits, and compliance testing.

Data, Screening & Operational Excellence

• Oversee inbound/outbound data flows for customer profiles, transactions, alerts, and case data. 
• Partner with AML and Sanctions Operations to reduce false positives and improve detection accuracy. 
• Leverage AI/ML models for risk scoring, alert prioritization, and sanctions screening optimization. 

Stakeholder & Vendor Engagement

• Act as primary technology liaison for AML and Sanctions vendors (SAS, FCRM, LexisNexis, etc.). 
• Manage cross-functional relationships with Compliance, Operations, InfoSec, Enterprise Architecture, and Cloud Engineering. 
• Influence strategic discussions for future sanctions capabilities, product upgrades, and roadmap alignment.

Governance, Controls & Performance

• Establish SLAs, KPIs, and monitoring dashboards for screening uptime, throughput, and processing timeliness.
• Oversee change management, release management, and production stability.
• Manage issue resolution, incident response, and root cause analysis.

Team Leadership

• Lead a team of application engineers, analysts, and integration specialists supporting sanctions platforms.
• Mentor, coach, and grow talent in financial crimes technology discipline.
• Foster a culture of accountability, innovation, and operational excellence.

Required Qualifications:

• 5+ years of experience in AML, Sanctions, or Financial Crimes technology
• Hands-on experience with LexisNexis Bridger, LexisNexis Continuity, or equivalent sanctions screening tools (Actimize, etc.).
• Strong technical experience with:
  • AWS cloud environment (EC2, S3, Lambda, RDS)
  • SaaS integrations and vendor-hosted models
  • APIs, microservices, ETL, batch pipelines
  • Java, Unix, SQL coding experience
• Good understanding of sanctions regulations, lists, alerts, screening logic, and tuning.
• Experience working with Compliance, Regulatory, Risk, InfoSec, and Audit stakeholders.
• Background in large banking or financial institutions strongly preferred.
• Bachelors degree in Computer Science, Software Engineering, or a similar technical field. 

Preferred Skills:

• Knowledge of Payments (ACH, Wire, SWIFT), KYC/CDD, and Customer/Transaction screening. Hands-on experience with SAS KYC, FCRM.
• Familiarity with monitoring tools.
• Experience managing large vendor relationships and multi-year product roadmaps.
• Ability to work independently and collaboratively in a fast-paced environment.
• Experience with AI/ML-based screening enhancements and automation.

Hours & Work Schedule

• Hours per Week: 40
• Work Schedule: Monday - Friday
• Hybrid: 4 days per week onsite, 1 day remote

Pay Transparency 

The salary range for this position is $ 131,000 - $ 171,000 per year plus an opportunity to earn an annual discretionary bonus. Actual pay is based on various factors including but not limited to the work location, and relevant skills and experience.   

We offer competitive pay, comprehensive medical, dental and vision coverage, retirement benefits, maternity/paternity leave, flexible work arrangements, education reimbursement, wellness programs and more. Note, Citizens’ paid time off policy exceeds the mandatory, paid sick or paid time-away policy of very local and state jurisdiction in the United States. For an overview of our benefits, visit https://jobs.citizensbank.com/benefits.

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Some job boards have started using jobseeker-reported data to estimate salary ranges for roles. If you apply and qualify for this role, a recruiter will discuss accurate pay guidance.

Equal Employment Opportunity

Citizens, its parent, subsidiaries, and related companies (Citizens) provide equal employment and advancement opportunities to all colleagues and applicants for employment without regard to age, ancestry, color, citizenship, physical or mental disability, perceived disability or history or record of a disability, ethnicity, gender, gender identity or expression, genetic information, genetic characteristic, marital or domestic partner status, victim of domestic violence, family status/parenthood, medical condition, military or veteran status, national origin, pregnancy/childbirth/lactation, colleague’s or a dependent’s reproductive health decision making, race, religion, sex, sexual orientation, or any other category protected by federal, state and/or local laws. At Citizens, we are committed to fostering an inclusive culture that enables all colleagues to bring their best selves to work every day and everyone is expected to be treated with respect and professionalism. Employment decisions are based solely on merit, qualifications, performance and capability.