Job Description
Location: Milton Keynes (Fully On-Site)
Are you ready to take the next step in your career within a regulated financial services environment - with a pathway to Deputy MLRO?
We are seeking a driven and experienced Senior Financial Crime Investigator to join our growing Compliance team at Viva.com. This role offers the opportunity to work closely with the UK Money Laundering Reporting Officer (MLRO), with a clear development path towards a Deputy MLRO position for the right candidate.
This is an exciting opportunity for a highly capable investigator who can apply sound judgement, take ownership of complex cases, and help strengthen Viva’s UK financial crime framework in a fast-paced fintech environment.
About Viva.com
Viva.com is Europe’s first acquirer powering merchant payments acceptance across 29 countries and over 1,215 devices. In the UK, Viva.com operates as an E-Money Institution authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), offering an omnichannel payments platform that empowers businesses of all sizes to accept and manage payments — in-store, online, or on the go.
Viva.com leads in Tap on Any Device technology, offers a high-conversion Smart Checkout for online payments, and provides a robust marketplace solution, enabling flexible, scalable, and future-proof payment journeys tailored to every business model. All technology is built in-house on Microsoft Azure, ensuring speed, security, and innovation at scale.
Through its direct connections to local payment schemes and alternative payment methods, Viva.com supports 40+ payment options. Key features include Real-Time Settlement, Offline Payments, acceptance fees as low as 0% with the use of Viva.com’s business debit card, and Merchant Advance.
With a growing ecosystem of 450+ tech partner-innovators, Viva.com is leading the shift to All-in-One business solutions, empowering merchants to adopt cutting-edge technology seamlessly and scale their business with ease.
Learn more at viva.com
About the Role
This is a senior, hands-on role combining complex investigative work with oversight responsibilities, quality assurance, stakeholder engagement, and continuous control improvement.
You will investigate high-risk and complex AML matters, provide expert guidance across the business, support the effectiveness of Viva’s financial crime controls, and act as a senior escalation point within the team.
The role is fully on-site in Milton Keynes to support close collaboration, mentoring, and knowledge sharing across Compliance, Product, Operations, and Technology teams.
Key Responsibilities
Financial Crime Investigations & Risk Assessment
- Conduct complex financial crime investigations involving AML, CTF, sanctions, and suspicious activity concerns.
- Review and assess alerts generated through transaction monitoring systems, sanctions screening, onboarding reviews, and internal escalations.
- Apply prior AML and investigations experience to live cases rather than relying solely on scripts, default rules, or checklist-based outcomes.
- Produce clear, concise, evidence-based, and regulator-defensible investigation reports, case rationales, and decision records.
- Make balanced, judgement-based decisions aligned to Viva’s risk appetite rather than defaulting to overly cautious outcomes.
- Identify emerging financial crime typologies, trends, and control weaknesses, escalating concerns and recommending improvements where appropriate.
- Support thematic reviews, ongoing monitoring activities, and financial crime control effectiveness assessments.
AML Advisory, Escalations & Oversight
- Provide risk-based guidance and challenge to frontline and first-line teams on AML, CDD, EDD, sanctions, and broader financial crime matters.
- Review first-line risk decisions for consistency with internal policy, regulatory obligations, and risk appetite.
- Act as a senior escalation point and subject matter expert for complex, high-risk, or sensitive onboarding and due diligence cases.
- Answer escalations from investigators and stakeholders across the business and escalate further where required.
- Conduct or support quality assurance reviews on case decisions and provide constructive feedback to improve consistency and decision quality.
- Deputise for the MLRO where required, including escalation handling, decision-making, and regulatory support activities.
SARs, Regulatory & Compliance Support
- Support the MLRO in the preparation and submission of Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) to the National Crime Agency (NCA) in line with POCA requirements.
- Assist with internal and external audit requests, regulatory enquiries, and compliance reviews.
- Liaise with external partners, banks, law enforcement agencies, and other stakeholders where required during investigations.
Data, Technology & AI
- Use AI-assisted tools, including LLMs, anomaly detection, clustering, and graph analytics, to enhance investigations and identify complex risk patterns.
- Support the development, calibration, and optimisation of transaction monitoring rules and financial crime controls.
Collaboration, Coaching & Leadership
- Provide mentoring, coaching, and day-to-day guidance to junior investigators and analysts.
- Support the development of team knowledge, skills, behaviours, and performance.
- Promote a strong financial crime compliance culture across the business.
- Work cross-functionally with Compliance, Operations, Product, and Technology teams to support effective and proportionate risk management.
Why Join Viva.com
- Opportunity to work closely with senior leadership, including the UK MLRO.
- Progression pathway towards a Deputy MLRO role.
- Exposure to strategic financial crime initiatives, technology-driven controls, and regulatory engagement.
- Dynamic, innovative, and fast-paced fintech environment.
- Opportunity to influence and strengthen Viva’s UK financial crime framework during a period of continued growth.
Requirements
Skills & Experience
- 5–7 years’ experience conducting AML/CFT investigations within a regulated fintech, payments, banking, or EMI environment.
- Strong understanding of end-to-end AML operations, controls, and regulatory decisioning across the customer lifecycle.
- Demonstrated ability to assess financial crime risk and apply sound, defensible judgement.
- In-depth understanding of UK regulatory requirements, including MLR 2017, POCA, sanctions obligations, and JMLSG guidance.
- Experience preparing and supporting SAR submissions and engaging with law enforcement where required.
- Experience acting as a senior escalation point, subject matter expert, or coach to other investigators.
- Strong analytical skills with the ability to interpret complex transactional, behavioural, and customer data.
- Experience using transaction monitoring tools, case management systems, and data-driven investigation techniques.
- Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to produce audit-ready documentation and clear case rationales.
- Adaptability, resilience, and flexibility within a fast-paced and evolving environment.
Personal Attributes
- Proactive, detail-oriented, and solutions-focused.
- Strong sense of accountability and professional integrity.
- Ability to manage competing priorities and perform effectively under pressure.
- Confident communicator with sound judgement and decision-making capability.
- Passionate about financial crime prevention, regulatory compliance, and continuous improvement.
Benefits
- A competitive salary
- Monthly paid bonus scheme
- Private medical health insurance
- Pension
- 25 days holiday
- Office gym (Milton Keynes office only)
- Free fruit bowls, Beverages,
- Free Breakfast Cereals (London office only)
- We work in an open, transparent working environment that actively promotes ingenuity and team work
- You will be fully trained and continuously supported
- Working in an international fin-tech company with a large cultural diversity
- A fast paced and high energy environment
- Collaborating with motivated and dynamic colleagues
- Work with the latest in payments acquiring technology
- Opportunity to grow progressively in your domain
