Transaction Monitoring Lead

Orbital; United Kingdom; Hybrid; GBP 60,000 - GBP 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading fintech company in the United Kingdom is seeking a Transaction Monitoring Lead to enhance their compliance efforts. The role involves overseeing transaction monitoring and ensuring compliance with AML regulations in both fiat and cryptocurrency transactions. Candidates should have a degree and at least 3 years of relevant experience, along with strong analytical and communication skills. Continued growth and adaptation in the fintech space is essential in this role.

Benefits

Competitive salary

Training and development opportunities

Qualifications

• Minimum of 3 years’ experience in transaction monitoring or AML compliance.
• Strong understanding of AML/CTF regulations and frameworks.
• Experience with transaction monitoring systems and tools.

Responsibilities

• Lead transaction monitoring activities across fiat and crypto products.
• Investigate high-risk cases and ensure escalation to MLROs.
• Support onboarding, training, and mentoring of analysts.

Skills

Transaction monitoring

AML compliance

Analytical skills

Verbal communication

Investigative skills

Education

Degree in a relevant field

Tools

Actimize

Chainalysis

SQL

Job description

What is our mission?

Orbital is on an exciting mission to revolutionise global cross-border payments by innovatively combining traditional fiat banking rails with stablecoins over blockchain rails for a variety of use cases. Our class leading B2B payments platform offers multi-currency e-money accounts (corporate IBANs) combined with a suite of digital assets services. Our company sits at the frontier of payments & fintech, by intersecting blockchain and traditional (fiat) financial services, and is leading the way to bridging those two worlds for corporate enterprises globally.

We believe blockchain technology is firmly here to stay, and we want to be the first to bring a combined offering of fiat & crypto payment services under one exciting platform. Learn more about our team and company story here.

What is the purpose of this role in the delivery of our mission?

As a Transaction Monitoring Lead, you will play a critical role in safeguarding the integrity of our payments platform by leading the detection, investigation, and escalation of suspicious activity across both fiat and cryptocurrency transactions. This role is central to ensuring compliance with AML/CTF regulatory obligations, mitigating financial crime risks, and supporting the company’s mission to maintain a secure, trusted, and resilient environment for customers, merchants, and partners.

You will act as a senior subject-matter expert and people leader, bridging operational execution and strategic oversight, while continuously enhancing the effectiveness of the transaction monitoring framework.

What are the key responsibilities / activities of the role?

• Lead day-to-day transaction monitoring activities across fiat and crypto products, ensuring consistent and high-quality reviews in line with internal policies and regulatory requirements.
• Perform and oversee the analysis of transaction monitoring alerts, assessing behavioural patterns, transactional flows, and risk indicators to determine legitimacy.
• Investigate complex or high-risk cases and ensure appropriate escalation to MLROs, including the preparation, review, and timely submission of SARs/STRs.
• Work closely with Compliance, MLROs, and other key stakeholders to maintain a consistent and risk-based approach to financial crime identification and mitigation.
• Monitor, analyse, and document emerging trends, typologies, and anomalies related to money laundering, fraud, terrorist financing, sanctions evasion, and other financial crime risks.
• Provide expert feedback to enhance transaction monitoring rules, scenarios, thresholds, and alert quality, supporting system tuning and ongoing optimisation.
• Support and quality-assure customer due diligence and ongoing monitoring activities, including reviews of merchants and higher-risk customers.
• Ensure accurate case documentation, audit trails, and record-keeping in line with regulatory and internal governance standards.
• Oversee team resourcing, including shift coverage and overtime tracking, to maintain operational effectiveness.
• Support onboarding, training, and mentoring of transaction monitoring analysts, acting as a senior escalation point and coach.
• Deliver guidance and training across the business on risk-impacted payments, AML typologies, and the effective use of monitoring tools.
• Stay current on regulatory developments, industry trends, and evolving risks within fintech, payments, and crypto environments.
• Assist with special projects, regulatory change initiatives, audits, and ad hoc investigations as required.

What is the scope of accountability for the role?

• The Transaction Monitoring Lead is accountable for maintaining a robust and effective transaction monitoring control environment. This includes tracking key risk and performance indicators, identifying root causes of control weaknesses, and contributing to practical, risk-based solutions.
• The role also supports the assessment of new products, initiatives, and regulatory changes, providing insights to stakeholders on potential impacts to the company’s financial crime risk profile.

What are the essential skills, qualifications and experience required for the role?

• Degree educated or equivalent experience in a relevant field.
• Minimum of 3 years’ experience in transaction monitoring, AML compliance, or financial crime risk roles, ideally within banking, fintech, payments, or crypto.
• Strong working knowledge of AML/CTF regulations and frameworks, including FATF recommendations, EU AML Directives, FCA guidance, and other relevant jurisdictional requirements.
• Hands‑on experience with transaction monitoring systems and tools (e.g. Actimise, ComplyAdvantage, Chainalysis, Elliptic, Featurespace, SumSub, or similar).
• Proven experience reviewing and escalating SARs/STRs and supporting regulatory reporting obligations.
• Solid understanding of KYC, customer due diligence, and ongoing monitoring best practices.
• Strong analytical and investigative skills, with the ability to assess complex transactional behaviour across B2C and B2B payment flows.
• Experience supporting or leading transaction monitoring teams, including quality assurance and case oversight.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to document decisions clearly and engage effectively with senior stakeholders.

What are the desirable skills, qualifications and experience that would be beneficial for the role?

• Experience within fast‑paced, high‑growth fintech or payments environments.
• Familiarity with merchant underwriting, acquiring, payment facilitation, or SaaS‑based payment models.
• Working knowledge of data analysis or query tools (e.g. SQL or similar).
• Chainalysis Reactor Certification or equivalent financial crime qualifications (e.g. ACAMS).
• Strong problem‑solving mindset with a proactive, hands‑on approach to continuous improvement.
• Confidence engaging directly with merchants, payment partners, auditors, and regulators.
• Highly organised, detail‑oriented, and able to manage multiple priorities effectively.
• A growth mindset, with openness to learning and adapting to evolving financial crime risks and regulatory expectations.