AML/ Fraud Investigator

Lightspark is building open payments for the Internet—always-on payment solutions powered by Bitcoin, the only open, neutral network for moving value. With enterprise tools like Connect, UMA, and Spark, businesses can send and receive money instantly, securely, and at a fraction of the cost, anytime, anywhere. Lightspark is headquartered in Los Angeles, California, but serves the world.

Lightspark Payments is building regulated services on the Lightning Network. This role will help develop a formal fraud and AML investigations function for our public launch. The main responsibility of this position is to investigate and document incidents of potential money laundering, fraud, terrorist financing, elder abuse, and other illicit activities; and document Suspicious Activity Reports. You will also contribute to enhancing our fraud configuration and transaction monitoring controls, by providing proactive feedback from investigations to fine tune or add new rules or blocking controls. You will report to the Compliance Program Manager and initially have sole responsibility for fraud and AML investigations as we build out an operational compliance and risk function for Lightspark Payments..

Regular travel to Los Angeles is required to collaborate with your team and cross functional stakeholders.

What you will be doing

• Perform detailed investigations into unusual activity based on predefined alerts for Fraud and AML, and formally document findings, and escalate for review by the Compliance Program Manager

• Assist in the development of transaction monitoring rules and document the manual review and investigations process

• Use a variety of analytical techniques and systems to make informed decisions on detected transaction patterns

• Ensure the thorough and timely filing of suspicious activity reports with FinCEN

• Collaborate with internal partners to ensure full compliance with all applicable laws and policies

• Provide input into the configuration of our third party fraud vendor and internal rules engine, to fine tune rules and improve

What we’re looking for

• 5+ years experience in AML Compliance AND Fraud Risk related investigations, specifically filing SARs and working complex investigations at a financial institution or related FinTech payments company

• Prior experience with payment systems, US and international payment rails, and compliance obligations around payments is preferred

• Strong investigative skills, including familiarity with public record research, blockchain analytics, and fraud detection

• Knowledge of AML transaction monitoring/suspicious activity reporting typologies and risks regarding cross border payments or cryptocurrency

• Solid investigative documentation skills and the ability to pull, parse, and evaluate data for analytics purposes

• Prior experience working in a start-up environment, or other fast paced work environment

• CFA or CFCS preferred

Lightspark is on a mission to build an open payment protocol for the Internet at scale and therefore we’re committed to creating a more inclusive and diverse workplace to reflect the customers we serve. We welcome interest from individuals of all backgrounds and levels of experience who share our mission. We do not discriminate based on race, religion, color, national origin, gender, sexual orientation, age, marital status, veteran status, disability status, or other applicable legally protected characteristics. 

We will consider for employment qualified applicants with criminal histories in a manner consistent with the requirements of the State of California Fair Chance Initiative for Hiring.