Financial Crime Investigator

We’ve got a brilliant opportunity for an enthusiastic and motivated person to join our team as a Financial Crime Investigator. In this role, you will undertake Financial Crime Investigations and subsequent required actions through having specialist knowledge and expertise in Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Client Screening, terrorist financing and tax evasion.

The working hours (35 per week) for this role will be worked Tuesday to Saturday shift pattern that can be worked between 8:00am to 5:00pm.

At Nationwide, we offer hybrid working wherever possible. More rewarding relationships are supported through our hybrid approach, bringing colleagues together across our UK-wide estate, whilst also supporting generous access to home working. We value our time in the office to solve problems, to learn, and to feel connected.

At Nationwide we offer hybrid working wherever possible. More rewarding relationships are supported through our hybrid approach, bringing colleagues together across our UK wide estate, whilst also supporting generous access to home working. We value our time in the office to solve problems, to learn, and to feel connected.

For this job you'll be located at our nearest regional office or hub. There will be a need to regularly connect with colleagues for collaboration and in some locations you’ll be expected to spend at least two days a week, or if part time you'll spend 40% of your working time, in the office. If your application is successful, your hiring manager will provide further details on how this works. 

Virgin Money is now part of Nationwide

Nationwide acquired Virgin Money in October 2024. Virgin Money continues to serve customers on the high street, and there will be a phased and considered integration over the coming years.

You’ll be employed by Nationwide from day one, delivering real impact and benefitting from a highly competitive range of benefits. We’re a workplace where you’re rewarded, recognised and celebrated.

Nationwide is committed to the redeployment of our employees impacted by change, as such applications for redeployment candidates will be prioritised in this recruitment process.

If you’re a colleague on long-term absence (for example, on parental leave) or a temporary worker, please use your personal email address to submit an application.

What you’ll be doing

The role involves completing initial Sanctions, Politically Exposed Persons (PEP), and AML investigations, including assessing PEPs against VM definitions and escalating any potential true matches immediately with full analysis and a clear outline of potential impact.

You will effectively deliver first-line Financial Crime activities and processes, meeting quality and performance objectives while providing a level of service that enhances the customer experience and ensures compliance with regulatory requirements. 

In addition, you will carry out adverse media screening investigations, providing comprehensive analysis and clearly outlining the severity and potential impact to the business. You will investigate AML transaction monitoring alerts by performing KYC and Customer Due Diligence checks, interrogating financial data to assess the likelihood of financial crime. Collaboration with the second-line Financial Crime team is essential to provide advice and guidance to first-line colleagues, ensuring that insights are documented to strengthen controls and prevent reoccurrence where possible.

This position also involves documenting and escalating new and emerging financial crime trends, as well as system performance issues, in a way that can be effectively communicated to second-line colleagues to support ongoing system improvement. You will be expected to identify and escalate suspected money laundering cases, confirmed PEPs, or true sanctions matches to Financial Crime Managers in a timely manner.

Further responsibilities include reviewing High-Risk Jurisdiction referrals, analysing transactional activity, and assessing source of wealth and source of funds. Finally, you will respond to legal orders and liaise with law enforcement for all VM enquiries and court documents, ensuring adherence to required timeframes, and where necessary, attending court on behalf of Virgin Money.

About you

For this role, you will have

• Experience of working within a financial crime environment, in either Customer Risk Assessments, Client Screening, Payment Filtering, Transaction Monitoring or an AML role 
• A keen eye for detail and be able to present your findings/thoughts on investigations in a clear and concise manner 
• The ability to analyse detailed information and be able to draw sophisticated conclusions and/or recommendations from the facts/data provided 
• The ability to work autonomously with excellent time management skills 
• Strong communication and stakeholder management skills 
• Microsoft Office and Excel knowledge 

Our customer first behaviours put customers and members at the heart of how we work together. They are the set of behaviours that every colleague needs to display, in every role:

• Feel what customers feel - We step into our customers’ shoes, using their feedback and insights to empathise with them and to understand their needs, so that every decision we make starts and finishes with our customers in mind
• Say it straight - We are brave in speaking out and saying what we think – we’re honest and direct with good intent, openly sharing diverse perspectives to reach the best conclusions and using language everyone can understand
• Push for better - We don’t settle for mediocrity, we challenge the status quo, taking responsibility for continuous improvement and personal development
• Get it done - We prioritise what will have the greatest impact, we are decisive, and we take accountability for delivering brilliant customer outcomes

You can strengthen your application by showing how our customer first behaviours resonate with you, and where you may have already demonstrated these.

The extras you’ll get

There are all sorts of employee benefits available at Nationwide, including:

• 25 days holiday, pro rata
• Private medical insurance
• A highly competitive pension to help you build a strong foundation for retirement
• Access to an annual performance-related bonus
• Training and development to help you progress your career
• A great selection of additional benefits through our salary sacrifice scheme
• Life assurance to provide peace of mind for you and your loved ones in the event of your death
• Wellhub – access to a range of free and paid options for health and wellness
• Up to 2 days of paid volunteering a year

Banking – but fairer, more rewarding, and for the good of society

We forge our own path at Nationwide.

As a mutual, we’re owned by our members - those customers who bank, save or have a mortgage with us. We challenge the financial sector status quo. We don’t see customers as the engine of our own profit. We share our profits with them and put their needs first. Always there when they need us. Supporting them and their lives.

If you’re inspired by fairer finances, passionate about making a meaningful impact, and truly care about our customers, you’re one of us.

At Nationwide, you are challenged to grow and rewarded for doing so. Valued. Recognised. Inspired to be your best. As a community, we want our working lives to count. As a team, we celebrate what we achieve. As a standard-setter, we work for the good of customers, communities, and broader society.

We are purpose-driven. Uncompromisingly customer. Unstoppably Nationwide.

What to do next

If this role is for you, please click the ‘Apply Now’ button. You’ll need to attach your up-to-date CV and answer a few quick questions for us.

Once we’ve received your application successfully, we will invite you to the first stage; our online assessments!

Within a few hours you’ll receive a link to your unique candidate hub – here we’ll ask you to complete some online assessments within 48 hours of applying; these include a situational judgement test, checking and numerical assessments – all focused around what’s important to us in a member facing role at Nationwide.

In your candidate hub you’ll also be able to get hints and tips and watch videos from our colleagues giving you a really good idea of what it’s like to work here at Nationwide.

We respond to everyone, so we will be in contact shortly after the closing date to let you know the outcome of your application.

Keeping your data and personal information confidential is important to us. To find out more about how we use and process your data, please read our Privacy policy.

If you want to find out more about using AI in our recruitment process, please read more here.

Disability Confident 

We’re not just guided by data, we’re driven by the real experiences of our people. We’re a Disability Confident Level 3 Leader, the highest level. 

That’s why we’re constantly evolving our policies and practices to make sure everyone feels genuinely supported, valued, and empowered to champion inclusion. Whatever your needs, we’re here to support you. If you need any additional support throughout your application journey, email our team at Recruitment Support. 

Apply safely with Nationwide

Recruitment scams can look convincing, so take a moment to check the role is listed on our official careers site and read our guidance on Don’t be conned by a job scam.

The hiring manager for this role is Holly Linley, and the main recruitment contact is Amy Baxter.