Financial Crimes Specialist

Lead is a banking infrastructure platform trusted by the most innovative companies to power complex financial products. We enable fintechs to offer compliant, programmable services like payments, lending, and digital assets at scale. Banking has moved beyond traditional institutions and is now embedded directly into everyday experiences, meaning companies need modern infrastructure that is safe, secure, and operationally sound. Today, Lead is one of the only API-first, developer-focused partner banks with the financial, regulatory, and legal expertise required to help fintechs succeed. We operate offices in San Francisco, Sunnyvale, and New York City, and an FDIC-insured bank in Kansas City. Financial Crimes Team at Lead The Financial Crimes team safeguards Lead, its partners, and the broader financial system from illicit activity. They own Lead’s BSA/AML, sanctions, and fraud programs, collaborate with the Legal, Risk, and Compliance teams to detect threats and strengthen controls, and interface with regulators. Ensuring that all parties involved meet the highest standards of financial integrity is foundational to the company’s success. Their essential work is what enables Lead to say "yes" to the most innovative fintech partners. This is a collaborative, growth-mindset, and deadline-driven environment that requires the confidence to navigate constantly evolving challenges with autonomy and analytical precision. Role Description: The Financial Crimes - Fraud Ops Specialist is an early-career fraud operations role responsible for supporting day-to-day fraud review activities through consistent execution, strong attention to detail, and sound judgment within established procedures. This role is designed for team members who are building foundational investigative capability and learning how fraud risk, customer impact, and operational quality connect across fraud workflows. In this role you will: - Review fraud-related activity within established workflows and documented procedures - Support routine alert and case handling with accuracy, consistency, and appropriate escalation - Document findings clearly and maintain complete case records - Identify suspicious patterns, unusual activity, or operational issues and raise them to senior team members - Maintain service level expectations and support healthy queue management - Build knowledge of fraud typologies, systems, and controls used across Fraud Operations - Partner effectively with internal teams when coordination or follow-up is needed - Learn how fraud rules, alerts, and workflows connect to review activity - Perform other duties as assigned Qualifications: - 1+ years of experience in fraud, banking operations, financial services, customer risk, investigations, or a related environment preferred - Strong attention to detail and ability to follow established procedures - Clear written communication and documentation skills - Ability to manage priorities in a deadline-driven environment - Curiosity, coachability, and interest in developing fraud investigation skills - Experience with case management, transaction review, or fraud tools preferred What we offer: - At Lead, we design our benefits to support company culture and principles, to foster an efficient and inspiring work environment, and to create the conditions for our team to give their best in both work and life - Competitive compensation, including opportunities for equity grants and cash bonus, based on experience, geographic location, and role - Medical, Dental, Vision, Life, 401k Matching, and other wellness benefits, including FSA, HSA and HRA - Paid parental leave - Flexible vacation policy, including PTO and paid holidays - A fun and challenging team environment in a dynamic industry with ample opportunities for career growth *Lead Bank is proud to have an inclusive culture committed to ensuring equal employment opportunity in all employment decisions regardless of race, color, gender, national origin, religion, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, military status, veteran status or any other legally protected status. *Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions. Zone 1: $68,000 - $80,000 (NYC)