We have an exciting opportunity to come join us in the role of Senior Financial Crime Investigator. In this role you will support our 1st Line colleagues acting as a financial crime specialist and first point of escalation for financial crime suspicions. We are looking for people who have an eye for detail and great at building relationships. The role could cover areas such as transaction monitoring, PEP and sanctions screening, customer risk assessments or adverse media.
We are currently recruiting for 2 positions within this team.
The roles are based on a 35-hour working week, with working hours - Monday to Friday 9:00- 17:00.
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 spend at least two days per week, or if part time you'll spend 40% of your working time, based at either our Swindon, London, Northampton, Bournemouth, Dunfermline, Wakefield or Sheffield office. Alternatively, you can use any of our regional hubs, in which case there will be a need to regularly connect with colleagues for collaboration events in one of our office sites. This is anticipated to be once quarterly. 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.
If we receive a high volume of relevant applications, we may close the advert earlier than the advertised date, so please apply as soon as you can.
More rewarding. From 1 July 2026, the minimum salary for this role will be £32,800.
Responsibilities
What you’ll be doing
In this role, you will effectively deliver first-line Financial Crime activities and processes in line with quality and performance objectives, ensuring service delivery enhances the customer experience while remaining fully compliant with regulatory and policy requirements. You will investigate anti-money laundering transaction monitoring escalations by conducting Know Your Customer (KYC) and Customer Due Diligence (CDD) assessments, as well as interrogating financial data to evaluate the likelihood of financial crime.
You will be responsible for ensuring consistent, well-considered, and accurate rationale across retail, complex, and corporate or business products, while providing insight and feedback on alerts to Financial Crime Investigators. Poorly reasoned or incorrect decisions could expose both the individual and the bank to criminal liability, reputational damage, and regulatory action.
The role also involves working closely with the second-line Financial Crime team to provide advice and guidance to first-line colleagues, ensuring that this guidance is appropriately documented to strengthen financial crime controls and prevent future reoccurrence where possible. You will document and escalate emerging financial crime trends and system performance issues in a manner that can be clearly communicated to second-line colleagues, supporting continuous and consistent system improvement. In addition, you will represent Financial Crime Operations in system meetings with the second line, articulating rule performance, trends, and opportunities for improvement.
You will act as a Subject Matter Expert in Financial Crime processes and procedures, actively contributing to keeping them up to date, compliant with policy, and conducting annual reviews. The role will also involve supporting Financial Crime Managers with documented changes to procedures, including updates to systems and controls, policy amendments, and training for Financial Crime colleagues.
Furthermore, you will coach investigators with varying levels of experience, providing effective and constructive feedback as part of the quality control process. You will also ensure that working practices support management information (MI) production through the accurate and timely completion of tasks and assist Financial Crime Managers in the collation and production of MI and other controls.
About you
For this role, you will have:
- Experience of working within a financial crime environment. Ideally having worked in either a Client Screening, Transaction Monitoring or a risk assessment role.
- A keen eye for detail and be able to present your findings/thoughts in a clear and concise manner.
- The ability to analyse information and be able to draw conclusions and/or recommendations from the facts/data provided.
- The ability to deliver structured coaching & feedback and to manage individual performance.
- Excellent time management and work prioritisation skills with the ability to work autonomously and assist colleagues with time management and work prioritisation.
- Ability to adjust quickly and use a variety of new systems and processes.
- Strong communication and stakeholder management skills.
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.
Qualifications
The extras you’ll get
There are all sorts of employee benefits available at Nationwide, including:
25 days holiday, pro rata
Access to 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.
We respond to everyone, so we will be in contact shortly after the closing date to let you know the outcome of your application.
