BSA AML Program Manager

About the role

The BSA/AML Program Manager is responsible for the design, execution, and ongoing governance of the Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) compliance program. This role ensures regulatory requirements are met, financial crime risks are effectively managed, and program controls operate consistently across business lines, products, and jurisdictions.

Responsibilities

• Owns the end-to-end design, execution, and governance of Illumia’s BSA/AML and KYC programs, including written policies, procedures, and internal controls that meet regulatory expectations and scale with business growth.
• Designs and operates the KYC/CIP/CDD framework, including enhanced due diligence for higher-risk customers and ongoing monitoring; maintains the enterprise-wide BSA/AML risk assessment ensuring controls keep pace with new products, channels, and jurisdictions.
• Learns and leads BSA/AML oversight of card issuing, acquiring, and payment facilitator (payfac) programs; owns sub-merchant and merchant onboarding, underwriting, and periodic review requirements, ensuring alignment with card network rules (Visa, Mastercard) and sponsor bank expectations.
• Selects, implements, and optimizes the technology stack supporting the BSA/AML program, including transaction monitoring, sanctions/PEP screening, case management, and KYC/identity verification platforms; tunes detection scenarios and alert workflows to reduce false positives while maintaining coverage of risk typologies.
• Buils the operational model for alert triage, investigations, SAR/CTR filing, and recordkeeping with defined SLAs, quality standards, and productivity metrics; partners with Technology and Data teams to ensure clean data feeds, system integrations, and auditable reporting.
• Serves as primary point of contact for regulators, examiners, auditors, and sponsor bank partners; leads responses to regulatory exams, internal audits, and sponsor bank reviews, including findings remediation and corrective action plans.
• Tracks regulatory developments (FinCEN, OFAC, federal banking agencies, state regulators) and translates changes into program updates; drives process and procedural change across Operations, Product, Client Success, and Professional Services, and builds BSA/AML training and awareness programs tailored to role-specific risk exposure.

Requirements

• 7+ years of recent BSA/AML and KYC experience in a bank, fintech, payments, or money services business, with direct accountability for program design and execution beyond policy authorship.
• Demonstrated experience building a scalable and robust KYC and BSA/AML program from the ground up or through significant modernization.
• Working knowledge of card processing and payfac program requirements, including sponsor bank obligations, card network rules, and sub-merchant/merchant onboarding and monitoring.
• Demonstrated experience selecting and implementing BSA/AML program tools, including transaction monitoring, sanctions screening, KYC/identity verification, and case management platforms.
• Prominent leadership in driving change and implementing new processes and procedures successfully across multiple departments.
• Strong written and verbal communication skills with the ability to communicate clearly with regulators, sponsor banks, executives, and cross-functional partners.

Qualifications

• CAMS, CFCS, or equivalent financial crime compliance certification.
• Experience in a high-growth fintech or payments company, particularly one operating under a sponsor bank model.
• Background managing regulatory exams and responding to findings from federal or state banking regulators.
• Experience serving as BSA Officer or deputy BSA Officer for a bank, fintech, or payments program.
• Familiarity with OFAC sanctions programs, FinCEN guidance, and state money transmission requirements.