Financial Crimes Compliance Training Director

About the role

The Director, Financial Crimes Compliance Training is responsible for owning, governing, and continuously enhancing the Bank's AML/CFT and Financial Crimes Compliance ("FCC") training program. This role establishes and maintains a risk-based training framework aligned to regulatory expectations, enterprise risk assessments, and the Bank's control environment, ensuring that training operates as a key component of the organization's FCC compliance risk management program. The Director is accountable for training program effectiveness, regulatory alignment, and audit and regulatory examination readiness, partnering with senior stakeholders across Compliance, Risk, People & Culture, and business lines.

Responsibilities

• Define and lead the enterprise FCC training strategy aligned to regulatory expectations, internal policies, and control requirements.
• Develop and maintain a formal training governance framework, including policies, procedures, and curriculum mapping.
• Ensure training content is linked to risk assessments, control requirements, and key regulatory obligations.
• Incorporate updates driven by regulatory guidance, industry enforcement actions, audit findings, and compliance testing results.
• Oversee development of role-based training programs across all relevant employee populations and business units.
• Ensure training coverage includes AML/CFT fundamentals, transaction monitoring, SAR reporting, CDD/EDD, sanctions, fraud, and emerging typologies.
• Maintain enterprise standards for training design, delivery quality, and documentation completeness.
• Align training materials to employee roles, business line risk exposure, and regulatory requirements.
• Incorporate updates from regulatory guidance, audit findings, compliance testing results, and emerging financial crime risks into training materials.
• Define and monitor key performance indicators (KPIs) and key risk indicators (KRIs) related to training completion, timeliness, and effectiveness.
• Provide senior leadership reporting, including trend analysis, compliance gaps, and remediation plans.
• Enforce training completion standards and escalation protocols for non-compliance.
• Maintain centralized tracking of training assignments, completion, and exceptions across employee populations.
• Produce regular training status reports including root cause identification and corrective action tracking.
• Serve as primary point of contact for FCC training in compliance testing, internal audits and regulatory examinations.
• Ensure training-related findings identified through reviews are addressed in a timely and sustainable manner.
• Maintain documentation that is complete, accurate, and examination-ready at all times.
• Oversee onboarding and continuous learning programs for FCC staff and broader employee populations.
• Establish measurable proficiency standards and post-training knowledge validation requirements.
• Drive continuous improvement of onboarding programs based on testing results, feedback, and performance indicators.
• Maintain completion records and supporting documentation for all onboarding and training activities.
• Oversee third-party training vendors, including due diligence, performance monitoring, and content governance.
• Ensure LMS platforms support reporting automation, audit readiness, and scalability across the enterprise.
• Validate that third-party training content meets internal policy standards and regulatory expectations.

Requirements

• Bachelor’s degree required.
• Advanced degree in Education, Instructional Design, Business Administration, or a related field preferred.
• AML or other financial crimes certification preferred.
• 8+ years of financial crimes compliance experience in a regulated environment (bank, BaaS, fintech, or regulator).
• 5+ years leading or owning enterprise training or compliance programs.
• Deep knowledge of AML/CFT regulatory frameworks and supervisory expectations (FFIEC Manual, FinCEN guidance, OCC expectations).
• Experience aligning training programs to regulatory expectations.
• Experience designing risk-based training frameworks across complex organizations or partner ecosystems (e.g., BaaS programs).
• Hands-on experience administering and optimizing LMS platforms, including reporting automation and audit support.
• Proficiency in instructional design and adult learning principles.

Qualifications

• Expertise in AML/CFT regulatory requirements and financial crime typologies.
• Strong instructional design and curriculum development capability.
• Ability to design training programs that drive measurable behavior change and reduce compliance risk.
• Understanding of control design and how training supports the effectiveness of the Bank's compliance control environment.
• Effective communicator and presenter across all organizational levels, including senior leadership and regulators.
• Strategic thinker capable of setting program direction with minimal guidance.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced, regulated environment.
• Experience operating in BaaS, fintech, or complex multi-partner environments.

Skills

• Expertise in AML/CFT regulatory requirements and financial crime typologies.
• Strong instructional design and curriculum development capability.
• Ability to design training programs that drive measurable behavior change and reduce compliance risk.
• Understanding of control design and how training supports the effectiveness of the Bank's compliance control environment.
• Effective communication and presentation skills.
• Strategic thinking and problem-solving skills.
• Ability to manage multiple priorities in a fast-paced, regulated environment.
• Experience in BaaS, fintech, or complex multi-partner environments.

Benefits

Pathward offers a comprehensive benefits package for eligible employees, including health insurance, 401(k) retirement benefits, life insurance, disability benefits, paid time off, and more.