VP/Fraud Operations Lead at Kearny Bank in Fairfield, NJ

Overview

Responsible for the detection, investigation and prevention of fraud and financial crimes committed against the Bank and its clients to minimize or eliminate fraud losses and fulfill regulatory requirements within the Anti-Money Laundering/Countering the Financing of Terrorism (“AML/CFT”) Department. This role will serve as a subject-matter expert in fraud prevention, including but not limited to detection, analysis, and reporting and be responsible for handling complex fraud cases and will partner with management to enhance fraud prevention strategies and controls.

Responsibilities

• Coordinate with other Departments including Retail Banking, Deposit Operations, Security and other relevant stakeholders on controls to identify fraud, mitigate losses, and increase the success of recovery efforts.
• Lead and conduct investigations for external and internal fraud including complex, high-risk, and high-dollar investigations involving multiple fraud types such as wire fraud, elder financial exploitation and identity theft.
• Analyze fraud schemes, transaction patterns and behavioral indicators to determine root cause, liability and loss exposure.
• Make independent investigative decisions regarding account restrictions, closures, charge-offs, Suspicious Activity Reports (“SAR”) filings and recovery efforts, including working with other financial institutions and law enforcement agencies.
• Serve as the escalation point for challenging cases and provide guidance, mentoring and technical expertise to other employees in the Department.
• Work with relevant stakeholders as new products and services are evaluated to assess fraud risk and ensure that the Bank and its customers remain protected from fraud.
• Provide recommendations to lines of business and senior management to mitigate fraud risks.
• Identify fraud trends, emerging threats, and control gaps; recommend and support enhancements to fraud detection systems, policies, procedures and job aids.
• Create and maintain current case management records and files for all investigations in accordance with regulatory and record-retention requirements.
• Coordinate investigations with law enforcement officials, as appropriate. Participate in legal proceedings and provide testimony when required.
• Make recommendations to management for updates to fraud prevention strategies based upon research and findings and evolving regulatory expectations.
• Maintain knowledge of emerging risks and issues, and financial crime typologies, particularly as they relate to fraudulent activity.
• Assist with law enforcement referrals, subpoenas, and legal requests, and act as a liaison when required.
• Support fraud loss reporting, metrics, and management summaries.
• Participate in testing, implementation, and tuning of fraud monitoring rules and tools.
• Prepare monthly fraud reports for senior management and the Audit & Compliance Committee.
• Assist in developing training materials for clients and bank employees and support enterprise fraud awareness initiatives.

Qualifications

The physical demands described here are representative of those that must be met by an employee to successfully perform the essential functions of this job. Regular attendance and punctuality are essential functions of every job. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable qualified individuals with disabilities to perform essential functions.

Perform routine and typical tasks of an office such as typing, taking notes, reading/reviewing, computer work, filing, copying, answering phones, etc. that may require employee to view, stand, stoop, kneel, or crouch and lift. Position requires flexibility and willingness to travel to other locations / branches, generally during normal business hours but includes evenings and Saturdays.

The successful candidate will be required to prove on the first day of work that they are legally authorized to work in the U.S. The Bank will not sponsor a candidate for a visa or for work authorization.

COMPENSATION: $90,000 TO $130,000