Client:
Global Financial Services Firm
Needs:
Six senior AML and compliance leaders to satisfy Federal Reserve remediation requirements and rebuild critical compliance functions.
Challenge:
Following a Federal Reserve enforcement action, a global financial services firm faced an aggressive remediation timeline that depended on rebuilding key areas of its AML compliance program.
The organization needed to hire six highly specialized senior leaders across AML governance, sanctions, risk assessment, analytics, and technology. These were business-critical positions that required professionals with direct regulatory remediation experience—individuals capable of making an immediate impact without a lengthy onboarding period.
With regulatory expectations, business continuity, and strategic initiatives all depending on the success of these hires, traditional recruiting methods were unlikely to deliver the required expertise within the necessary timeframe.
Obstacle
The firm’s remediation plan exposed several leadership gaps that needed to be addressed simultaneously.
The organization required professionals with experience in roles such as:
- Director of Compliance Governance, AML
- AML Technology Manager
- OFAC Sanctions Subject Matter Expert
- AML & OFAC Risk Assessment Manager
- Director of AML Business Intelligence & Analytics
Each position played a critical role in strengthening the firm’s compliance framework. Beyond technical expertise, every hire needed firsthand experience operating in highly regulated environments and contributing to enforcement-related remediation efforts.
Finding one qualified leader for a role of this caliber is challenging. Filling six simultaneously while operating under regulatory scrutiny significantly increased the complexity.
Solution
Rather than approaching the engagement as six independent searches, the hiring strategy focused on the firm’s broader remediation objectives.
Initial conversations with HR and hiring leaders centered on understanding the operational and regulatory issues behind each opening rather than simply reviewing job descriptions. Those discussions identified:
- The compliance gaps cited during the enforcement action
- Which leadership capabilities were most urgent
- The experience successful candidates would need to contribute immediately
- Areas where previous hiring approaches had fallen short
With those priorities established, the searches were organized around business impact, allowing the most critical leadership positions to be addressed first.
Candidates were selected based on direct experience leading AML remediation initiatives, regulatory examinations, sanctions programs, governance, analytics, and AML technology transformation. Throughout the project, interview coordination and search progress were managed through a centralized process that kept hiring stakeholders aligned across all six searches.
Outcome
Within five months, the organization successfully filled all six senior AML leadership positions.
Across the searches:
- Six critical leadership roles were filled
- An average of seven highly qualified candidates were presented for each position
- Most hires were made after only three to four interviews
One year later, all six professionals remain with the organization and continue to lead key components of its AML compliance program.
Impact
With experienced leadership in place across its AML organization, the firm was able to execute its remediation plan, strengthen its compliance infrastructure, and move forward with strategic business initiatives that had been delayed during the enforcement period.
The new leadership team brought immediate regulatory experience and operational expertise, allowing the organization to accelerate program improvements without extended ramp-up time.
Beyond satisfying immediate remediation requirements, the hires established a stronger long-term compliance foundation capable of supporting future growth, including digital asset and payment platform initiatives.
By focusing on the underlying business and regulatory challenges—not simply filling open positions—the organization was able to rebuild a leadership team equipped to navigate complex compliance environments and support its broader transformation.
Does your firm need senior AML or compliance leadership? Contact us to start the conversation.