ABOUT VARO

Varo is an entirely new kind of bank. All digital, mission driven, FDIC insured, and designed for the way our customers live their lives.

We're on a mission to bring financial inclusion and opportunity to all hard-working Americans. Through our mobile app, we offer premium bank accounts that have no minimum balance requirement or monthly account fees, high-interest savings accounts, short term lending and solutions to help customers stretch their paycheck, build credit and start saving. Our tech-first products are designed to make money work for everyone and help customers and communities build greater financial resiliency.

Varo is distinct from other fintechs: we've made history as the first and only consumer fintech to be granted a full national bank charter by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC).

Varo Bank represents the evolution of a new generation of banks that are born from innovation and built on technology to empower consumers and businesses.

Our team combines the best of both consumer tech and banking, and we’re wildly passionate about helping our customers. Our teams are based in San Francisco and Salt Lake City. Privately held, we’ve raised over $482M to date, from leading institutional investors and strategic partners including Warburg Pincus, The Rise Fund, Gallatin Point Capital, Harbourvest Partners, Progressive Insurance, and Russell Westbrook Enterprises.

Varo is entrepreneurial, collaborative, enthusiastic, customer-oriented, fast-paced, and multicultural. This is an open and relatively flat organization that puts an emphasis on collaboration, sharing ideas and information. For a relatively early stage company, Varo is grounded in a strong set of values and takes pride in the diversity of its employees and board. 

Varo. A bank for all of us.

ABOUT FINANCIAL CRIMES RISK MANAGEMENT TEAM

Varo’s Bank Secrecy Act (BSA)/Anti-Money Laundering (AML), and Sanctions program is made up of forward-thinking creative, and enthusiastic individuals, who are constantly striving to safeguard the financial sector from misuse and provide actionable intelligence to law enforcement. We are looking for a new colleague to join the BSA Office leading the governance program for Varo Bank. This is a unique opportunity to get in on the ground floor and help build the risk framework for Varo, the bank of the future.

ABOUT THE LEAD SANCTIONS AND WATCHLIST ANALYST ROLE

This role will report directly to the Head of Global Sanctions and will be a senior member of the Sanctions and Watchlist team. They will be the subject matter expert for all Sanctions and Watchlist production functions and will serve as the main point of escalation for Sanctions and Watchlist analysts as the team surfaces potentially illegal activity, watchlist matches, or activity in violation of the economic and trade sanctions administered by OFAC as well as other economic sanctions regimes. This person will 

be charged with creating innovative scalable proactive processes while harnessing creative solutions to both novel and traditional problems. 

If you have a background in Sanctions and have a constraint drive to look at problems differently and you look at data as the solution, this role will provide you an opportunity to help build the program at the first all-digital national bank in the United States. If you are not afraid of new challenges, passionate about safeguarding the financial sector, and protecting Varo and its customers, then we want to hear from you! 

WE'RE LOOKING FOR AN INDIVIDUAL WHO WILL

• Enjoy working in an entrepreneurial environment and who are self-starters who can grab responsibility and run with it 
• Be comfortable tackling new challenges and proposing creative solutions 
• Like working in a fast-paced, dynamic, and innovative environment 
• Bring consistency and structure to a newly developed program so that Varo manages its risks in an explainable manner while ensuring it runs an effective risk management program

WHAT YOU'LL DO

• Serve as subject matter expert to the Head of Global Sanctions and/or as his/her designee for all Sanctions and Watchlist operational tasks and matters
• Serve as the escalation point within Sanctions and Watchilst operations for analysts when receiving sanctions and watchlist alerts
• Manage internal and external Sanctions and Watchlist related vendors and participate in system testing and tuning exercises
• Update Sanctions and Watchlist internal policies and procedures and monitor compliance with Sanctions and Watchlist requirements, policies, procedures, and processes throughout the organization
• Provide timely responses to all appropriate business lines for all Sanctions and Watchlist related activities and matters
• Support the development and delivery of on-going targeted Sanctions and Watchlist training to the sanctions analysts
• Be the master of ad hoc projects

PREVIOUS SKILLS AND EXPERIENCES THAT'LL MAKE YOU GREAT

• Worked in other FinTech’s or innovative Financial Institutions, with prior experience in BSA/AML regulations and Financial Crimes Risk Management 
• 4 or more years of experience in Financial Crimes Risk Management, Compliance, or Operational risk (including audit or legal) 
• Ability to get work done, knowing when to use judgment to make risk-based decisions with current (and sometimes limited) information 
• Ability to prioritize work flows and ensure deadlines are met 
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, interpersonal and collaborative skills 




THE THREE SKILLS THAT MATTER MOST 

Nobody can be great at everything, but we’re looking for candidates who are extraordinary at: 

• Be a team player and don’t shy away from rolling your sleeves up to solve a problem 
• Think Creatively: We want to know how to make the process better and not just do it the way it was done before 
• Sense of Humor: Financial Crimes is serious work but we spend more time at work than we often do with family so you should enjoy what you do

OTHER NICE TO HAVES

• Knowledge and understanding of the Bank Secrecy Act and its supporting regulations. Wolfsberg, and FATF standards 
• Able to articulate complex problems, design and propose solutions 
• Ability to spot patterns, gather data, and articulate findings in a concise meaningful summary 
• Proficiency with G-Suite (Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Slides, etc.) and Slack 
• Ability to communicate with all levels of management and staff 
• Experience managing multiple deliverables in a fast-paced, high volume environment 
• Demonstrates a strong sense of ownership and thought-leadership
• A very high level of intellectual curiosity and a growth mindset 

CULTURAL ALIGNMENT

Varo is entrepreneurial, collaborative, enthusiastic, customer-oriented, fast-paced, and multicultural. This is an open and relatively flat organization that puts an emphasis on collaboration, sharing ideas and information. For a relatively early stage company, Varo is grounded in a strong set of values and takes pride in the diversity of its employees. 

OUR CORE VALUES

Customers First: Understand the problems our customers are trying to solve. Respond with a sense of urgency. Build relationships that result in loyalty. Be data and insights-driven. Test everything. Achieve results through strong execution. Build a product people love. Assess new initiatives with the customers’ interest in mind. Act with empathy. 

Take Ownership: Bias towards action. Have high standards. Be accountable for the results of your work, our product, our company. Trust others to own it.

Respect: Treat others how you want to be treated. Listen first before being heard. Speak the truth even when it's not easy. Assume best intentions. Bring your full self to work.

Stay Curious: Ask why. Dare to make things better. Learn something new each day (even from mistakes). Be open to growth. Develop creative solutions.

Make it Better: Think big. Set high goals. Work towards long term value rather than short term wins. Create change. Be resilient.

Varo is an equal opportunity employer. Varo embraces diversity and we are committed to building teams that represent a variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and skills. All applicants will be considered for employment without attention to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, national origin, veteran or disability status.

Learn more about Varo by following us:

Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/varomoney

Instagram - www.instagram.com/varobank

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/varobank

Twitter - https://twitter.com/varobank

Engineering Blog - https://medium.com/engineering-varo

SoundCloud - https://soundcloud.com/varobank

Beware of fraudulent job postings!

Varo will never ask for payment to process documents, refer you to a third party to process applications or visas, or ask you to pay costs. Never send money to anyone suggesting they can provide work with Varo. If you suspect you have received a phony offer, please e-mail [email protected] with the pertinent information and contact information.

Pursuant to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance, we will consider for employment qualified applicants with arrest and conviction records.