Fraud Analytics and Innovation Leader - Authentication

Job Description:

Merrill Wealth Management is a leading provider of comprehensive wealth management and investment products and services for individuals, companies, and institutions. Merrill Wealth Management is one of the largest businesses of its kind in the world specializing in goals-based wealth management, including planning for retirement, education, legacy, and other life goals through investment advice and guidance.

Merrill’s Financial Advisors and Wealth Management Client Associates help clients pursue the life they envision through a personal relationship with their advisory team committed to their needs. We believe trust comes from transparency. Our trusted advisory teams are equipped with access to the investment insights of Merrill coupled with the banking convenience of Bank of America.

Merrill is committed to an in-office culture that supports collaboration, engagement, and career development.  Our approach includes clear in-office expectations, while providing an appropriate level of flexibility based on role-specific responsibilities and business needs.

At Merrill, we empower you to bring your whole self to work. We value the unique perspectives in our thoughts, business, and within our employees and clients. Our Wealth Management team represents an array of different skills and experiences that individuals bring from all backgrounds and careers; whether gained through military service, community college education, or a wide range of work and life experiences. These journeys foster resilience, leadership and innovation, strengthening our workforce  and positively impact the communities we serve.

Internal employees who are currently working from home are still eligible to apply. However, if selected for the role, you may be required to work onsite in accordance with the workplace excellence policy.

Job Description:
This role provides end-to-end authentication oversight for Brokerage products and digital channels. Responsibilities include evaluating authentication controls, monitoring customer verification and step-up authentication performance, reviewing fraud and scam losses for authentication or process gaps, and recommending targeted control enhancements. The manager ensures monitoring is in place, issues are documented and escalated, remediation is tracked, and authentication controls operate in accordance with established requirements and best practices.

The role also develops and validates fraud variables and authentication indicators used in detection and decisioning. The manager provides authentication requirements, coordinates testing, validates control performance before and after implementation, and supports network mandates, product changes, technology releases, and internal control enhancements that affect customer authentication.

Job Responsibilities:

• Lead end-to-end oversight of digital authentication controls across supported Brokerage products and channels
• Assess and document the current authentication framework, including control design, customer journeys, dependencies, and known gaps
• Monitor authentication health and performance to identify anomalies, adverse trends, control degradation, and out-of-pattern activity
• Review fraud, scam, account takeover, and third-party loss cases to identify authentication defects or procedural gaps
• Define authentication requirements and acceptance criteria for product changes, technology releases, network mandates, and control enhancements
• Coordinate testing and validation of authentication controls, fraud variables, rules, and decision outcomes before and after implementation
• Track authentication issues, vulnerabilities, remediation plans, and control performance through closure
• Oversee authentication governance, vendor or contract obligations, channel monitoring, and recurring control reporting
• Evaluate authentication capabilities and intelligence that strengthen security while supporting a consistent customer experience
• Partner with product, technology, operations, fraud, and business control teams to resolve authentication issues and maintain effective controls

Required Skills:

• Minimum 5 years of fraud, digital authentication, identity verification, account takeover, or related risk experience in Banking or Brokerage products
• Working knowledge of authentication methods and controls, including multifactor authentication, step-up authentication, out-of-band verification, device and behavioral signals, and customer identity verification
• Experience assessing authentication control effectiveness, documenting gaps, coordinating remediation, and monitoring operational performance
• Expertise in fraud detection and management platforms, including SAS Fraud Management and development of user-defined variables for rule or decisioning logic
• Advanced proficiency in SQL and SAS, with the ability to investigate authentication events, fraud patterns, control outcomes, and exceptions
• Strong organizational, project management, testing, documentation, and communication skills, with the ability to translate fraud risks into clear authentication requirements
• Bachelor's degree preferably in a quantitative or technical discipline such as mathematics, statistics, operations research, engineering, computer science, finance, or business; Tableau reporting experience preferred

Shift:

1st shift (United States of America)

Hours Per Week: 

40

Pay Transparency details

US - NJ - Pennington - 1400 American Blvd - Hopewell Bldg 4 (NJ2140)Pay and benefits informationPay range$115,000.00 - $150,000.00 annualized salary, offers to be determined based on experience, education and skill set.Discretionary incentive eligibleThis role is eligible to participate in the annual discretionary plan. Employees are eligible for an annual discretionary award based on their overall individual performance results and behaviors, the performance and contributions of their line of business and/or group; and the overall success of the Company.BenefitsThis role is currently benefits eligible. We provide industry-leading benefits, access to paid time off, resources and support to our employees so they can make a genuine impact and contribute to the sustainable growth of our business and the communities we serve.