Senior Manager - Risk & Compliance

ABOUT GREYSTAR

Greystar is a leading, fully integrated global real estate platform offering expertise in property management, investment management, development, and construction services in institutional-quality rental housing. Headquartered in Charleston, South Carolina, Greystar manages and operates over $350 billion of real estate in more than 260 markets globally with offices throughout North America, Europe, South America, and the Asia-Pacific region. Greystar is the largest operator of apartments in the United States, managing over one million units/beds globally. Across its platforms, Greystar has nearly $79 billion of assets under management, including over $34 billion of development assets and over $36.5 billion of regulatory assets under management. Greystar was founded by Bob Faith in 1993 to become a provider of world-class service in the rental residential real estate business. To learn more, visit www.greystar.com.

JOB DESCRIPTION SUMMARY

As a key member of the European Risk & Compliance function, the Senior Manager Risk & Compliance will work closely with the Senior Director, Risk & Compliance Europe to oversee and strategically develop the Company’s European Compliance program. Among other responsibilities, this role includes advising the business on applicable financial crime legislation and best practices for prevention; designing, updating, and implementing policies, procedures and training; and being a key point of escalation and influence in Europe for financial crime matters, including AML, ABAC, sanctions, and fraud.

The breadth and variety of the role offers an opportunity to make a genuine impact on the European business’ awareness of and approach to financial crime prevention. The role will have extensive opportunities to apply and develop knowledge and skills (including both technical knowledge and project/stakeholder management skills), to influence the European Compliance program, to direct external service providers, and to oversee various compliance processes. The holder of this role will be expected to take a proactive approach to horizon scanning EU and UK financial crime legislation and to understanding the nuances (and variations) of Greystar’s European business.

JOB DESCRIPTION

Key Responsibilities:

• Providing internal advice on a range of financial crime matters to a wide variety of stakeholders across different functions and levels, including advising on Company-wide projects/initiatives and in response to escalations/questions from team members. The holder of this role will advise the board (EU Risk Committee) on changes to European financial crime legislation and will recommend changes to internal policy and procedures accordingly. 

• Responsible for overseeing, developing, and implementing Greystar Europe’s AML policy and KYC procedures. This includes remaining up-to-date with evolving AML legislation and investor requirements; advising the business on internal policies and procedures; directing third-party consultants involved in the KYC process, ensuring the quality of the KYC, their adherence to SLAs, and effective contract/invoice management; and co-operating with annual audits, leveraging findings to further improve the Company’s AML/KYC program. 

• Acting as the daily point of contact for the external AML consultant who conducts KYC on Greystar Europe’s counterparties, responding to queries and issues promptly and ensuring the KYC process runs smoothly and in line with Greystar Europe’s AML policy and KYC procedures. 

• Overseeing Greystar Europe’s sanctions program, including advising internal teams on legal obligations; liaising with external counsel as needed; and directing external service providers involved in the sanctions screening process. Managing contract negotiations for new providers/contract renewals will be necessary for this and other areas of the role.  

• Working closely with the Senior Director, Risk & Compliance Europe and external counsel to respond to incidents and whistleblower reports, in addition to supporting HR and the wider business to embed a positive SpeakUp culture. Where required, the holder of this role will (together with external advisors, as needed) advise HR stakeholders on applicable whistleblower legislation.

• Facilitating periodic risk assessments conducted by external consultants. In between periodic risk assessments, the holder of this role will work closely with the Senior Director, Risk & Compliance Europe to ensure that the department’s knowledge of business initiatives and practices is up-to-date and update risk assessments accordingly to ensure they remain dynamic and relevant.

• Proactively working to improve knowledge and awareness of the European compliance program, including overseeing, designing and delivering compliance training across Greystar Europe (in-person and e-learning); building strategic cross-departmental relationships; representing the European Risk & Compliance function in departmental meetings/townhalls; and visiting corporate offices and properties across Europe. 

• Financial crime horizon scanning: staying abreast of new financial crime legislation and changes to interpretation and enforcement of regulation across Europe in addition to keeping up-to-date with upcoming financial crime typologies, supported by attendance at compliance conferences and involvement in industry committees.

Knowledge & Qualifications:

• Demonstrable knowledge of applicable EU/UK financial crime legislation, including (but not limited to) AML, ABAC, fraud, sanctions, and whistleblowing legislation.

• Ability to break down complex legislation into accessible and practical advice and training material. 

• Degree qualified (master’s degree or legal qualification or compliance qualification preferred).

• Understanding of the FCA Handbook and AIFMD regulations is a preferred.

Essential:

• Appropriate level of qualifications and experience to meet the requirements of the role.

• A positive team player, skilled at working collaboratively and influencing team members, key business leaders, and external partners to drive understanding and effective implementation of the European Compliance program.

• Ability to manage competing priorities in a dynamic working environment, maintaining perspective of the department and regulators/enforcement bodies’ wider priorities and higher risk areas.

• Excellent cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary interpersonal skills, with a demonstrated ability to engage and influence stakeholders across seniority levels.

• Ability to remain independent in the face of business pressures, and willingness to disagree well with members of the business where needed.

• Excellent written & verbal communication skills, including the ability to prepare commercial standard business correspondence, reports, documents, training content, as well as to present to diverse small or large audiences with different levels of compliance awareness.

• Excellent organisation skills, including the ability to prioritise, achieve deadline driven defined outcomes, and demonstrate strategic and sound judgement under pressure.

• Demonstrates a proactive willingness to learn about the commercial and compliance issues affecting residential real estate (investment, development, and operations).

Desirable:

• Master’s degree or legal degree is strongly preferred for this position.

• Additional European languages are preferred.

• Experience of working across different geographies, cultures and/or legal systems.

Important Notice: Greystar will never request your banking details or other sensitive personal information during the interview process. Greystar does not conduct any interviews via text or messaging, and all communication will come from official Greystar email addresses (@greystar.com). If you receive suspicious requests, please report them immediately to [email protected].