Assistant Vice President - Financial Crimes Risk Office

Morgan Stanley is a global financial services firm that conducts its business through three principal business segments—Institutional Securities, Wealth Management (WM), and Asset Management. Morgan Stanley provides comprehensive financial advice and services to its clients including brokerage, investment advisory, financial and wealth planning, credit and lending, deposits and cash management, annuities, insurance, retirement, and trust services. As a market leader, the talent and passion of our people is critical to our success.  Together, we share a common set of values rooted in doing the right thing, putting clients first, leading with exceptional ideas and a commitment to diversity and inclusion.  Morgan Stanley can provide a superior foundation for building a professional career – a place for people to learn, achieve, and grow. 
 
The WM and U.S. Banks Financial Crimes Risk Team is embedded within the Firm’s business line. It is responsible for identifying, assessing, and escalating potential money laundering and reputational risk issues associated with higher risk client types. The WM and U.S. Banks Financial Crimes Risk Team is considered the first line of defense and supports the onboarding, enhanced due diligence, and negative news processes for Morgan Stanley.
 
The Financial Crimes Risk Program Design team is a component of the broader WM and U.S. Banks Financial Crimes Risk Office. The Program Design’s key function is to partner with stakeholders across the first and second lines of defense to identify areas of opportunity to further enhance and streamline 1LOD systems, processes, and control/reporting environments to continuously drive improvements to workflow and client experience / engagement.
 
Responsibilities:

The Policy Adherence & Risk Management AVP is responsible for supporting the ongoing oversight of the 1LOD Financial Crimes Risk program, identifying areas of opportunity for program enhancement, development of frameworks to drive operationalization of complex initiatives, and design of a robust control environment with a primary focus to continuously minimize impacts across the front, middle and back office while maximizing client experience / engagement. 

- Support financial crimes programmatic readiness, inclusive of designing and rolling out programmatic trainings and procedures
- Establish and manage relationships with senior stakeholders and cross-functional teams to drive alignment on project goals, risk mitigation, and firm objectives
- Collaborate with internal and external teams to ensure consistent delivery of transformation initiatives while meeting evolving regulatory requirements
- Support in the development and implementation of robust end-to-end frameworks for program enhancement initiatives to drive compliance with AML/KYC Policy expectations and regulatory commitments
- Partner with Global Financial Crimes across 2LOD and peers within 1LOD to identify areas of opportunity to champion change and improve client experience
- Manage identified Issues through defining strategic remediation and Action Plans, ensuring minimal business impact while maintaining timely delivery
- Support oversight efforts in managing risk associated to client populations across lines of business to drive consistency in process management
- Oversee the implementation of governance structures with a focus on cataloguing critical risk, socializing mitigation efforts, and aligning with partners and senior stakeholders on short-term and long-term solutioning for complex concepts
                              
Qualifications 

Required Experience:
- 5+ years of risk management, compliance, control, and/or audit experience in a Bank or financial services institute with a demonstrated record of success and/or growth.
- Bachelor degree in Business, Finance, Law-related or other related field.
- Deep functional knowledge of the Wealth industries and applicable Financial Crimes (AML, KYC, Anti-Tax Evasion, Anti-Bribery & Corruption, Transaction Monitoring, and Economic Sanctions) rules, regulations, policies, and processes with preferred knowledge of and experience of Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Sanctions programs.
- Ability to interpret policy and understand downstream operational/system implications. 
- Proven ability to learn systems quickly (ideally KYC systems or operational platforms).
- Ability to map policy requirements into business processes and system logic. 
- Experience with stakeholder management, engaging with frontline, compliance, legal, technology, communications, and other cross-functional teams. Strong ability to drive productive discussions that result in clear decision-making across multiple stakeholders. 
- Comfort tracking milestones, dependencies, and RAG statuses across teams.
- Superior organizational skills, with proven ability to successfully manage multiple and concurrent priorities while working independently or with little supervision.
- Self-motivated with a passion for establishing and maintaining a culture of control within the business while keeping the client experience in mind.
- Demonstrated relationship management skills with ability to deepen relationships and build partnerships across the business and key functional support areas with a strong ability to influence a group of diverse stakeholders and drive accountability and ownership with key business partners and process owners.
- Detail oriented, with proven ability to question and identify opportunities within existing processes and business practices by leveraging previous experiences and knowledge of the business. 
- Pragmatic problem-solver, forward thinker with independence of thought and strong critical thinking skills.
- Excellent verbal and written communication skills.
 
Ability to:
- Handle highly confidential information with appropriate discretion.
- Direct and drive senior stakeholders towards a common goal and high EQ.
- Operate with confidence and comfort in high-paced and high-profile environments.

Additional Skills Desired:
- Certified as an Anti-Money Laundering Specialist by ACAMS or equivalent AML certification/license is a plus.
- Working knowledge of MS Office (Microsoft Excel/PowerPoint/Word/Access).
- Familiarity with project management tools (e.g., JIRA, MS Project, similar). 
- Exceptional knowledge of Financial Crimes regulatory requirements and expectations (domestic and international).
- Strong time management and planning skills.
- Strong interpersonal skills and ability to communicate effectively both verbally and in writing.
- Strong leadership qualities evidencing a strong work ethic as well as a high degree of integrity.
 

WHAT YOU CAN EXPECT FROM MORGAN STANLEY:

We are committed to maintaining the first-class service and high standard of excellence that have defined Morgan Stanley for over 89 years. Our values - putting clients first, doing the right thing, leading with exceptional ideas, committing to diversity and inclusion, and giving back - aren’t just beliefs, they guide the decisions we make every day to do what's best for our clients, communities and more than 80,000 employees in 1,200 offices across 42 countries. At Morgan Stanley, you’ll find an opportunity to work alongside the best and the brightest, in an environment where you are supported and empowered. Our teams are relentless collaborators and creative thinkers, fueled by their diverse backgrounds and experiences. We are proud to support our employees and their families at every point along their work-life journey, offering some of the most attractive and comprehensive employee benefits and perks in the industry. There’s also ample opportunity to move about the business for those who show passion and grit in their work.

To learn more about our offices across the globe, please copy and paste https://www.morganstanley.com/about-us/global-offices​ into your browser.

Morgan Stanley's goal is to build and maintain a workforce that is diverse in experience and background but uniform in reflecting our standards of integrity and excellence. Consequently, our recruiting efforts reflect our desire to attract and retain the best and brightest from all talent pools. We want to be the first choice for prospective employees.

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Morgan Stanley is an equal opportunity employer committed to diversifying its workforce (M/F/Disability/Vet).