AML Ops Lead - Transaction Monitoring (Remote) at LemFi (Formerly Lemonade Finance)

LemFi (YC S21) is building the neobank for African diaspora in North America & Europe. We provide our users with a multi-currency account that allows them to hold, send, and receive money from Africa in any currency for their business and personal banking needs. We are a fast-paced startup with entities in the UK, USA, Canada and Nigeria and you would be required to familiarize yourself with necessary statutory and regulatory requirements in these locations.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: AML Ops Lead - Transaction Monitoring

Location: Remote
Employment Type: Full-tim
Department: Compliance Operations

About the role

• LemFi is the financial engine for people the world wasn't built to serve, processing remittances, multi-currency accounts, credit, savings and eSIMs across more than 21 countries. Our Compliance Operations team is the reason our customers can trust every transaction they send. This Team Lead role sits at the heart of that work, owning the day-to-day output of a team of five to six AML analysts and being the escalation point for complex, high-risk investigations.
• As an AML Ops Lead - Transaction Monitoring within the Compliance Operations team, you will play a critical role in protecting LemFi and its customers from financial crime while enabling safe and seamless access to our products. Reporting to the Function Manager/Head, you will operate at the heart of day-to-day compliance decision-making, balancing regulatory compliance frameworks with a seamless user experience to support sustainable, high-growth fintech scaling.
• If you have led a financial crime investigations team in a high-volume environment and you want the scope to genuinely change how the team operates, this role is for you.

What you'll build and own

• Team Leadership & People Management: Lead, coach, and develop a team of AML analysts by providing regular feedback, tailored coaching, and early performance support. Foster a collaborative culture where knowledge is shared, issues are escalated early, and continuous learning is encouraged.
• Alert Triage & Investigations: Oversee the review of systematic alerts triggered by suspicious activity, ensuring every investigation is thorough, well-reasoned, and clearly documented from first review through to closure or escalation. Your team's case narratives should hold up to scrutiny, whether that's an internal audit or a regulator's request.
• Quality Assurance & Performance: Perform independent quality reviews of completed TM investigation decisions before closure or escalation. Track team and individual performance against SLA, quality, and false-positive metrics, and use what you find to guide coaching, not just reporting. Run regular 1:1s with clear, actionable takeaways, and address underperformance early with specific, documented goals.
• System Optimization: Proactively identify issues and inefficiencies in processes and drive solutions through a mix of partnerships, technology, process, and procedure changes, including working closely with compliance and engineering. You're expected to bring data and specific proposals to these conversations, not just flag the problem.
• Performance & Metrics: Track and report on key team metrics, including SLA adherence, QA pass rates, and false-positive trends, using these insights to guide coaching and process improvements.
• Stakeholder Engagement: Partner with compliance on complex or high-risk cases and represent the team's findings clearly when escalating to senior stakeholders.
• Staying Current: Keep up to date with evolving AML typologies and regulatory expectations (e.g., OFAC, FCA, FINTRAC) relevant to LemFi's markets, and help bring that awareness into the team's day-to-day investigations.
• Issue Escalation: Flag control weaknesses, high-risk cases, or tooling/process issues to leadership promptly and clearly, following agreed protocols. The goal is for leadership to hear about problems from you first, not after the fact.

Your experience

• 4-6 years of total AML or Compliance operations experience
• Hands-on experience in AML transaction monitoring or financial crime investigations in a remittance, payments or remittance-adjacent environment, with direct exposure to high-volume alert queues.
• Proven track record leading or supervising a team of analysts, with clear examples of coaching people through performance challenges, not just managing output.
• Working knowledge of OFAC, FCA and FINTRAC regulations and the ability to make defensible, risk-based decisions under each framework.
• Adaptability to global operational needs and ability to work in a rapidly changing business and regulatory environment.
• Experience identifying and fixing operational inefficiencies, whether through better workflows, smarter tooling or changed team habits.
• Strong written communication skills for internal escalations, audit responses and regulatory documentation.
• Strong stakeholder management and communication skills with the ability to engage senior stakeholders confidently, including in difficult conversations

Nice to have:

• Experience across multiple product types (remittance, credit, savings or multi-currency accounts) within the same compliance function.

• Familiarity with AI-assisted transaction monitoring tools or case management platforms.

• A relevant professional qualification such as CAMS, ICA Diploma or equivalent.

Why Join LemFi?

• Love shouldn’t be expensive, yet those working hardest for their families often face predatory fees and banking exclusion. We're changing this.
• At LemFi, you won’t be just a cog in a machine. Whether designing products, scaling operations, or telling our story, you’ll tackle complex challenges with real, immediate impact. Your work goes beyond metrics - it puts money back in families’ pockets and offers access to the previously excluded. Join us to make a meaningful difference, where high performance is a lifeline for millions.

Application Closing Date
Not Specified.

Method of Application
Interested and qualified candidates should:
Click here to apply online