Compliance Senior Lead - Sanctions Operations

About Kraken

Payward — the parent company behind Kraken, NinjaTrader, Breakout, xStocks, Payward Services, and CF Benchmarks — has spent the last 15 years building modern and globally accessible financial infrastructure platforms to advance an open, global financial system.

Founded in 2011, Kraken is trusted by over 10 million individuals and institutions across the globe. It offers spot trading, margin, futures, staking, and OTC services built for both individual investors and institutional clients.

The Role

At Kraken, compliance is a core expression of how we operate. Our Global Sanctions Compliance function sits at the intersection of regulatory accountability and technology, building processes that set the standard.

We are looking for a Sr. Compliance Associate Lead, Sanctions Operations to join us fully remote. Reporting directly to Kraken's Chief Sanctions Officer, this role sits at the heart of how we review, escalate, and resolve sanctions risk across our global footprint. You will manage complex escalations generated by our sanctions controls and first line of defense, driving speed and scalability as volumes grow.

Responsibilities

• Perform sanctions reviews in response to escalations across Kraken, including blockchain monitoring, name screening, transaction screening, anti-circumvention controls, and account onboarding/maintenance rules.
• Review name and transaction screening alerts escalated to the Sanctions team, applying sound judgment to resolve them accurately and on time.
• Review blockchain monitoring alerts for direct and indirect sanctions exposure.
• Analyze Kraken accounts for potential sanctions circumvention risk.
• Review account opening documentation escalated by Kraken's first line of defense (1LOD).
• Review large datasets to support proactive and ad-hoc risk analyses.
• Communicate with Regional Compliance Officers and other Compliance teams to ensure regional perspectives are reflected while maintaining sanctions program integrity.
• Coordinate with teammates to establish streamlined processes, utilizing automation and AI-assisted tools with appropriate human oversight.
• Prepare regulatory reports in response to investigations as needed.
• Prepare and deliver presentations to stakeholders.

Requirements

• 5+ years of experience in compliance, sanctions, or financial crime compliance, including hands-on sanctions investigations (ideally within banking, crypto, or fintech).
• Working knowledge of major sanctions regimes: US OFAC, EU, UK, and UN programs.
• Experience writing sanctions reviews or investigation narratives.
• Strong analytical and writing skills, sound judgment, and a detail-oriented, problem-solving approach.
• Knowledge of crypto, banking, or payment processes, procedures, and systems.
• Experience working with case management systems such as Hummingbird, Zendesk, or equivalent.
• Hands-on experience using automation and AI tools (such as Claude or ChatGPT) to increase operational efficiency.
• Effective verbal and written communication with the ability to manage global and regional compliance stakeholders.
• Strong collaboration skills across multi-functional teams.
• Ownership of work product and a track record of delivering results in a fast-paced environment.
• High degree of integrity, discretion, and ability to handle confidential information.
• Bachelor's degree or equivalent practical experience.

Nice to Haves

• ACAMS (CAMS) or ACSS sanctions certification.
• Prior regulatory experience or blockchain analytics vendor experience (e.g., attributing sanctions risk).
• Experience supporting regulatory exams, audits, or enforcement-related inquiries.