About This Role
6 to 10 years of experience
Skills: Communication Surveillance, NICE Actimize, Behavox, Relativity, Regulatory Compliance, MiFID II, MAR, Dodd-Frank, FCA / ASIC / SEC Rules, Surveillance Policy, eComms Monitoring, Trade Surveillance, Lexicon Management, Case Management, Financial Services Compliance
About the Role
We are looking for a Communication Surveillance SME with 6–10 years of experience in financial services compliance and surveillance technology to join our team. You will bring deep domain expertise in electronic communications surveillance — combining regulatory knowledge, platform configuration expertise, and analytical capability to design, operate, and continuously improve the organisation's communication surveillance programme.
You will be the subject matter expert for all aspects of communication surveillance — from lexicon development and alert tuning through to regulatory framework interpretation, platform administration, and surveillance governance. You will work closely with Compliance, Legal, Technology, Front Office, and HR teams — ensuring the organisation's surveillance programme is robust, risk-proportionate, and aligned to evolving regulatory expectations from FCA, ASIC, SEC, FINRA, MAS, and equivalent global regulators.
Key Responsibilities
Surveillance Programme Management
- Own and continuously improve the organisation's end-to-end communication surveillance programme — covering email, chat, voice, social media, and emerging communication channels across regulated staff populations.
- Design, implement, and maintain surveillance policies and procedures — defining surveillance scope, coverage requirements, escalation workflows, and governance standards aligned to regulatory obligations and internal risk appetite.
- Conduct surveillance coverage gap assessments — identifying unmonitored communication channels, population gaps, and policy weaknesses, and developing remediation plans to close gaps.
- Assess and onboard new communication channels — evaluating surveillance risk, capture capability, and regulatory requirements for new platforms (WhatsApp, WeChat, Teams, Zoom, Bloomberg) before business adoption.
- Maintain and optimise the surveillance governance framework — ensuring surveillance activities are fully documented, auditable, and defensible to regulators and internal audit.
- Produce and present surveillance MI reports — coverage statistics, alert volumes, false positive rates, escalation trends, and programme effectiveness metrics for senior compliance leadership and governance committees.
Platform Administration & Configuration
- Administer and configure communication surveillance platforms — NICE Actimize, Behavox, Relativity, Global Relay, Smarsh, or equivalent — ensuring platforms are operational, well-configured, and aligned to surveillance policy requirements.
- Develop and maintain surveillance lexicons — designing keyword dictionaries, phrase libraries, and contextual rules that maximise detection of genuine misconduct while minimising false positive alert volumes.
- Conduct systematic alert tuning — analysing alert patterns, false positive drivers, and detection gaps to continuously improve lexicon performance and surveillance platform configuration.
- Manage platform upgrades, configuration changes, and new feature deployments — coordinating with technology and vendor teams to ensure surveillance continuity during platform changes.
- Integrate communication surveillance platforms with trade surveillance systems — enabling holistic, cross-channel surveillance that links communication activity to trading behaviour for comprehensive market abuse detection.
- Evaluate and implement AI / ML-powered surveillance capabilities — assessing NLP-based detection, behavioural analytics, and AI alert prioritisation tools to improve surveillance effectiveness and efficiency.
Alert Review & Investigation
- Oversee the communication surveillance alert review process — managing Level 1 / Level 2 / Level 3 triage, escalation, and disposition workflows across the surveillance team.
- Conduct and oversee complex communication surveillance investigations — reviewing electronic communications, correlating with trade activity, and producing well-documented, evidence-based investigation reports.
- Manage case escalation to Senior Compliance, Legal, HR, and senior management — providing clear, factual investigation summaries and recommendations for disciplinary or regulatory action.
- Support Suspicious Activity Reporting (SAR) processes — identifying and escalating communication surveillance findings that meet SAR thresholds to Financial Crime and MLRO functions.
- Provide eDiscovery support — managing legal hold, data preservation, and communication data extraction for regulatory investigations, litigation, and disciplinary proceedings.
- Ensure investigation documentation meets regulatory evidence standards — producing audit-quality case files that are defensible in regulatory examinations and legal proceedings.
Regulatory Compliance & Governance
- Interpret and implement communication surveillance obligations under MiFID II, MAR, Dodd-Frank, FCA Conduct Rules, ASIC Market Integrity Rules, FINRA, SEC, MAS, and CFTC regulations.
- Monitor the regulatory change landscape — tracking FCA, ASIC, SEC, FINRA, and MAS guidance on communication surveillance to proactively identify and implement required programme updates.
- Prepare and support regulatory examinations — producing surveillance programme documentation, coverage evidence, alert review statistics, and investigation case files for regulatory review.
- Liaise with Internal Audit and Compliance Assurance teams — supporting surveillance programme audits, implementing audit recommendations, and evidencing programme improvements.
- Advise Front Office, HR, Technology, and senior management on communication surveillance obligations — providing clear, practical guidance on regulatory requirements and surveillance implications of business activities.
- Develop and deliver surveillance training and awareness programmes — ensuring regulated staff, managers, and control functions understand their communication surveillance obligations.
Technology & Innovation
- Lead surveillance technology assessments — evaluating new surveillance platforms, AI-powered detection tools, and communication capture solutions against regulatory requirements and organisational needs.
- Drive surveillance automation and efficiency initiatives — identifying opportunities to automate alert triage, lexicon management, reporting, and case management workflows.
- Collaborate with Technology teams on surveillance platform implementations and upgrades — providing SME input on functional requirements, configuration design, UAT, and go-live readiness.
- Contribute to the design of holistic surveillance frameworks — integrating communication surveillance, trade surveillance, and employee monitoring into a unified, risk-based surveillance ecosystem.
What We're Looking For
- 6–10 years of experience in financial services compliance with a strong and demonstrable focus on communication surveillance — platform administration, regulatory compliance, and surveillance programme management.
- Deep knowledge of communication surveillance regulatory frameworks — MiFID II, MAR, Dodd-Frank, FCA Conduct Rules, ASIC Market Integrity Rules, FINRA / SEC surveillance requirements, or equivalent global regimes.
- Hands-on experience administering and configuring communication surveillance platforms — NICE Actimize, Behavox, Relativity, Global Relay, Smarsh, or equivalent.
- Strong lexicon development and alert tuning expertise — proven ability to design effective surveillance dictionaries and systematically reduce false positive alert volumes without increasing detection risk.
- Experience managing end-to-end surveillance investigations — alert review, case management, escalation, and regulatory-quality investigation documentation.
- Solid understanding of communication capture and archiving requirements across regulated channels — Bloomberg, Symphony, Microsoft Teams, WhatsApp, WeChat, email, voice, and social media.
- Experience supporting regulatory examinations — FCA, ASIC, SEC, FINRA — with surveillance programme evidence, coverage documentation, and investigation case files.
- Strong analytical skills — able to analyse surveillance alert trends, false positive patterns, and coverage gaps to drive continuous programme improvement.
- Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills — able to advise senior management, engage regulators, and work effectively across Compliance, Legal, Technology, HR, and Front Office.
- Strong written skills — producing regulatory-quality investigation reports, policy documents, governance papers, and surveillance MI for senior audiences.
Nice to Have
- Experience with AI / ML-powered surveillance platforms — Behavox AI, Shield FC, or equivalent — including NLP-based detection, behavioural analytics, and AI alert prioritisation.
- Familiarity with trade surveillance platforms — NICE Actimize Trade Surveillance, Nasdaq Surveillance, or equivalent — for holistic surveillance integration.
- Knowledge of eDiscovery platforms and legal hold processes — Relativity, Nuix, or equivalent.
- Experience with voice surveillance and transcription analysis tools.
- Understanding of emerging communication channel risks — encrypted messaging, collaboration platforms, and social media surveillance challenges.
- Exposure to financial crime surveillance — AML, sanctions screening — for integrated compliance programme context.
- ICA Certificate / Diploma in Compliance or Financial Crime.
- CAMS (Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist) certification.
- Experience in Investment Banking, Asset Management, Hedge Fund, or equivalent sell-side / buy-side financial services environment.
- Familiarity with Python or SQL for surveillance data analysis and investigation support.
