Fraud Risk Specialist

SUMMARY:

First Bank is seeking a Fraud Risk Specialist who will be an integral member of our Fraud Operations team with a focus on operational effectiveness and responsive support engagement, escalation intake and triage, and mitigation of fraud and financial transaction risk across the bank. This is an early fraud and risk career role on a high-visibility and expanding team at First Bank. We are seeking a team member that is committed to protecting our clients and the bank from fraud and relentless in their focus, while upholding an excellent client experience.

Fraud Operations team members maintain a balanced sense of intellectual curiosity. In this role you will provide back-office operational support and make early and definitive decisions on escalation management, intake, and documentation. You will often be the first person a First Bank associate might speak or interact with on our team for an inbound escalation over phone, chat, or email where you will think quickly on your feet to gather facts, ask targeted and informed questions based on the nature of the referral, and summarize key points for further analysis by the team.

You will also support transaction risk assessment. You may be the first person to see or review critical alerts within a transaction risk queue or case management platform, and determine immediate next steps as well as development of initial documentation to support the analyst or investigator who will complete further analysis or investigation of a case. With the understanding that operational support, escalation triage, and transaction risk decisions can all have serious implications, you will make well-founded and trustworthy decisions.

In this role you will spotlight opportunities for continued improvement while not losing sight of the day-to-day commitments and shared team functions. There is a consistent focus on quality and accuracy while dually being responsive in your operations functions and meeting cut-offs and deadlines, which can range from monthly and weekly to daily and hourly. This role requires an individual who can tackle challenges efficiently, while still maintaining a high-level of precision, discretion, and professional maturity needed for sensitive fraud and risk matters. A growth mindset and ability to learn new skills, systems, and cross-train with peers is imperative for success.

ESSENTIAL FUNCTIONS:

• Triage and research of high volumes of inbound communications and escalations for investigative referral.
• Assessment of escalations and identification of the nature of the perceived risk or fraud, and gathering and succinct summarization of relevant information.
• Categorization and organization of escalations based on type and severity to prioritize them.
• Prioritization of incidents in the remediation lineup according to their importance, and input and documentation across various systems of record.
• Mitigation through update of time-sensitive account-related and system controls, restrictions, notes, and alerts to help immediately prevent fraud loss and notify cross-functional teams of at-risk accounts or accountholders.
• Assignment of resources and referral to the appropriate team or individual to address the escalation.
• Fraud detection and prevention involving transaction risk assessment of the following transaction types which can include but are not limited to ACH, peer-to-peer transfers including Zelle, external transfers, bill pay, check, ATM, wire transfer, debit card and credit card transactions, mobile remote deposit capture (MRDC), remote deposit capture (RDC), and cash transactions.
• Risk analysis and referral of basic observed trends of transactional or fraud-related activity over time for further investigation.
• Prompt and professional communication with internal stakeholders related to a range of escalations types.
• Identification and clear, consistent, and well-founded communication of existing fraud risk reference guides or templates that can be shared with an impacted customer or external party.
• Effective pattern analysis across a range of data sources and development of initial findings for review and verification by team members completing root cause assessment.
• Collaboration with cross-functional teams to strengthen fraud detection and awareness of related tactics, techniques, and protocols.
• Completes annual compliance courses.
• Adheres specifically to all corporate policies and procedures. Also adheres to Federal and State regulations and laws; including, the Bank Secrecy Act and the Anti-Money Laundering Act.
• Adheres to all levels of our Service Excellence standards.
• Performs other duties as required.

GENERAL QUALIFICATIONS:

Knowledge & Experience: These specifications are general guidelines based on the minimum experience normally considered essential to the satisfactory performance of this position. Individual abilities may result in some deviation from these guidelines.

• Bachelor's degree from a four-year college or university with a focus on criminal justice, accounting, finance, cybersecurity, data science, or similar; or two years of related and specialized experience in a banking or financial technology or services industry, that provides the necessary skills and knowledge to satisfactorily perform the essential job functions may be substituted.
• Analytical and pattern recognition capabilities to spot trends and inconsistencies within data to detect potential high risk or abnormal activity.
• Demonstrated aptitude for learning new technology which will include things like feedback on process and workflow ideas, or AI training and AI model feedback for fraud and risk support solutions.
• Clear and effective communication and logical documentation that sufficiently supports decisions.
• Capacity to work calmly, communicate succinctly, and make definitive decisions under pressure.
• Unwavering professionalism and focus on management and handling of sensitive information with integrity.
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to build positive relationships with a range of both customer-facing and back-office teams.
• Interest in fraud intelligence, cyber investigations, physical security, information security, and enterprise risk and cross-collaboration with these teams is a plus.

Physical Demands/Work Environment: Vision, hearing, speech, dexterity, visual concentration. A valid driver's license is required. Must have the ability to stand, walk, sit and use hands and fingers. Must have the ability to work the hours and days required to complete the essential functions of the position, as scheduled. The environment is a professional office with standard office equipment.

Cognitive Requirements: Learning, thinking, concentration, ability to exercise self-control, ability to work in a customer relations' environment. Must be able to pay close attention to detail and be able to work as a member of a team. Must have the ability to interact effectively with co-workers and customers, and exercise self-control and diplomacy in customer and employee relations' situations. Must have the ability to exercise discretion as well as appropriate judgments when necessary.

Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential functions.