AML Analyst

About ZiinaZiina’s mission is to bring financial freedom to every person in the Middle East. We are building MENA’s consumer and SMB financial platform, starting with a peer-to-peer and merchant wallet. Our team have backgrounds from Apple, Uber, Stripe, Klarna, Revolut, Yandex, and Nubank. Ziina’s payments volumes have grown by 10x YoY for the last two years. The team have built a product that is beloved by the UAE with a 4.8 star rating in the app store and is the recipient of 8 international design awards, including the Red Dot Award and the UX Design Award.Our last round was a $22 million Series A from top-tier investors globally including Altos Ventures, Fintech Collective, Activant, Long Journey Ventures and Y Combinator. Our angel investors include early employees and executives at Revolut, Stripe, Venmo, Brex, <Checkout.com>, Notion, and Deel.The RoleWe’re looking for an AML Analyst to help protect Ziina’s platform from money laundering, terrorist financing, proliferation financing, and financial crime abuse as we continue to scale.This role is ideal for someone who combines strong investigative skills with a risk-based mindset, and who understands that AML is not just about case handling, but about continuously improving controls, reducing risk exposure, and enabling safe <growth.You>’ll work closely with Fraud, Risk, Product, and Compliance teams, handling AML cases end-to-end while contributing to process improvements and automation initiatives.What You’ll Own:Core AML & Transaction MonitoringAML Case Investigations: Review and investigate transaction monitoring alerts, unusual activity, and high-risk behaviors across consumer and merchant accountsRisk-Based Assessments: Assess customer activity against expected behavior, KYC/KYB profiles, and known typologiesSTR/SAR Preparation: Draft high-quality internal STR/SAR and other AML reports, escalate the cases to second line of defense when reporting is <required.Red> Flag Identification: Identify AML red flags, emerging typologies, and potential predicate offensesPolicy Adherence: Ensure investigations are conducted in line with internal policies, regulatory expectations, and local AML/CFT requirementsProcess Improvement & CollaborationContinuous Improvement: Identify gaps or inefficiencies in AML workflows and propose improvementsCross-Functional Work: Partner with Fraud, Product, Engineering, and Operations teams to reduce AML risk upstreamAutomation Support: Contribute to initiatives aimed at automating AML reviews and improving monitoring qualityTrend Analysis: Analyse historical cases to identify trends, patterns, and risk driversDocumentation Excellence: Maintain clear, structured case notes and investigation summaries suitable for audit and regulatory reviewMetrics & Reporting: Support AML reporting and dashboards to provide visibility on risk exposure and operational performanceAbout YouMust-Have Experience2+ years of experience in AML, financial crime investigations, and transaction monitoring within fintech, payments, or financial servicesStrong understanding of AML/CFT/CPF concepts, risk-based investigations, and transaction monitoringExperience reviewing alerts, investigating unusual activity, and documenting outcomes clearlyAbility to work independently and take ownership of cases in a fast-paced environmentStrong written communication skills in English, Arabic is a Plus.Ability to analyse large datasets and identify patterns, trends, and anomaliesWhat Would Amaze UsYou see AML as a preventive and strategic function, not just case handlingYou naturally think in risk trade-offs and customer impactYou proactively flag emerging risks before they become incidentsYou’re comfortable operating with ambiguity and building structure as you goYou take ownership and don’t wait to be told what needs fixingNice to HaveExperience with regulatory reporting tools such as goAMLExperience working with data to support investigations (SQL/Python)Experience in high-growth fintech or payments environmentsKnowledge of CBUAE AML/CFT/CPF regulations and regional typologiesProfessional certifications (CAMS, ICA, CFCS)Arabic language proficiency