Director of Financial Crimes - AML

Who We Are:

Alpaca is a US California headquartered brokerage infrastructure technology company and self-clearing broker-dealer, delivering execution and custody solutions for Stocks, ETFs, Options, Cryptocurrencies, and more, and has raised over $170 million in funding. Amongst our subsidiaries, Alpaca is a licensed financial services company in multiple countries, and we serve hundreds of financial institutions globally such as broker-dealers, investment advisors, hedge funds, and crypto exchanges.

Alpaca’s globally distributed team members bring in diverse experiences such as engineers, traders, and brokerage professionals to achieve our Mission of opening financial services to everyone on the planet. We are also deeply committed to open-source contributions and fostering a vibrant community. We will continue to enhance and improve our award-winning developer-friendly API and the infrastructure behind it.

Our Team Members:

We’re a team of 150+ globally distributed members who love working from our favorite places worldwide. Our team spans the USA, Canada, Japan, Hungary, Nigeria, Brazil, the United Kingdom, and more!

We’re looking for candidates eager to join Alpaca’s growing organization, who are excited about our Mission of “Open financial services to everyone on the planet and share our Values of “Stay Curious,” “Have Empathy,” and “Be Accountable.”

At this stage, you won’t inherit a team—you’ll build one. In the near term, your focus will be on developing and executing the core processes around transaction monitoring, alert clearing, investigations, and SAR filing. Over time, you’ll play a strategic role in hiring and scaling a high-performing Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) to support our growing platform.

We’re looking for a self-starter who understands both the regulatory expectations and operational realities of financial crimes risk in crypto—and is excited to be both the architect and the executor of this critical function.

• Own the end-to-end financial crimes operations, including transaction monitoring, alert clearing, case investigations, and SAR filings.

• Design and implement workflows and procedures for identifying, investigating, and escalating suspicious activity.

• Identify gaps and inefficiencies in existing tools and processes, and work cross-functionally to improve them.

• Collaborate with engineering, product, and legal teams to ensure compliance controls are built into new systems and features from the start.

• Act as the primary subject matter expert on financial crimes risks, providing guidance and insight across the business.

• Lay the groundwork for a scalable FIU, including developing playbooks, success metrics, and long-term resourcing plans.

• Stay ahead of regulatory developments in the crypto space and adjust internal practices accordingly.

• 4–6 years of relevant experience in financial crimes compliance, BSA/AML, or related areas, ideally with exposure to crypto, fintech, or high-growth startups.

• Demonstrated ability to work independently on complex, cross-functional projects with minimal supervision.

• Experience with resolving alerts, creating and refining processes, transaction monitoring systems, alert review, and SAR drafting.

• A strong understanding of U.S. AML and sanctions laws and regulatory expectations, with the ability to apply them in a fast-moving crypto context.

• A “builder” mindset—comfortable operating an evolving playbook, setting priorities, and adapting as you go.

• Clear, concise communication skills and a track record of translating risk into actionable business decisions.

• CAMS, CFE, or other relevant certification.

• Familiarity with blockchain analytics tools (e.g., Chainalysis, TRM Labs).

• Experience preparing for regulatory exams or responding to inquiries.

• Exposure to global compliance frameworks.