Senior GES Payments Specialist

What is the Opportunity?

Reporting to the Platform AML Officer and Senior Director Global  Economic Sanctions, the Global Economic Sanctions (GES) Payments team is a unique function in Global AML Compliance group.  It is comprised of a group of employees who are responsible for the review, investigation and decisioning of real time wire payments and cross border Automated Clearing House transactions that are initiated/received by RBC clients globally. Payments that contain references to a sanctioned country, or potentially match against a regulatory control list or other internal list used in the screening process, are escalated to the GES team by the Payments Processing Operations Centre (PPOC) for investigation to review the sanctions concerns identified in the payment transaction, to assess the risk, and determine if the payment can be released, cancelled or blocked. More specifically, payments that are sent/received to/from RBC are screened against government sanctions lists (U.S. EU, UK and Canada) that identify individuals/entities/countries in respect of which/whom RBC is prohibited from conducting all certain types of transactions. It is the responsibility of the GES Payments Team to review the flagged payments, investigate and decision the payment.

Global Economic Sanctions (GES) Payments Specialists are responsible to review and decision payments (incoming and outgoing) to support global business units and local compliance teams. Real time payments are reviewed to assess and address the sanctions risk, investigated to ensure the transaction is permissible under the regulations, and decisioned in accordance with the applicable sanctions regulations i.e. US, UK, EU and Canada. This position is under significant stress that is distinct from other areas within AML Compliance, and more broadly, Global Compliance, given funds are held, and not sent or paid, pending the outcome of the investigation.  If the GES Payments Specialists does not make the appropriate decision, RBC will be subject to a high degree of regulatory/legal, reputational, and financial risk. USD payments, regardless of dollar value, may be blocked by a US correspondent whose role is to clear the transaction subsequent to origination by RBC. It is therefore critical for an investigation to be thorough and accurate, as the results could have a severe negative impact to RBC.

What will you do?

• In depth knowledge of Canadian, US, U.K, and EU sanctions regulations

• Responsible to review real time payment escalations and obtain additional information from key stakeholders for the purpose of mitigating financial, regulatory, reputational and legal risk to RBC

• Responsible for ensuring that no prohibited wire payments or transactions with respect to sanctions are processed

• Ensure all details related to the investigation must be captured and recorded in accordance with established GES procedures

• Responsible to prepare UTR’s for submission to the AML FIU in consultation with the manager / Senior manager GES Payments

• Provide advice, guidance and, within policy, direction to internal clients and other team members on economic sanctions

• Stays abreast of changes to sanctions regulations and provides updates to other team members; and

• Ensure development and maintenance of positive and professional working relationships within the GES Payments team

• Contribute through suggestions and recommendations to update and maintain policy, procedures and guidance documents for the payments team

• As required, liaise with relevant stakeholders within the global business units, local compliance teams and other AML partners to provide advice, guidance and, direction on economic sanctions

• Ensure the Manager / Senior Manager, GES Payments is advised of material sanctions issues and potential client escalations

What do you need to succeed?

• Bachelor’s degree

• 2-5 years Financial Industry or Payments processing experience, ideally including sanctions experience

• Prior experience as a payment’s analyst at a Canadian Financial Institution.

• Ability to work in a high paced, high-pressured environment

• Good written and oral communication skills

• Prior knowledge of sanctions regulations

• Ability to review and understand complex transactions

• Exposure to reviewing sanctions regulations.

• Strong organizational skills

• Concise and accurate documentation of cases

• 1+ years’ experience in Sanctions Payment Screening operations

• Knowledge of SWIFT and ACH Transactions

• Knowledge of US, EU, UK and Canadian sanctions regulations

• Knowledge of the global RBC organizational structure

• ACAMS certification preferred

What’s in it for you?

We thrive on the challenge to be our best, progressive thinking to keep growing, and working together to deliver trusted advice to help our clients thrive and communities prosper. We care about each other, reaching our potential, making a difference to our communities, and achieving success that is mutual.

• A comprehensive Total Rewards Program include competitive compensation and flexible benefits

• Leaders who support your development through coaching and managing opportunities.

• Ability to make a difference and lasting impact.

• Work in a dynamic, collaborative, progressive, and high-performing team.

• Opportunities to do challenging work.

• Opportunities to build close relationships with clients.

You have the potential to earn more through RBC’s discretionary variable compensation program which gives you an opportunity to increase your total compensation, provided the business meets its performance targets and you meet your individual goals.

RBC’s compensation philosophy and principles recognize the importance of a highly qualified global workforce and plays a critical role in attracting, engaging and retaining talent that:

• Drives RBC’s high-performance culture

• Enables collective achievement of our strategic goals

• Generates sustainable shareholder returns and above market shareholder value

#LI – POST

Job Skills

Anti-Money Laundering (AML), Communication, Data Gathering Analysis (Inactive), Detail-Oriented, Financial Regulation, Fraud Risk Management, Group Problem Solving, Internal Controls, Operational Integrity, Process Management

Additional Job Details

WATERPARK PLACE, 20 BAY ST:TORONTOTorontoCanada37.5Full timeGROUP RISK MANAGEMENTRegularSalaried2025-12-042025-12-08

Note: Applications will be accepted until 11:59 PM on the day prior to the application deadline date above

Inclusion and Equal Opportunity Employment

At RBC, we believe an inclusive workplace that has diverse perspectives is core to our continued growth as one of the largest and most successful banks in the world. Maintaining a workplace where our employees feel supported to perform at their best, effectively collaborate, drive innovation, and grow professionally helps to bring our Purpose to life and create value for our clients and communities. RBC strives to deliver this through policies and programs intended to foster a workplace based on respect, belonging and opportunity for all.