Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Branch Compliance Specialist

🎯 Role Definition

The Branch Compliance Specialist is a dedicated compliance professional responsible for ensuring branch-level adherence to federal and state banking regulations, institutional policies, and regulatory examiner expectations. This role conducts transactional testing and branch walkthroughs, leads remediation and corrective action plans, supports BSA/AML/CIP program execution, trains branch personnel, and partners with risk, operations, legal, and audit teams to reduce regulatory risk and maintain an effective compliance control environment.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Branch Manager or Assistant Branch Manager with demonstrated compliance responsibilities
Compliance Analyst or Junior Compliance Officer
BSA/AML Analyst or Customer Due Diligence (CDD) Specialist

Advancement To:

Regional Compliance Officer or Compliance Manager
Senior BSA/AML Officer or Head of Retail Compliance
Risk Manager or Director of Regulatory Compliance

Lateral Moves:

Retail Operations Manager
Internal Audit Specialist (Retail or Compliance-focused)
AML/Financial Crimes Investigator

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Conduct comprehensive branch-level compliance testing and monitoring programs, including transactional sampling, file reviews, and branch walkthroughs, to ensure compliance with consumer protection laws (TILA, RESPA, ECOA, FCRA), deposit regulations, and internal policies.
Lead periodic BSA/AML testing at branches, including CIP/KYC file reviews, review of SAR and CTR filing processes, OFAC screening verification, and identification of unusual or suspicious activity for escalation.
Prepare and manage corrective action plans (CAPs) for branch-level findings, coordinate remediation activities with branch leadership, track open items through closure, and validate remediation effectiveness.
Support regulatory examination preparedness by compiling working papers, responding to exam requests, coordinating interviews, and acting as the branch liaison during on-site and remote regulator engagements.
Review branch advertising, consumer disclosures, and product materials to verify accuracy, completeness, and regulatory compliance with advertising rules, truth-in-savings, and fee disclosure requirements.
Perform root cause analyses for recurring compliance issues at the branch level and recommend policy, procedure, or training changes to mitigate future risk and strengthen internal controls.
Develop and deliver targeted compliance training to branch staff on topics including BSA/AML, CIP, OFAC, suspicious activity reporting, fair lending, HMDA, and vendor-related compliance risks.
Monitor branch onboarding and account opening processes to ensure adherence to CIP rules, proper documentation of customer identification, risk-based KYC processes, and appropriate account maintenance controls.
Conduct fair lending and HMDA-related spot checks within the branch network, analyze lending decisioning for disparate impacts, and escalate potential fair lending concerns for further review.
Maintain a high level of knowledge on federal and state regulations, regulatory guidance, and exam findings (OCC, FDIC, CFPB, FinCEN), and translate changes into branch-level policy and procedure updates.
Lead or support investigations into customer complaints, UDAAP concerns, or regulatory allegations originating from branches, documenting findings and collaborating with legal and senior compliance to resolve matters.
Collaborate with operations, lending, and product teams to perform compliance risk assessments on new products, services, or delivery channels impacting branches, and recommend risk mitigants.
Execute periodic testing of branch teller operations, cash handling, and transaction reconciliation controls to identify control gaps and process weaknesses that could lead to fraud or compliance breaches.
Maintain detailed, audit-ready compliance documentation, test plans, and findings reports; prepare executive summaries and trend analyses for senior management and the board.
Oversee vendor and third-party service compliance at the branch level, including review of service provider controls, contract compliance obligations, and evidence of ongoing oversight.
Coordinate cross-functional remediation efforts with IT, fraud, lending operations, and HR to address multifaceted compliance matters identified during branch reviews or audits.
Monitor and report on key compliance metrics and KPIs for the branch network, including testing coverage, exception rates, training completion, and status of corrective actions.
Support implementation of compliance monitoring tools and systems (GRC platforms, case management, transaction monitoring) at the branch level and assist with system tuning and user adoption.
Evaluate and recommend process improvements to streamline compliance workflows for branches, leveraging data analytics to identify high-risk populations or repeat failure points.
Serve as a subject matter expert to branch leadership on compliance escalation protocols, mandatory reporting timelines (SAR/CTR/OFAC), and documentation standards.
Facilitate branch-focused regulatory change management by creating roll-out plans, training materials, and communications to ensure consistent implementation across the branch network.
Participate in cross-departmental working groups on enterprise compliance initiatives, including policy revisions, audit remediation programs, and regulatory reporting enhancements.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis.
Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap.
Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements.
Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering team.
Assist in maintaining and updating compliance dashboards, data visualizations and periodic reports used by regional managers and executives.
Support projects to automate test sampling, exception tracking, and CAP closure through collaboration with IT and GRC vendors.
Provide backup support for branch operations during peak periods or staff shortages, ensuring controls remain in place.
Participate in annual compliance risk assessments and assist in mapping branch processes to control frameworks.
Mentor junior compliance staff and coordinate internship or rotational programs that expose employees to branch compliance testing.
Represent the compliance function in branch-level business reviews and quality assurance meetings.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

In-depth knowledge of BSA/AML requirements, SAR and CTR filing processes, CIP/KYC, and OFAC sanctions screening.
Strong understanding of consumer protection laws and regulations (TILA, RESPA, ECOA, FCRA, FDCPA, HMDA, UDAAP).
Experience performing regulatory compliance testing, sampling methodologies, and quality assurance testing for branch operations.
Familiarity with regulatory agencies and exam processes (FDIC, OCC, CFPB, FinCEN) and ability to prepare examiner-ready documentation.
Proficiency with compliance/GRC platforms, case management systems, and transaction monitoring tools.
Advanced Excel skills (pivot tables, VLOOKUP/XLOOKUP, data cleaning) and experience with data querying (SQL) or analytics tools (Power BI / Tableau preferred).
Ability to create formal audit-style testing workpapers, findings narratives, and CAP tracking reports suitable for executive review.
Experience with fair lending testing methodology, HMDA data validation, and redlining/risk assessment principles.
Understanding of deposit and lending product mechanics, account documentation, escrow, fee structures, and disclosure timing requirements.
Prior experience with vendor oversight, third-party risk assessment, and contract compliance monitoring.
Experience preparing and delivering role-based compliance training and developing user-facing guidance materials.

Soft Skills

Exceptional attention to detail and strong investigative instincts for identifying root causes and patterns.
Clear, concise written communication skills for drafting reports, regulatory responses, and training materials.
Strong interpersonal and stakeholder management skills to influence branch managers and cross-functional partners.
Analytical and problem-solving mindset with the ability to interpret data and translate it into actionable insights.
Time management and project prioritization skills to manage concurrent regulatory initiatives and testing schedules.
Professional judgment and ethical decision-making when handling confidential investigations or escalations.
Resilience and adaptability to respond to changing regulatory priorities and urgent remediation needs.
Coaching and mentoring ability to raise the compliance capability of branch staff.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's degree in Finance, Business Administration, Accounting, Criminal Justice, or a related field; or equivalent work experience in banking/compliance.

Preferred Education:

Master's degree in Business, Compliance, or related discipline, or advanced certification (CRC, CAMS, CCB, CAMS-Audit).
Juris Doctor (JD) or paralegal background for roles with heavy regulatory interpretation responsibilities.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Finance, Accounting, Business Administration
Criminal Justice, Legal Studies, Compliance or Risk Management
Information Systems or Data Analytics (for compliance testing automation)

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

3 to 7 years of progressively responsible experience in retail banking compliance, branch operations, BSA/AML, or internal audit.

Preferred:

5+ years of direct branch compliance/testing or BSA/AML experience, including demonstrated experience supporting regulatory exams, leading remediation efforts, and developing branch training programs.
Prior experience with consumer lending compliance reviews, fair lending assessments, HMDA reporting, or regulatory audit functions is highly desirable.
Proven track record using compliance technology platforms, Excel and data querying for testing and analytics.