Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Integrity Officer

🎯 Role Definition

The Integrity Officer is responsible for designing, implementing and operating integrity and compliance programs across the business. This includes leading case investigations, conducting enhanced due diligence and third‑party risk assessments, maintaining sanctions and AML screening, developing policies and training, performing monitoring and testing of controls, and preparing regulatory reporting. The role partners with Legal, Finance, HR, Internal Audit, and business leaders to remediate issues, reduce legal and regulatory exposure, and embed ethical behaviors in day‑to‑day operations.

Key search terms: Integrity Officer, Compliance Officer, AML, KYC, Anti‑Corruption, Sanctions Screening, Investigations, Due Diligence, Policy Development, Regulatory Compliance, Ethics & Compliance.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Compliance Analyst / Junior Compliance Officer
Risk Analyst / Operational Risk Associate
Legal Assistant or Corporate Counsel (junior)

Advancement To:

Senior Integrity Officer / Lead Compliance Officer
Head of Compliance or Head of Integrity & Investigations
Director of Risk & Compliance → Chief Compliance Officer (CCO)

Lateral Moves:

Internal Audit Manager
Third‑Party Risk Manager
Ethics & Investigations Counsel

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Lead complex internal investigations into potential breaches of ethics, anti‑corruption, sanctions, AML and privacy policies by planning investigative scope, collecting and preserving evidence, interviewing witnesses, documenting findings and recommending disciplinary or remediation actions that align with legal and HR guidance.
Conduct risk‑based enhanced due diligence (EDD) and ongoing monitoring for high‑risk customers, vendors and third parties, including screening for adverse media, PEP status, sanctions hits, ownership structures and transactional red flags; prepare comprehensive risk assessment memoranda and recommended mitigations.
Design, implement and maintain a risk‑based AML, sanctions and anti‑corruption compliance program, including policies, procedures, controls, transaction monitoring rules, alert handling workflows and case management processes aligned to FATF, OFAC and local regulatory expectations.
Operate and tune transaction monitoring and sanctions screening systems (including rules testing, false‑positive reduction and escalation criteria) to ensure timely detection and disposition of suspicious activity and to meet regulatory timeliness requirements for SAR/STR reporting.
Draft, review and update integrity‑related policies, codes of conduct, standard operating procedures and playbooks to reflect regulatory changes, enforcement trends and lessons learned from investigations and audits.
Manage end‑to‑end case management for compliance incidents: intake, triage, investigation, escalation to senior leadership or regulators, remediation tracking, root cause analysis and reporting of outcomes.
Prepare clear, timely and defensible regulatory filings and notifications (e.g., Suspicious Activity Reports, sanction breach reports) in coordination with Legal and Regulatory Affairs, ensuring all submissions meet jurisdictional requirements.
Perform periodic risk assessments for business lines and product offerings to identify emerging integrity and financial crime risks; translate findings into prioritized remediation plans and tracker ownership.
Lead remediation and corrective action programs, coordinating cross‑functional workstreams (Legal, HR, Finance, IT) to remediate control gaps, implement system changes and verify remediation effectiveness through testing.
Design and deliver targeted integrity and compliance training for employees, leadership and third parties (procurement, sales, agents), including scenario‑based modules and assessment of training effectiveness using metrics and KPIs.
Serve as a trusted advisor to business partners and senior management, providing pragmatic recommendations on deal structuring, client onboarding, third‑party relationships and potential integrity exposures in commercial transactions.
Oversee the vetting and monitoring of politically exposed persons (PEPs), high‑risk clients and complex ownership structures, using open source, commercial databases and bespoke research to inform risk decisions.
Maintain and optimize case management tools and compliance technology, working with IT and vendors to integrate data feeds, automate workflows and enhance reporting capabilities for faster, auditable resolutions.
Coordinate and support internal and external audits and regulatory examinations by preparing documentation, providing evidence of control operation and remediating audit findings within agreed timelines.
Monitor changes to local and international regulatory requirements (AML, sanctions, anti‑bribery, data protection) and assess the impact on policies, controls and reporting; implement change plans to maintain compliance.
Lead root cause analyses for repeat control failures or systemic issues, proposing control redesigns and measurable performance indicators to prevent recurrence.
Conduct transactional and account reviews for red flags, escalating matters to investigators or filing authorities as required; maintain robust evidence chains and case files.
Manage confidential whistleblower and compliance hotline reports end‑to‑end, ensuring appropriate triage, protection of confidentiality, fair investigation and timely remediation.
Develop and maintain dashboards and management reporting metrics (e.g., case volumes, time‑to‑close, SAR filings, sanction hits, remediation status) for executive oversight and board reporting.
Provide input and perform integrity due diligence on mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures and distribution agreements, coordinating pre‑deal screening and post‑close integration of compliance controls.
Build and maintain relationships with external stakeholders, including law enforcement, regulators, vendors, industry groups and external counsel, to stay abreast of threat trends and best practices.
Mentor and coach junior compliance and investigation team members, providing feedback, training and career development support to build investigative rigor and institutional knowledge.

Secondary Functions

Support ad‑hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis to identify patterns of suspicious behavior and support investigations; collaborate with analytics teams to develop queries and review output.
Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap by articulating integrity use cases, data needs (customer, transaction, third‑party) and quality expectations for monitoring and investigations.
Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements and prioritize delivery of reports, alerts and data integrations that improve detection and reporting.
Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within compliance, data and engineering teams to ensure delivery of integrity‑related projects and tooling enhancements.
Assist in vendor selection and oversight for compliance technology (sanctions screening, AML transaction monitoring, KYC/CDD platforms), drafting requirements, evaluating proposals and managing vendor performance and SLAs.
Support cross‑functional training initiatives by providing scenario content, case studies and investigative insights to enrich learning materials.
Contribute to policy review cycles, ensuring that feedback from operations, legal and audit is incorporated and that policies remain practical and enforceable.
Participate in industry working groups and benchmarking activities to align the organization’s integrity practices with sector norms and regulatory expectations.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Anti‑Money Laundering (AML) program design and operations, including SAR/STR filing experience and knowledge of FATF recommendations.
Sanctions screening and sanctions compliance (OFAC, EU, UN, local lists); experience managing false positives and sanction breaches.
Investigations: evidence collection, witness interviews, case file management, report writing and remediation tracking.
Know Your Customer (KYC) and Enhanced Due Diligence (EDD) for customers, suppliers and intermediaries; ability to analyze complex ownership and control structures.
Policy writing and control framework development for anti‑corruption, conflicts of interest, gifts & hospitality, and third‑party risk.
Regulatory knowledge: familiarity with applicable laws and guidance (e.g., AML/CTF, Anti‑Bribery/Corruption, GDPR/Data Privacy, sector‑specific regulations).
Compliance technology and tools: experience with case management platforms, transaction monitoring systems, sanctions screening engines and BI/reporting tools (e.g., Actimize, NICE, Dow Jones, LexisNexis, World‑Check, or similar).
Data literacy: ability to work with transaction data, basic SQL, Excel (including pivot tables, advanced formulas), and ability to interpret analytics outputs to surface suspicious patterns.
Reporting and documentation: drafting clear, audit‑ready investigative reports, regulatory filings and board‑level summaries.
Project management: ability to lead remediation projects, vendor implementations and cross‑functional initiatives with timelines and measurable outcomes.

Soft Skills

Strong ethical judgment and ability to handle highly confidential, sensitive information with discretion and integrity.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills for clear, persuasive reporting to executives, regulators and legal teams.
Analytical mindset with attention to detail and capability to synthesize complex information into actionable findings.
Stakeholder management and influencing skills to drive remediation, change and adoption across business partners.
Resilience and ability to manage competing priorities and multiple investigations under deadline pressure.
Critical thinking and problem solving to identify root causes and design pragmatic control solutions.
Coaching and mentoring skills to develop junior team members and build investigation capabilities.
Cultural sensitivity and ability to operate across jurisdictions and with diverse, global stakeholder groups.
Negotiation and conflict resolution skills when coordinating with HR, Legal and business leaders on disciplinary or remediation matters.
Continuous learning orientation to stay current with enforcement trends, technology advances and regulatory changes.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor’s degree in Law, Finance, Criminal Justice, Business Administration, Economics, Information Systems or related field.

Preferred Education:

Master’s degree, Juris Doctor (JD) or professional certification such as CAMS (Certified Anti‑Money Laundering Specialist), CCEP (Certified Compliance & Ethics Professional), ICA or equivalent.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Law / Regulatory Compliance
Finance / Accounting
Criminal Justice / Forensic Accounting
Business Administration / Risk Management
Data Analytics / Information Systems

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 3–7+ years in compliance, investigations, AML, financial crime, corporate investigations, internal audit, or legal roles.

Preferred:

5+ years of progressive experience managing integrity programs, investigations and regulatory interactions in a regulated industry (financial services, fintech, telecommunications, healthcare, manufacturing or professional services).
Demonstrated experience interacting with regulators and preparing regulatory filings, responding to examinations, and driving remediation to regulator expectations.
Direct experience with modern compliance technology stacks, case management and transaction monitoring platforms, and the ability to translate business requirements into technical specifications.