Risk Analytics / Modeling Sr. Specialist

At Schwab, you’re empowered to make an impact on your career. Here, innovative thought meets creative problem solving, helping us “challenge the status quo” and transform the finance industry together.

The Bank Operations Fraud Modeling (BOFM) team owns an integrated risk management strategy that supports the delivery of predictable financial and operational performance to produce successful client and shareholder outcomes. Our charter is to protect our client’s and the firm’s assets by preventing and mitigating fraud losses by utilizing various tools and vendor solutions such as Enterprise Risk Engine (Actimize), ThreatMetrix, OASIS, Visa Fraud Modeling, and other vendor Models. BOFM is responsible for creating strategies to interdict fraud perpetrated by criminals in our MoveMoney products and accounts – Wires, ACH, New Accounts, Visa transactions, Bank Bill Pay, Journals and other Schwab products used to move money to and from Schwab.  The team is responsible for reviewing historical transactions of known fraud; reviewing existing in-house and vendor models used to score fraud; and to keep abreast of new, emerging threats.  The team also works closely with our model product owners, Schwab Model Review Oversight organization, Internal Audit teams, and our business stakeholders in Banking and Brokerage operations to provide updates and metrics on ongoing fraud effectiveness in all the previously mentioned Move Money products.

The Sr Specialist is an individual contributor responsible for safeguarding client assets through the development and optimization of fraud detection strategies within our real-time risk engines. This role focuses on identifying, analyzing, testing, and implementing fraud mitigation strategies designed to address emerging threats and evolving fraud trends across all portfolios. The individual will also be responsible for monitoring and tuning existing strategies to maintain an appropriate balance between fraud prevention effectiveness and client experience. Staying current on industry fraud trends, best practices, and emerging risks is essential to success in this role.

The ideal candidate is a highly analytical professional with experience leveraging SQL, business intelligence tools, and large-scale data environments to evaluate transaction activity and identify patterns indicative of fraudulent behavior. These insights will be used to design and implement real-time interdiction strategies within our rules-based decision engine, enhance fraud detection capabilities, and improve the overall client experience. The role also includes developing reporting and performance analyses to communicate strategy effectiveness and key trends to stakeholders. Additionally, the candidate should possess a foundational understanding of Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements, fraud loss typologies, and end-to-end wire transaction processing flows.

• A passion in protecting Charles Schwab clients and company assets
• 2+ years of SQL programming experience in one or more applications (e.g. SQL Server, Oracle, Teradata, Big Query, Postgres, etc.)
• 2+ years data integration with Python/SAS
• Ability to assess risk and impact of current strategies on fraud mitigation, in conjunction with client experience
• Good understanding of basic Exploratory Data Analysis (EDA)
• Strong data visualization and data wrangling skills
• Ability to work as part of a team, but can also work independently
• Strong verbal and written communication skills
• Effective skills in the management of personal workloads with an emphasis on producing quality work with minimal errors in a demanding environment.

• 2+ years identifying, analyzing, testing, and implementing new fraud strategies to address emerging trends within the debit card portfolio(s) or other real time interdiction risk platforms
• 2+ years authoring rules in one or more of transaction risk engines (e.g. Actimize, TMX, Falcon, etc.)
• 2+ years of analytical experience in the areas of financial crimes, fraud, and financial transactions
• 2+ years financial services/banking operations experience
• Experience in various tools  such as SAS, Tableau, Python, R, and any other analytics software is a plus
• Working knowledge with fraud issues preferred
• Basic understanding of KYC practices, fraud loss types, and wire transaction flow
• S./B.A. and/or MS/MBA in Finance, Economics, Computer Science, InfoTech or related field
• 3+ years of direct experience will be considered in lieu of a college degree

In addition to the salary range, this role is also eligible for bonus or incentive opportunities