Senior Transaction Monitoring Analyst

The posting, as Astra wrote it

ABOUT ASTRA

Astra is building mission-critical infrastructure for moving money at scale. Our platform processes billions in annual transaction volume with 99.9%+ uptime, powering real-time transfers, bank debits, card disbursements, and complex financial compliance systems. We provide APIs and automation tools that enable businesses to move money programmatically while maintaining strict regulatory requirements.

THE ROLE

Astra is an instant-payments platform powering developers and product teams across banking, BaaS, payroll, lending, crypto, and other financial services. We're hiring a Senior Transaction Monitoring Analyst to build, operate, and improve our transaction monitoring program.

You'll design and tune monitoring rules, analyze payment activity, investigate escalated alerts, and prepare suspicious activity referrals to our sponsor banks. This is a hands-on role for someone who pairs financial crimes expertise with technical skill: comfortable working directly in transaction data and able to independently disposition complex cases. You'll report to the Head of Compliance and work closely with Product, Engineering, and Operations.

WHAT YOU’LL DO

DESIGN AND IMPLEMENT TRANSACTION MONITORING RULES

• Design, build, test, and maintain monitoring rules across ACH, RTP, FedNow, debit networks, and other payment rails.
• Develop risk-based scenarios for typologies such as structuring, velocity anomalies, and rapid movement of funds, and close gaps in coverage.
• Translate financial crimes risks into monitoring logic and thresholds, configuring rules with Product and Engineering as needed.
• Backtest and tune rules to improve detection and reduce false positives.
• Document each rule's rationale, configuration, testing results, and change history.

MANAGE TRANSACTION MONITORING ALERTS AND INVESTIGATIONS

• Investigate potentially suspicious transactions and customer activity using transaction histories, customer data, and other sources.
• Document findings and dispositions with clear investigative narratives and recommendations.
• Prepare and submit suspicious activity referrals to sponsor banks, coordinating with the Head of Compliance.
• Respond to sponsor-bank requests for information and support follow-up reviews.
• Track alert volumes, backlogs, and case aging to keep operations timely.
• Feed investigation insights back into rules, scenarios, and workflows.

ANALYZE TRANSACTION DATA AND OPTIMIZE MONITORING

• Use SQL and other tools to query transaction data and evaluate monitoring performance.
• Analyze activity across customers, rails, and use cases to identify emerging risks and coverage gaps.
• Report on alert volumes, false-positive rates, rule performance, and investigation outcomes.
• Recommend changes to thresholds, scenarios, and segmentation as products and customers evolve.

PARTNER ACROSS THE BUSINESS

• Work with Product and Engineering on new monitoring capabilities, data availa

[…]
to evaluate rule effectiveness and reduce false positives.

• Working knowledge of API-driven payment architecture and rails including ACH/NACHA, RTP, FedNow, and Visa Direct.

Preferred Experience

• Experience at a payments fintech, BaaS company, or processor operating under a sponsor-bank model.
• Prior experience building or significantly improving a transaction monitoring program.
• Exposure to complex use cases such as embedded finance, payroll, lending, card disbursements, or real-time payments.
• Python or similar tools for transaction analysis, rule testing, or automation.
• Familiarity with model validation, rule governance, and sponsor-bank expectations.
• Startup experience spanning technical implementation and day-to-day compliance operations.

WHY THIS ROLE MATTERS

Astra's promise of fast, secure transfers depends on the trust we've built with banking partners, payment networks, and customers. Compliance isn't a secondary function here — it's part of our operating infrastructure.

As transaction volume and complexity grow, effective monitoring is essential to managing risk and supporting responsible growth. You'll own a critical function, building the controls that protect Astra and its customers, with direct, visible impact on our ability to scale.

WHAT WE OFFER

• Competitive compensation with equity in a growing fintech company.
• Remote-first culture with flexible working arrangements.
• Small team, big impact — your work directly supports Astra's ability to scale responsibly.
• Professional growth opportunities in compliance and risk management.
• Mission-driven — build infrastructure that powers financial innovation while meeting the highest regulatory standards.

REMOTE WORK AND CULTURE

Astra is a remote-first company hiring only within the U.S. We value thoughtful collaboration, clarity, and initiative. We’re proud to be an equal opportunity employer and are committed to building a diverse and inclusive team.