HOW LEADERS IT DELIVERED CRITICAL ANTI MONEY LAUNDERING TALENT AT SPEED
MAJOR AUSTRALIAN BANK
Leaders IT delivered a cost-effective solution to source, assess and onboard a 30-person Anti Money Laundering (AML) Quality Control cohort from the Melbourne market, helping a major Australian bank scale capability for its financial crime transformation program.
30
ONBOARDED IN
JUST 2.5 WEEKS
Speed to hire: 2,100 professionals mapped to a fully onboarded cohort of 30, in just
2.5 weeks.
BACKGROUND
A major Australian bank is managing an Unusual Activity Reports (UARs) backlog, with volumes expected to increase. UARs are generated across the business, primarily by the Fraud Team and frontline staff who identify potentially suspicious activity, such as cash deposit structuring to avoid reporting thresholds.
To accelerate processing, the bank engaged an offshore partner to conduct investigations, with productivity ramping progressively to full capacity. All investigations, whether closed or escalated as Suspicious Matter Reports (SMRs), require onshore Quality Assurance (QA) review in Australia to meet regulatory obligations and fixed delivery timelines.
While offshore investigations are scheduled to conclude next year, the onshore QA function will continue beyond this period. The 30 QC Analyst roles are central to this capability and form part of a broader workforce build of approximately 70 positions across the program.
APPROACH
The bank needed to rapidly build a specialist AML Quality Control capability against a fixed regulatory deadline. Previous recruitment campaigns had highlighted a risk: candidates who interviewed strongly did not always demonstrate the technical capability required once onboarded.
The approach was therefore twofold: deliver a 30-person cohort within 2.5 weeks, and increase confidence in candidate capability before offers were made. The bank required a rigorous, evidence-based assessment process without compromising speed to hire.
OUTCOME
Leaders IT delivered the engagement through three integrated phases:
01: Targeted Market Mapping
• Mapped 2,100+ AML, compliance & financial crime professionals across Melbourne
• Approached 750+, conducted 350+ discussions
• Produced a longlist of 90 qualified candidates
02: Structured Assessment Centre
• Technical AML Quality Control assessment
• Group problem-solving & collaboration exercises
• Psychometric testing
03: Onboarding & Retention Support
• 30 consultants onboarded on schedule
• Reserve candidates maintained throughout
• All hires enrolled in the Launch Program, tailored to AML QC
Working with the bank, we designed and delivered a structured Assessment Centre to evaluate both technical capability and behavioural fit. This enabled hiring managers to assess practical skills, critical thinking and collaboration before making offers, reducing hiring risk and improving selection confidence.
The Leaders IT Launch Mentoring Program provided structured coaching and mentoring to support onboarding, engagement, performance and retention from day one, at no additional cost.
We delivered a fully onboarded cohort of 30 AML Quality Control Analysts within 2.5 weeks, enabling the bank to meet a critical regulatory milestone. Throughout each phase, we balanced speed, quality and risk mitigation in a highly regulated environment.
WHAT WE DELIVERED:
WHO WE ARE:
Leaders IT, is a practice-led IT and digital consultancy committed to delivering program, project and change management services to clients.
Our consultants specialise in agile and other project delivery and governance methods, using best practices to manage and deliver a program or project. With a strong commitment to driving improvement, we focus on design, and putting in place governance processes for large digital transformation and ICT programs; finding drivers and barriers for organisational change, design and delivery of change programs. This includes assessing business readiness, design and putting in place target operating models, where our team delivers exceptional results.
