Financial Crime and Investigation Fraud Investigator

Job Introduction

Role Responsibility:

As Financial Crime and Investigations Fraud Investigator - Cash you will support the Loss Prevention Strategy, Purpose and Vision by leading the accurate, timely and controlled reconciliation of retail cash across stores to identify and investigate cash loss and the causes of this loss.  Alongside this you will embed a culture of Financial Crime awareness throughout the business through training and internal communication, recognising that it is everyone’s responsibility to prevent Financial Crime occurring.

Key Purposes:

The Financial Crime and Investigation Fraud Investigator - Cash is responsible for ensuring all retail cash tender transactions are accurately reconciled and discrepancies investigated and resolved in line with company policy, financial controls and audit requirements. 

The role protects cash integrity, reduces operational risk, supports store teams, and provides clear insight into exceptions, trends and process improvements.

Key Responsibilities:

• Lead the daily reconciliation of store cash takings.
• Ensure cash banking, till declarations, point-of-sale data, payment processor settlements and bank receipts are matched accurately and on time.
• Investigate discrepancies, shortages and overages, ensuring clear ownership and timely resolution.
• Lead HR investigations where discrepancies are linked to staff wrongdoing.
• Maintain robust reconciliation controls and exception reporting.
• Provide clear reporting on reconciliation performance, cash loss, trend analysis and control risks.
• Partner with store teams to improve cash handling discipline, till procedures, banking accuracy and compliance with operating standards.
• Escalate material variances, suspected fraud indicators, repeated process failures or control weaknesses to the appropriate stakeholders.
• Own and continuously improve reconciliation processes, standard operating procedures, system use and management information.

The ideal candidate

• Strong understanding of retail finance operations, cash office processes, sales audit, bank reconciliation and payment settlement cycles.
• Experience managing reconciliations in a high-volume retail environment.
• Excellent analytical skills, with the ability to identify root causes, challenge anomalies and translate data into practical action.
• Advanced Excel skills and confidence working with reconciliation systems, point-of-sale data, payment portals, banking platforms and finance systems.
• Strong control mindset, with awareness of fraud risk, loss prevention, audit requirements and financial governance.
• Experience in internal HR investigations and previous involvement in staff disciplinary procedures.
• Clear communicator who can work effectively with store colleagues, finance teams, technology partners and senior stakeholders.
• Highly organised, deadline-driven and able to manage competing priorities during daily close, month-end and peak trading periods.
• Relevant finance qualification, accounting experience or equivalent financial operations or investigation background is desirable.
• Tenacious, able to ensure that all avenues and lines of investigation are fully exhausted, especially in the face of challenge. 
• Proactive, able to work on their own as well as with others in a team.
• Methodical, and able to prioritises and plan tasks. Ability to activity work through a changing workload to always meet deadlines.

Open to some regional travel, specifically to our stores in Birmingham and Manchester.

This role guide represents a summary of the main areas of activity for the role, however all team members at Selfridges are expected to be flexible in the work they undertake, which may change from time to time, according to the needs of the business.

Selfridges