Controls Assurance Consultant

abrdn plc; City of Edinburgh; Hybrid; GBP 50,000 - 70,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading investment firm in the UK is seeking an experienced Internal Controls professional. This role involves overseeing and assuring internal controls, conducting high-quality testing, and reporting results to key stakeholders. Candidates should have a solid track record in controls testing, strong interpersonal skills, and the ability to work collaboratively. The firm offers an inclusive environment, competitive benefits, and a commitment to supporting diverse talent.

Benefits

40 days' annual leave

16% employer pension contribution

Discretionary performance-based bonus

Private healthcare

Flexible benefits, including gym discounts

Qualifications

• Experience of testing internal controls, focusing on design and operating effectiveness.
• Ability to deliver with quality and impact in a collaborative manner.
• Strong communication skills for effective interaction in meetings.
• Intellectual curiosity to enhance the internal control framework.
• Attention to detail and organizational skills for timely delivery.
• Ability to facilitate collaborative work within teams.

Responsibilities

• Deliver high-quality testing across the Aberdeen Adviser control environment.
• Test design and operating effectiveness of controls; manage reporting results.
• Work collaboratively to improve controls identified as ineffective.
• Provide training and best practice guidance to support management activities.
• Support the wider Risk Management team with process mapping and control identification.

Skills

Assurance Experience

Interpersonal skills

Communication skills

Impact and influence

Pragmatic and organised

Collaboration

Job description

Job Description

At Aberdeen, our ambition is to be the UK's leading Wealth & Investments group.

Strengthening talent and culture is one of our strategic priorities. We strive to make Aberdeen a great place to work so that we can attract and retain the industry's best talent.

Our people put our stakeholders at the heart of everything they do by helping us to make a positive difference to the lives of our clients, customers, colleagues, shareholders, and society.

We are focused on growing our direct and advised wealth platforms and repositioning our specialist asset management business to meet client demand. We are committed to providing excellent client service, supported by leading technology and talent.

Our businesses

• interactive investor, the UK's second largest direct‑to‑consumer investment platform, enables individuals in the UK to plan, save, and invest in the way that works for them.
• Our Adviser business provides financial planning solutions and technology for UK financial advisers, enabling them to create value for their customers.
• Our Investments business is a specialist asset manager that focuses on areas where we have both strength and scale to capitalise on the key themes shaping the market, through either public markets or alternative asset classes.

About the Role

We are seeking an experienced Internal Controls professional, with a track record of successfully overseeing and providing assurance over a suite of Aberdeen Adviser's internal controls and providing results to business stakeholders. The role will report to the Head of Conduct and Control.

This role will have a remit to establish and manage:

• Process mapping;
• Design evaluation of controls;
• Assessment of operating effectiveness of controls; and
• Reporting results to key stakeholders across the business.

This is an exciting opportunity to play a key role in supporting one of our key strategic priorities, ensuring that our control environment remains strong and resilient protecting the interests of our clients and customers.

Key Responsibilities

• Delivering high‑quality testing across the Aberdeen Adviser control environment.
• Perform testing of the design and operating effectiveness of controls; and managing reporting of results with key stakeholders into the business.
• Where controls are identified as ineffective or require improvement, work collaboratively with business leads to agree testing results.
• Working collegiately with the wider Risk & Control and Adviser Business, providing training and best practice guidance, supporting overall team activities, supporting deliverables, and assisting with other risk and control related activities as required.
• Provide support to the wider Risk Management team as required. This may include process mapping, identifying new controls or other BAU tasks.

About the candidate

• Assurance Experience - experience of testing internal controls, in particular design effectiveness and operating effectiveness, control quality, and high‑quality evidencing standards
• Interpersonal skills - deliver with quality and impact in a proactive and collaborative manner
• Communication skills - ability to communicate effectively with the team, and within stakeholder meetings
• Impact and influence - operates with intellectual curiosity to understand and surface insights that helps strengthen the design and operation of the internal control framework
• Pragmatic and organised - attention to detail - works with precision to deliver requirements. Organisational skills are key to ensure delivery at pace and of good quality.
• Collaboration - outcome focussed with ability to facilitate collaborative working within and across teams

We are proud to be a Disability Confident Committed employer. If you have a disability and would like to apply to one of our UK roles under the Disability Confident Scheme, please notify us by completing the relevant section in our candidate questionnaire. One of our team will reach out to support you through your application process.

Our benefits

There's more to working life than coming home with a good salary. We have an environment where you can learn, get involved and be supported.

When you join us, your reward will be one of the best around. This includes 40 days' annual leave, a 16% employer pension contribution, a discretionary performance‑based bonus (where applicable), private healthcare and a range of flexible benefits – including gym discounts, season ticket loans and access to an employee discount portal. You can read more about our benefits here.

Our business

Enabling our clients to be better investors drives everything we do. Our business is structured around three distinct areas – our vectors of growth – focused on our clients' changing needs. You can find out more about what we do here.

An inclusive way of working

Whatever way you like to work, if you have the talent and commitment to join our team, we'd like to hear from you.

At Aberdeen we've adopted a 'blended working' approach. This approach combines the benefits of face‑to‑face collaboration, coaching and connecting in our offices with the flexibility of working from home. It enables colleagues to find a balance that works for their roles, their teams, our clients and our business.

An inclusive culture, where diverse perspectives drive our actions, is at the core of who we are and what we do. If you need assistance with your application, or a reasonable adjustment to your interview arrangements – for example, because you are neurodivergent, or have a physical, sensory, cognitive, mental, visible or invisible disability – please let us know and we'll be happy to help.

We're committed to providing an inclusive workplace where all forms of difference are valued and which is free from any form of unfair or unlawful treatment. We define diversity in its broadest sense – this includes but is not limited to our diversity of educational and professional backgrounds, experience, cognitive and neurodiversity, age, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, religion or belief and ethnicity and geographical provenance. We support a culture that values meritocracy, fairness and transparency and welcomes enquiries from everyone.

If you need assistance or an adjustment due to a disability please let us know as part of your application and we will assist.