Controls Manager - Risk Advisory Services

ACCA Careers; Greater Manchester; On-site; GBP 65,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

BDO is seeking an experienced Controls Advisory Manager within Risk Advisory Services to lead control and risk engagements, manage client relationships, and develop junior staff. You will help clients design and implement robust internal controls frameworks across various sectors, ensuring timely, budget-compliant delivery while expanding our advisory offerings.

You’ll collaborate with Directors and Partners, maintain strong client credence, and apply pragmatic, commercially minded risk concepts

Qualifications

• Proven experience delivering controls advisory or risk engagements in a professional services environment.
• Strong understanding of internal controls frameworks, including design, operating effectiveness, deficiencies and remediation planning.
• Experience leading engagements at Manager level with senior stakeholder interaction.
• Familiarity with GRC tools and AI testing capabilities is desirable.
• Excellent communication and collaborative leadership style.

Responsibilities

• Lead the delivery of controls and risk advisory engagements.
• Manage client relationships and support development of junior team members.
• Work across clients and sectors to address control weaknesses and emerging risks.
• Ensure engagements are delivered to a high standard, on time and within budget.
• Support development of the Controls Advisory offering and contribute to marketing activity.

Skills

Controls advisory

Internal controls

Risk management

GRC tools

Stakeholder management

Leadership

Education

Professional qualification (ACA/ACCA/CCAB)

Job description

Ideas | People | Trust We’re BDO. An accountancy and business advisory firm, providing the advice and solutions businesses need to navigate today’s changing world.

Ideas | People | Trust We’re BDO. An accountancy and business advisory firm, providing the advice and solutions businesses need to navigate today’s changing world.

Our clients are Britain’s economic engine – ambitious, entrepreneurially‑spirited and high‑growth businesses that fuel the economy - and the owners and management teams that lead them.

We’ll broaden your horizons

Our Advisory team provide a wide variety of services that deliver value‑led advice and outcomes. They have an in‑depth knowledge of business, industry sectors and markets and understand the constantly changing risks and opportunities at the heart of affairs. The team work across strategy, operations and improvement as well as at a transactional and defined project level. From technology to risk advisory, they’re experts in following through on top‑level instructions and resolving the finer details – all in one straight‑forward package. When you join them, you’ll work on some of the world’s most exciting financial operations and business deals, building your experience and expertise alongside the brightest minds in the industry.

We’ll help you succeed

Our clients trust us because of the quality of our advice. That quality grows from a thorough understanding of their business, and that understanding comes from working closely with clients and building long‑lasting relationships.

You’ll be someone who can work pro‑actively, managing your own tasks, but you’ll also be confident collaborating with others, communicating regularly with senior managers, Directors, and BDO’s Partners to enable us to serve our clients effectively. You’ll be encouraged to identify and draw attention to opportunities for enhancing our delivery and providing additional services to our clients.

Overview

As a Controls Advisory Manager in our Risk Advisory Services (RAS) team, you will be responsible for leading the delivery of controls and risk advisory engagements, managing client relationships and supporting the development of junior team members. You’ll work across a range of clients and sectors, helping organisations design, implement and enhance their internal control environments, and providing pragmatic advice to address control weaknesses and emerging risks.

You will take day‑to‑day responsibility for engagements, ensuring work is delivered to a high standard, on time and within budget, while building trusted relationships with clients. You will also support Directors and Partners with work, contribute to the development of the Controls Advisory offering, and support marketing and business development activity across RAS.

You’ll Be Someone With

• Proven experience delivering controls advisory, internal controls or risk management engagements, ideally within a professional services environment.
• Strong understanding of internal controls frameworks, including controls design, operating effectiveness, identification of deficiencies and remediation planning (e.g. US SOX, UK Corporate Governance Code or similar frameworks).
• A relevant professional qualification (e.g. ACA, ACCA, MIIA, CCAB or equivalent).
• Experience leading engagements at Manager level, including planning, delivery, review and senior stakeholder interaction; experience with GRC tools and/or AI testing capabilities would be desirable.
• A pragmatic, commercial approach to applying risk and controls concepts across different client environments and sectors.
• Strong communication skills, with the ability to engage credibly with client stakeholders and explain complex issues clearly.
• Experience managing and developing others, with a collaborative and supportive leadership style, and the ability to balance multiple priorities effectively.

At BDO, we’ll help you achieve your personal goals and career ambitions, and we have programmes, resources, and frameworks that provide clarity and structure around career development.

We’re in it together

Mutual support and respect is one of BDO’s core values and we’re proud of our distinctive, people‑centred culture. From informal success conversations to formal mentoring and coaching, we’ll support you at every stage in your career, whatever your personal and professional needs.

We can provide the best support for our clients and people when we’re working side by side. Our agile working framework helps us stay connected, bringing teams together where and when it counts so they can share ideas and help one another. At BDO, you’ll always have access to the people and resources you need to do your best work.

We know that collaboration is the key to creating value for our clients and satisfying experiences at work, so we’ve invested instate-of-the-art collaboration spaces in our offices. BDO’s people represent a wealth of knowledge and expertise, and we’ll encourage you to build your network, work alongside others, and share your skills and experiences. With arrange of multidisciplinary events and dedicated resources, you’ll never stop learning at BDO.

We’re looking forward to the future

At BDO, we help entrepreneurial businesses to succeed, fuelling the UK economy.

Our success is powered by our people, which is why we’re always finding new ways to invest in them. Across the UK thousands of unique minds coming together to help our clients reach their ambitions.

We’ve got a clear purpose, and we’re confident in our future, because we’re adapting and evolving to build on our strengths, ensuring we continue to find the right combination of global reach, integrity and expertise. We shape the future together with openness and clarity, because we believe in empowering people to think creatively about how we can do things better.