Head of Professional Practices

St. James’s Place; Cirencester; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 90,000; Full time

Job summary

A leading financial services provider in Cirencester is looking for a Head of Professional Practices to oversee the Internal Audit function. This 6-month fixed-term contract role involves ensuring audit quality and driving improvements across risk management and governance processes. Candidates should be qualified Accountants or Audit professionals with significant experience in Financial Services. The position comes with a competitive salary, excellent benefits such as generous parental leave and private medical insurance, and promotes a hybrid working model.

Benefits

Discretionary annual bonus

28 days annual leave plus bank holidays

Private medical insurance

10% non-contributory pension

Qualifications

• Significant audit experience within the Financial Services industry.
• Ability to articulate audit findings to stakeholders.
• Experience leading and managing teams.

Responsibilities

• Own the reporting of the Internal Audit activities to key stakeholders.
• Lead, manage and develop Internal Audit’s Professional Practices.
• Support the development of the annual Audit Plan.

Skills

Experienced in Internal Audit

Strong communication skills

Problem-solving skills

Stakeholder relationship management

Education

Qualified Accountant (ACCA, ACA or CIMA) or Audit professional (CIA)

Job description

Head of Professional Practices (6-month FTC)

Cirencester, United Kingdom

Posted on: 27/01/2026 – Application Deadline: 17/02/2026

Are you ready tochart your own career path? With our refreshed strategy, we’re building on our rich heritage and transforming our business to be more scalable and efficient, unlocking the capabilities needed for future success.This includes significantly investing in technology, streamlining the way we work and creating an environment where colleagues feel engaged, empowered and accountable; where they can show up, speak up and perform - because we believe in the difference our work makes.

About the Role

We’re seeking a qualified Accountant or Audit professional with significant experience, including from within the Financial Services industry. A 6-month fixed-term contract opportunity (commencing April), based out of our Cirencester Head Office (with hybrid working).

As Head of Professional Practices, you’ll ensure the quality of the Internal Audit function is maintained to provide an effective third line oversight function to support the St. James\'s Place plc ("the Group") Audit Committees; advising on, evaluating and reporting on the Group\'s Internal control arrangements in accordance with regulatory requirements and Industry best practice.

What You’ll Be Doing

Internal Audit helps the Board and Executive Management to protect the assets, reputation and sustainability of the SJP Group. Your role will be to help drive continuous improvement in these areas by assessing and reporting on the overall effectiveness of the risk management, control and governance processes across the Group and by appropriately challenging Executive Management to improve the effectiveness of these processes.

• Own the reporting of the Internal Audit’s activities to its key stakeholders, including Group Executive Committee (GEC), the Group Audit Committee, the SJPI Audit Committee and Tier 2 ExCos, ensuring reporting is timely and insightful and continually driving improvements in reporting.
• Lead, manage and develop Internal Audit’s Professional Practices, and associated control framework.
• Lead and direct team members in the delivery of the Quality Assurance and Improvement Programme (QAIP), in particular Quality Assurance and Closed Action Assurance reviews.
• Support the Senior Audit Managers and the members of the core audit teams in the delivery of their allocated audits through the provision of independent technical advice and consultation.
• Support the development of the annual Audit Plan, maintaining the Internal Audit Universe, ensuring appropriate risk assessment and other supporting analysis is carried out.
• Provide oversight of data within the Internal Audit Data Domain, driving data awareness and accountability alongside the Data Steward.
• Direct team members in delivering audits as required, including delivery of complex / higher risk audits.
• Ensure audits are delivered on a timely basis, meeting high quality, professional standards.
• Line management responsibility for members of the Internal Audit team.
• Qualified Accountant (ACCA, ACA or CIMA) or Audit professional (CIA) with strong previous audit experience, including experience of the conduct and management of audits within the Financial Services industry.
• Ability to develop strong relationships with senior stakeholders across the Group, representing Internal Audit at key governance groups as required.
• Ideally, you’ll have experience of at least one of the following; advised retail distribution; asset management; life and investment operations in an outsourced business model; discretionary wealth management.
• Strong problem-solving skills.
• An excellent communicator both verbal and written, with the ability to concisely and impactfully articulate audit findings to stakeholders and hold challenging conversations.

What’s in it for you?

We reward you for the work you do, whether that’s through our discretionary annual bonus scheme that reflects both personal and company performance, competitive annual leave allowance (28 days plus bank holidays, with the option to purchase an additional 5 days), or online rewards platform with a variety of discounts. We also have benefits to support whatever stage of life you are in, including:

• Competitive parental leave (26 weeks full pay)
• Private medical insurance (optional taxable benefit)
• 10% non-contributory pension (increasing with length of service)

Reasonable Adjustments

We\'re an equal opportunities employer and want to ensure our recruitment process is accessible and inclusive for all. If you require reasonable adjustment(s) at any stage please let us know by emailing us at [e-mail]. Research tells us that applicants (especially those from underrepresented groups) can be put off from applying for a role if they do not meet all the criteria or have been on an extended career-break. If you think you would be a good match for this role and can demonstrate some transferable experience please apply, regardless of whether you tick every box.

What’s next?

If you're excited about this role and believe you have the skills and experience we're looking for, we'd love to hear from you! Please submit an application by clicking ‘apply’ below and our team will be in touch. As a business regulated by the FCA we would advise you to familiarise yourself with the conduct regulations and in particular consumer duty obligations prior to an interview with SJP.