Internal Controls Manager

Balfour Beatty plc; Greater London; Hybrid; GBP 70,000 - 110,000; Full time

Job summary

Balfour Beatty plc is seeking an Internal Controls Manager to support the Group Head of Internal Controls in maintaining and maturing the internal control framework across global operations, financial reporting, and compliance. The role requires collaboration with control owners and second-line functions to ensure controls operate effectively.

The successful candidate will oversee 1st and 2nd line assessments, provide assurance material to the Audit & Risk Committee, and drive remediation of

Qualifications

• Experience in internal controls, external or internal audit.
• Ability to build strong relationships with multiple stakeholders at various levels.
• Strong organisational skills with ability to multitask and prioritise workload.
• Proficiency in Excel.
• Prior experience utilising Optro is desirable, but not essential.
• Experience working with regulatory standards (e.g. Provision 29, Sarbanes-Oxley or equivalent frameworks) and cross-functional projects is valuable.
• Experience of working in the Engineering and Construction Industry preferred, but not essential.

Responsibilities

• Maintain and refine the internal control framework in line with organizational changes and risk profile.
• Collaborate with control owners to mature the control environment and ensure reasonable assurance.
• Oversee compliance with Provision 29 through 1st line self-assessment and 2nd line testing programs.
• Provide reporting to Audit & Risk Committee on control effectiveness, risk exposures, and remediation status.
• Identify, document, and remediate control deficiencies with escalation for material controls as needed.
• Promote a control-conscious culture and deliver training on internal control principles.

Skills

Interpersonal and communication skills

Stakeholder management

Organisational skills

Analytical thinking

Independent and professional scepticis

Tools

Excel

Optro

Job description

About the role

Balfour Beatty has an exciting opportunity for a Internal Controls Manager to join our growing team.

Base Location can be flexible for this role

As an Internal Controls Manager you will support the Group Head of Internal Controls in the day- to-day management of the Internal Control framework that safeguards the organization’s global operations, financial reporting, and compliance with laws and policies. This role will include coverage of all Group Controls

What you'll be doing

• Maintain and refine the Balfour Beatty (BB) internal control framework in line with organizational changes and changes to BB’s risk profile, with a goal of maturing the control environment through ongoing collaboration with control owners.
• Responsible for internal control procedures and standards that align with industry best practices to strengthen the control environment and ensure control systems are designed to provide reasonable assurance in achieving operational, financial reporting, and compliance objectives.
• Maintaining ongoing Compliance with Provision 29 Requirements through oversight of 1st line self-assessment and 2nd line testing programs to provide the Audit & Risk Committee with assurance material controls are operating effectively.
• Provide support to the Group Head of Internal Controls with a variety of reporting including to Audit and Risk Committee on control effectiveness, significant risk exposures, control test results, and status of remediation plans.
• Ensures that control deficiencies are identified and documented, and that there is a robust process for following up on and remediating any weaknesses or gaps in controls. Where the deficiency relates to a material control, ensuring the weakness is escalated and resolved quickly and in line with the requirements of Provision 29.
• Promote a strong control-conscious culture across the organization through active collaboration with control owners and delivering training programs and awareness initiatives to educate management and staff on internal control principles, policies, and their own responsibilities in the internal control process.
• Act as a liaison between various stakeholders to ensure an integrated approach to governance, risk, and compliance (GRC). Working closely with first-line process owners to support them in implementing effective controls, with Risk Management and Compliance functions (second line) to align controls with enterprise risk management programs, and with Internal Audit (third line) to coordinate efforts and reduce duplication to create a unified risk management framework and ensures that control issues identified by internal or external audits are quickly addressed.

Who we’re looking for

Experience:

• Experience in internal controls, external or internal audit.
• Ability to build strong relationships with multiple stakeholders at various levels
• Strong organisational skills with ability to multitask and prioritise workload
• Proficiency in excel
• Prior experience utilising Optro is desirable, but not essential.
• Experience working with regulatory standards (e.g. Provision 29, Sarbanes-Oxley or equivalent frameworks in other jurisdictions) and cross-functional projects is valuable.
• Experience of working in the Engineering and Construction Industry preferred, but not essential.

Knowledge:

• Knowledge of internal control frameworks and industry regulations, specifically Provision 29 of the UK Corporate Governance Code. Familiarity with global best-practice models like the COSO Internal Control – Integrated Framework (which encompasses control environment, risk assessment, control activities, information & communication, and monitoring)

Skills:

• Has good interpersonal and communication skills and acts in an independent and professional manner with the ability to influence others
• Is a self-starter who manages their own time and workload and brings ideas to add value to the function with strong task management, prioritisation and planning skills.
• The internal control framework covers a wider breadth of areas and requires flexibility and curiosity to understand all areas of business operations and functions.
• Strong analytical thinking and attention to detail to analyse complex processes and data to detect weaknesses or trends, perform root-cause analysis on control failures, and develop practical solutions.
• A strong sense of ethics, integrity, and professional scepticism. The role handles sensitive information and is entrusted with ensuring honesty and compliance throughout the organization

Why work for us

Day in, day out, our teams deliver some of the UK’s most ambitious, exciting and meaningful projects; developing, building and maintaining the vital infrastructure that supports national economies and strengthens communities.

Why join us?

As if contributing to and supporting work that makes life better for millions wasn’t rewarding enough, we offer a full range of benefits too. You’ll have the freedom to shape the package that’s right for you and your life. Here are some of our key benefits:

• Smart working, giving you more flexibility such as staggered start and finish times, with up to 40% remote working, where roles allow.
• 25 days paid annual leave (pro rata)
• Family friendly policies which include 28 weeks full pay for maternity/adoption leave and four weeks full pay for paternity/partners leave
• Pension, share incentive plan, volunteering leave, recognition schemes and much more…

About us

Balfour Beatty Group Enabling Functions are Legal, Finance, IT and Procurement, Communications, Health Safety and Environment, HR and Sustainability. Together, they support delivery of our Build to Last strategy whilst improving efficiencies and standardising our approach, systems and processes.

Diversity and inclusion

At Balfour Beatty, we want everyone to be able to thrive and achieve their full potential, regardless of their identity or background. We’re making great progress through our Value Everyone DEI Action Plan, but we know we’ve got more to do. Find out more about our values and DEI initiatives.

As a Disability Confident Employer, we ensure that a fair and proportionate number of disabled applicants that meet the minimum criteria for this role will be offered an interview.

We are committed to our processes being barrier-free and will support adjustments at any stage of the recruitment process. Please let the recruiter for this role know if you require any adjustments.

We’re looking to continually improve our recruitment process, so if you have any feedback, please share this with us via [e-mail]