Principal Auditor

Richmond & Wandsworth Councils; United Kingdom; Hybrid; GBP 44,000 - 58,000; Full time

Job summary

Richmond & Wandsworth Councils seek a Principal Auditor to manage audits and lead a team within a collaborative public sector environment. This role offers leadership opportunities, a competitive salary, and benefits like a flexible hybrid working arrangement and extensive development programs.

Benefits

32 days holiday (pro rata) with additional bank holidays

Flexible working arrangements

Local Government Pension Scheme membership

New technology scheme

Discounts with leisure activities

Childcare vouchers

Qualifications

• IIA qualified/part-qualified at CIA level or CCAB/AAT qualified.
• At least 5 years' experience auditing in Local Government or similar.
• Strong leadership skills and relationship-building abilities.

Responsibilities

• Manage up to two internal auditors while ensuring compliance.
• Initiate and complete risk-based audits across council services.
• Construct clear audit reports for Service Managers and Directors.

Skills

Leadership

Communication

Relationship Building

Education

IIA qualified/part-qualified at CIA level

CCAB or AAT qualification

Tools

Excel

Power BI

Job description

• Job Title: Principal Auditor
• Salary Range: £44,773 - £57,381 per annum
• Contract Type: Permanent,Full Time / Part time
• Location: Wandsworth Town Hall or Partner Location
• You will be required to be in the office at least two days a week

Are you an experienced Auditor with Public Sector knowledge and experience?

The Audit team at Richmond and Wandsworth’s Better Service Partnership is a shared service that provides internal Audit to five London Boroughs (Richmond, Wandsworth, Kingston, Merton, and Sutton) delivering an effective and cost-efficient service whilst building positive relationships to improve and maintain the quality of services delivered to residents and service users.

As a Principal Auditor you will be managing up to two internal auditors as well as initiating and completing risk-based audits across a wide a variety of financial and non-financial essential council services. You will be supporting and mentoring more junior members of the team, ensuring compliance with the Global Internal Audit Standards, and the delivery of high-quality work which is delivered on time and within budget.

You will escalate non-compliance issues, recommend improvements, and provide assurance on governance, risk, and control issues. Your findings will be meaningful and address the root cause of issues you identify. You will construct professionally written, clear audit reports for Service Managers and Directors to implement changes, improve controls and ensure compliance.

About The Role

• Leadership and Management: You will lead a team of up to two Auditors, supporting and mentoring them in the delivery of their roles and leading them on technically challenging audits.
• Auditing: You must be able to demonstrate a thorough understanding of end-to-end internal Auditing in a local government, or similar setting across a range of audit areas relevant to a public sector organisation.
• Communication: You will have extensive experience of communicating both verbally and in writing at all levels to a high standard.
• Building relationships: You will need to be able to build strong professional relationships with service leaders and those being audited to build trust and credibility and to gain access to personnel and information required to complete your audit work.
• Prioritisation: You will be able to prioritise a varied workload, reach tight deadlines and ensure that all work is carried out to the highest possible standards.

Who we are looking for

• You will be IIA qualified/part-qualified at CIA level or above or hold a CCAB or AAT qualification or similar. Alternatively, you will have at least 5 years’ experience auditing in a Local Government or other public sector body, charity or not for profit organisation.
• You will have a ‘can do’ attitude and be a team player that actively supports and raises up those around you and embrace our values: Embrace Difference, Think Bigger, Put people First, Lead by Example and Connect Better.
• Experience of managing a varied workload and of dealing with conflicting and changing demands for both you and the colleagues you support.
• You will have strong leadership skills with the ability to coach and motivate a small team of internal auditors.
• Experience of working with Excel, Power BI or other data analysis software is very desirable to support our team as we move towards using data analysis techniques in our work.
• Effective communication and people skills that support your relationship building with colleagues at all levels.
• Commitment to maintaining and improving your own skills and knowledge through CPD and the quality of services provided by our partners.

If you are enthusiastic about making a positive impact on the ability of Richmond and Wandsworth’s ability to deliver services, possess the required qualifications or experiences, and thrive in a challenging yet highly rewarding environment, we invite you to apply for this opportunity.

Feel Rewarded

We’ll be as flexible as we can about where and when you work – finding a balance that works for all of us. It’s all part of our commitment to making you feel motivated by the work you do and happy to be part of our team. We can offer you:

• A competitive salary
• 32 days holiday (pro rata) with additional bank holidays
• Reduced hours or Part time working considered
• A flexible Hybrid working arrangement (office and homeworking)
• A wide range of learning and development opportunities to help drive your career
• Membership of the Local Government Pension Scheme (the LGPS) giving you a secure income at retirement guaranteed by law with no investment risk. Your LGPS Pension will be your biggest employment benefit after your salary.
• New technology scheme, interest-free loans on annual travel cards, discounts with many leisure activities, restaurants, shops and other establishments and Childcare vouchers.

For more information on this position please contact Andrew Hamilton, Assistant Director, Audit Shared service, on 0208 891 7295

Indicative Recruitment Timeline

• Closing Date: Sunday 29 June 2025
• Shortlisted Date: W/C 30th June 2025
• Interview date: TBC

We may close this vacancy early once a sufficient number of applications has been received. Please submit your application as soon as possible to avoid disappointment

Useful Information

Richmond and Wandsworth Councils are committed to making our recruitment practices as inclusive as possible for everyone. We are committed to promoting equality and diversity and developing a culture that values differences, recognising that employees from a variety of backgrounds bring important and positive contributions to the Councils and can improve the way we deliver services.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident employer, if you require any reasonable adjustments throughout the recruitment and selection process, please let us know.

We are also committed to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of children and young people/vulnerable adults and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

We offer a wide range of benefits designed to attract, develop, and reward our employees such as 40 days annual leave (including Bank Holidays), flexible working and a generous pension plan.