Project Leader - Audit Firm Supervision (12 Month Maternity cover)

Financial Reporting Council; Birmingham; Hybrid; GBP 65,000 - 95,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

30 days annual leave

Generous pension contribution

Employee assistance programme

Cycle to work scheme

Strong work/life balance

Job summary

Financial Reporting Council (FRC) is seeking a Supervisor for Audit Firm Supervision (AFS). The role supports day-to-day supervision of PIE audit firms, driving improvements in audit quality and market resilience.

The successful candidate will deputise for Supervisors, analyse evidence, assess action plans and lead meetings with firms. A relevant accounting qualification and regulatory experience are preferred, with a hybrid office pattern.

Qualifications

• Accounting qualification with ICAEW/ACCA/ICAS/ICAI membership is advantageous but not essential.
• Strong analytical and problem-solving skills to extract themes from large data.
• Ability to join up information across regulator and firms to support a one-regulator approach.
• Experience assessing and challenging the sufficiency and appropriateness of firms’ actions.
• Excellent communication to interact with senior stakeholders and lead meetings.
• Ability to maintain professionalism in challenging and potentially confrontational environments.

Responsibilities

• Develop understanding of the firms’ audit practice, strategy and priority areas.
• Contribute to forward-looking supervision strategy for allocated firms.
• Obtain and analyse evidence on audit quality and resilience matters.
• Assess adequacy and effectiveness of action plans and initiatives.
• Lead meetings with firms and manage a portfolio of non-financial sanctions.
• Lead constructive engagement in breaches of auditing requirements and remedial actions.
• Liaise with internal specialist teams and monitor related conditions or undertakings.
• Contribute to development and growth of the AFS team and wider Supervision Division.

Skills

Audit supervision

Regulatory environment

Analytical skills

Stakeholder management

Interpersonal skills

Education

Accountancy qualification / ICAEW/ACCA/ICAS/ICAI membership

Job description

The Financial Reporting Council (FRC)’s mission is to serve the public interest by setting high standards of corporate governance, reporting and audit and holding to account those responsible for delivering them. We are the UK Competent Authority for statutory audit. We also set the UK Corporate Governance and Stewardship Codes as well as the UK standards for accounting, auditing and actuarial work, and monitor and take action to promote the quality of corporate reporting and operate independent enforcement arrangements for accountants and actuaries. Further information about our role can be found at www.frc.org.uk.

Audit Firm Supervision (AFS) is one of three supervisory teams for the largest UK audit firms, working closely with the Audit Quality Review and Audit Market Supervision teams at the FRC. AFS is responsible for our overall supervision of the firms, drawing together the results of work undertaken across the FRC. The Supervisor team within AFS has a deep and broad understanding of the various audit quality initiatives being undertaken by the audit firms. It acts as a central point of contact both for the firm and within the FRC (for that firm) and is in frequent contact with the firms, maintaining a detailed understanding of the firm and driving improvements in audit quality.

The Supervisor team has a forward-looking focus on identifying and prioritising what firms need to do to improve audit quality and holding them accountable for delivering it. Our work culminates in an annual public report covering each of the 12 largest firms and detailed private supervisory letters setting out key priority risk areas and the actions we expect firms to take. We also include in our public report information on the smaller Public Interest Entity (PIE) audit firms, as well as reporting privately.

The Role:

The role provides a unique insight into how the PIE audit firms operate and how they are responding to current issues in the profession and the changes in regulatory requirements. The successful candidate will have the satisfaction of being able to influence the practices and procedures of the major audit firms to enhance audit quality and audit market resilience. The successful candidate will support and, at times and where appropriate, deputise for the Supervisors in respect of the day to day supervision of PIE audit firms, including:

• Developing an understanding of the firms’ audit practice, their audit strategy and priority areas.
• Contributing to the forward looking supervision strategy for the firms allocated.
• Obtaining and analysing evidence on audit quality and resilience matters from internal and external sources.
• Assessing the adequacy and effectiveness of action plans and key audit quality initiatives developed by the audit firms.
• Leading aspects of meetings with the firms.
• Managing a portfolio of non-financial sanctions across firms.
• Leading on constructive engagement into breaches by firms of auditing requirements (under the FRC’s Audit Enforcement Procedure or other disciplinary schemes), handling complex cases, developing remedial actions and ensuring that these are adequately undertaken, including in some cases assessments of their effectiveness.
• Liaising with internal specialist teams, including the Registration and Restructuring team, providing input into and assessing their conclusions or feedback to firms and providing input into monitoring related conditions or undertakings.
• Contributing to the development and growth of the AFS team, and wider Supervision Division.

The Person:

This role will suit a highly motivated individual with experience working in the audit and/or regulatory sector. The ideal candidate will have:

• A good understanding of the regulatory and audit environment. An accounting qualification coupled with membership of ICAEW, ACCA, ICAS or ICAI (or equivalent) would be an advantage, but is not essential.
• Excellent analytical and problem-solving skills so that they can quickly evaluate a significant amount of information, understand the bigger picture and draw out themes and conclusions.
• Strong ‘joining-up’ skills ensuring that FRC information is pulled together, assessed and shared in a highly effective manner so that a ‘one regulator’ approach can be taken in line with our new supervisory approach.
• Experience of assessing and challenging the sufficiency and appropriateness of firms’ actions.
• Skilled at identifying risks/concerns and understanding when to escalation risks and making proportionate decisions to mitigate them.
• Strong interpersonal skills, able to quickly establish credibility and work effectively at senior levels.
• Ability to deal with difficult situations in a robust and proportionate manner while maintaining professional working relationships in challenging and potentially confrontational environments.
• Strong report writing and oral communications skills, able to express issues in a clear, balanced and concise manner.

This role is a temporary contract, therefore we are unable to accept applications that require sponsorship.

Rewards and benefits

• The FRC offers remuneration packages, including 30 days annual leave, ability to buy extra leave.
• Generous employer pension contribution of 10%.
• Staff Employee Assistance Programme including confidential counselling and work life services.
• The FRC offers staff the opportunity to save at least 25% on the purchase of a new bike through the Cycle to work scheme.
• The FRC has a strong work/life balance ethos.

The FRC believes that equality of opportunity and diversity is important in the work that we do and we are strongly committed to being an inclusive employer.

Our values of being fair and independent supports this commitment.

Equal opportunities monitoring is an important means of demonstrating and implementing our commitment to promoting equality of opportunity and diversity.

Completing our diversity form will assist the FRC to identify any barriers that prevent access to employment and career development for certain groups of people, and to develop solutions, such as action plans, new policies and practices.

The FRC operates a hybrid working arrangement, with a expectation that 40% per month of a person's working time will be located at one of our offices, with precise arrangements to be agreed between the employee and the line manager