Senior Audit Manager

Government Internal Audit Agency; Swansea; On-site; GBP 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

A governmental agency in the UK is looking for a Senior Audit Manager to lead and manage audit delivery effectively. The role involves strategic leadership, stakeholder engagement, and ensuring high-quality audit outcomes. Candidates should have significant experience in internal audits and accountancy qualifications. This position offers opportunities for development and progression within the civil service.

Qualifications

• Significant experience in decision making and managing a portfolio of risk-based internal audits.
• Strong strategic thinking skills to interpret complex information.
• Excellent communication skills for presenting insights to senior audiences.

Responsibilities

• Lead and manage audit delivery from planning through to reporting.
• Engage stakeholders and shape audit strategy and plan.
• Uphold quality assurance and develop a risk-oriented culture.

Skills

Leadership

Strategic thinking

Stakeholder engagement

Audit methodology

Education

Full current membership of a recognized accountancy/audit body

Job description

Location

We will consider applications from people able to access our offices at the following locations:

• Birmingham
• Bootle
• Bristol
• Glasgow
• Leeds
• Newcastle
• Swansea

GIAA has an expectation for all colleagues to attend their local workplace regularly and to attend client sites for key meetings and when undertaking fieldwork.

Existing GIAA employees appointed into this new role will be allowed to remain at their current workplace location.

Job summary

The Government Internal Audit Agency (GIAA) is driven by its unparalleled access across government to build better insights, better outcomes for our clients. This role offers a strong platform for career progression within the Agency and the wider civil service, providing opportunities to develop leadership, stakeholder engagement and strategic relationship management skills across government. The Agency’s unique access across the public sector exposes you to different risk and control environments, allowing you to gain insights, apply experience, contribute meaningfully, and continue developing professionally.

Job description

You may be allocated to client specific teams or our central resourcing team. All Senior Audit Managers have a strategic leadership and delivery role within the Agency and will be responsible for delivering a high-quality, impactful audit programme.

You will lead and manage a portfolio of audit delivery, including delivering individual audit engagements from planning through to reporting, providing people management, engagement supervision and oversight to teams delivering individual engagement in a matrix model and fulfilling the role of Head of Internal Audit (HIA – the equivalent of the Chief Audit Executive in the Global Internal Audit Standards in the UK Public Sector for Arms Lengths bodies (subject to appropriate opportunities being available).

This role requires a deep understanding of your clients’ operations, key risks and priorities whilst building strong, productive relationships at all levels. You will be an experienced, confident and strategic leader providing portfolio direction and alignment, adept at fostering a culture of continuous improvement, upholding quality assurance, championing innovation and driving professional development and learning for our people. You will identify key risks and engage with stakeholders with credibility and impact, working closely with colleagues including Group Chief Internal Auditors (GCIAs) to shape and drive the implementation of an audit strategy and plan.

This role offers a strong platform for career progression within the Agency and the wider Civil Service, providing opportunities to develop leadership, stakeholder engagement and strategic relationship management skills across government. GIAA’s unique access across the public sector exposes you to different risk and control environments, allowing you to gain insights, apply experience, contribute meaningfully, and continue developing professionally.

Role responsibilities

• Take a strategic leadership and delivery role leading and managing a portfolio of audit delivery from planning through to reporting. Acting as the engagement supervisor for all audits within your agreed allocation. You will drive the continuous professional development of our people including effective allocation of audit resource based on skills, capacity, and priorities to optimise overall Agency delivery
• Shape and drive the implementation of an audit strategy and plan, identifying key risks, you will engage stakeholders with credibility and impact and work closely with colleagues including Group Chief Internal Auditors (GCIAs).
• Have a key role in upholding quality assurance and strengthening the function, including championing the development of a risk-orientated culture. You will ensure timeliness of each review in line with budget and compliance with GIAA audit methodology and systems.
• Provide portfolio direction and alignment you will foster a culture of continuous improvement, innovation, and learning, ensuring audit services remain responsive to risk priorities.
• Fulfil the role of Head of Internal Audit (HIA – the equivalent of the Chief Audit Executive in the Global Internal Audit Standards in the UK Public Sector) for Arm’s Length Bodies (subject to appropriate opportunities being available).
• Provide leadership and oversight as a People Manager and/or Engagement Manager in a matrix model for a team of auditors across multiple regions. (Specific training will be given if you are allocated a People Manager role due to the Line Management responsibilities).
• Support the GCIA in reporting to audit committees including the development of audit strategies and plans, progress reporting and delivering opinions on the effectiveness of governance, risk management and internal control.
• Lead the strategic management of client relationships, including regular engagement with senior client management and audit committees, factoring in, where appropriate, attendance at ARACs and preparation of ARAC papers.
• A smaller proportion of your time will focus on delivering audits in the highest risk or most complex areas.

Person Specification

You will be required to write a statement of suitability of up to 1,000 words setting out how your skills and experience meet the following criteria:

• Significant experience in effective decision making, successfully planning, managing, and delivering a portfolio of risk-based internal audits to time, quality and budget including the ability to assess skills and resource gaps in audit service delivery.
• Leading and supporting change at a team and organisational level, adopting a continuous improvement approach which contributes to the wider corporate responsibilities of the organisations.
• Strong strategic thinking skills and an ability to interpret complex, conflicting information and make sound judgements. The ability to build and maintain strong relationships across an organisation at all levels, influencing senior stakeholders to adopt good practice internal control, risk management and governance processes.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to interpret complex audit judgements and deliver insight for senior and specialist audiences.
• Proven track record in successfully leading, managing and developing teams in a matrix management setting either as an engagement supervisor or people manager.

Candidate Qualifications

All candidates will need to demonstrate full current membership of a recognised professional accountancy/audit body, either:

• Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors UK & Ireland and must hold chartered auditor/CMIIA designation or the MIIA designation where you are qualified under the previous exam route and did not apply to make this chartered. If you have passed all the CMIIA/MIIA exams but do not hold the designation, you are not eligible to apply.
• Other Institutes of Internal Auditors that are part of IIA Global, If you studied with the Institute of Internal Auditors in another country, you must hold the equivalent of the MIIA designation. You should verify this with the IIA UK & Ireland prior to submitting your application, by emailing [e-mail]
• No other level of internal audit qualifications meet the requirements of this post.
• Accountancy, fully qualified, current member of one of five CCAB bodies (ICAEW, ACCA, CIPFA, ICAS, Chartered Accountants Ireland or CIMA)

Technical skills

We’ll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• IA client relationships
• Producing a proportionate, well rounded audit plan
• Professional and quality standards

For more information and to apply, please visit our website via the apply button below.