Senior Internal Audit Manager

Railpen Limited; Tees Valley; Hybrid; GBP 90,000 - 120,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

28 days annual leave

Generous annual bonus

Railways Pension Scheme

Life Assurance

Private Medical Insurance

Employee Assistance Programme

Health Cash Plan

Eye care vouchers

Flu vaccination

Flexible working

Job summary

Railpen Limited is seeking a Senior Internal Audit Manager in the UK with travel to Darlington and London. This role focuses on strategic assurance, challenging governance and delivering actionable insight beyond compliance. You will partner with senior executives to influence decisions and guide organisational risk and improvement.

The role emphasizes judgement, stakeholder credibility and a forward-looking view of internal audit within a pension and asset management context.

Qualifications

• Significant experience leading assurance activity within complex organisations.
• experience presenting to Boards, Audit Committees, Trustees or equivalent governance forums.
• Strong professional judgement and outcome-focused approach.
• Insight assurance work influencing decisions and governance.
• Commercial and risk-based approach to assurance.
• Ability to balance independence with constructive challenge.

Responsibilities

• Own delivery of Internal Audit activity across assigned portfolios.
• Lead complex, high-profile engagements with senior stakeholders.
• Build trusted relationships with senior leaders while remaining independent.
• Engage with Executive Committees, Audit Committees and Trustees to translate complexity into insight.
• Identify themes, root causes, and opportunities for organisational learning.
• Coach colleagues to develop judgement, confidence and consistency.
• Contribute to evolving forward-looking internal audit function.

Skills

Leading assurance

Stakeholder management

Executive-level communication

Judgement & influence

Job description

Location: Darlington or home-based (UK) with regular travel to Darlington and London. Role type: Permanent

At Railpen, our purpose is simple: to secure our members’ future. We're looking for a Senior Internal Audit Manager to join our modern, strategically aligned Internal Audit function that provides insight, challenge and assurance where it matters most. This is not a traditional, compliance-led audit role. We believe effective assurance helps organisations achieve their objectives, navigate change and make better decisions, not simply assess compliance or control effectiveness. We are looking for an audit leader who combines strong technical credibility with judgement, influence and strategic thinking. Someone who is as comfortable discussing business strategy, transformation and organisational risk, as they are evaluating controls.

The opportunity

You will own and oversee assurance activity across complex business portfolios, helping senior leaders and governance forums understand the risks, opportunities and decisions that matter most to Railpen's long‑term success. Working closely with Executive leaders, Trustees and Audit Committees, you will provide independent insight, constructive challenge and credible assurance that supports better outcomes, not just stronger controls. Success in this role will be measured not by the number of audits delivered, but by the impact of your work on the organisation. That means providing insight that improves decision‑making, influences senior stakeholders, strengthens governance, supports strategic objectives and helps Railpen achieve better outcomes for its members. Our Internal Audit team has meaningful access to senior decision makers and plays an active role in informing strategic discussions, governance oversight and organisational change. This is an opportunity to help shape how assurance supports the organisation, identifying patterns, themes and emerging risks that influence decision‑making and contribute to the successful delivery of Railpen's objectives.

What you'll do

• Own delivery of Internal Audit activity across assigned portfolios, ensuring assurance remains focused on the risks and decisions that matter most.
• Lead and oversee complex, high‑profile or sensitive engagements where senior judgement, experience and stakeholder management are critical.
• Build trusted relationships with senior leaders, while maintaining independence and providing constructive challenge when required.
• Engage confidently with Executive Committees, Audit Committees, Trustees and other governance forums, translating complexity into clear, decision‑useful insight.
• Move beyond individual findings to identify themes, root causes, emerging risks and opportunities that support organisational learning and improvement.
• Coach and influence colleagues, helping develop judgement, confidence and consistency across the Internal Audit team.
• Contribute to the continued evolution of a forward‑looking Internal Audit function focused on insight, connected assurance and organisational value.

What we're looking for

• Significant experience leading assurance activity within complex organisations.
• Personal experience presenting to, advising and responding to challenge from Boards, Audit Committees, Trustees, Executive Committees or equivalent senior governance forums.
• The confidence and credibility to present, advise, respond to challenge and influence discussion at senior levels.
• Strong professional judgement and the ability to operate effectively in an environment that values outcomes, and accountability over process compliance and tick‑box auditing.
• Evidence that your insight assurance work has influenced decisions, strengthened governance, improved business outcomes or supported strategic objectives.
• A pragmatic, commercial and risk‑based approach to assurance.
• The ability to balance independence with constructive challenge and effective business partnering.
• Strong communication and reporting skills, with the ability to distil complex issues into clear, insightful and impactful messages.
• Experience working in delivery‑focused environments where quality, performance, accountability and measurable outcomes matter.
• Curiosity, critical thinking and the ability to connect operational observations to wider strategic implications.
• A mindset aligned to continuous improvement, modern assurance and helping organisations succeed.
• Experience within investment management, asset management, pensions or broader financial services would be advantageous, but we are primarily interested in candidates who bring exceptional judgement, influence, stakeholder credibility and strategic assurance capability.

Why Railpen?

Railpen is a purpose‑led organisation with a long‑term outlook and a collaborative culture where professional judgement is trusted, constructive challenge is valued and people are encouraged to develop and grow. You will be part of a function with meaningful access to the organisation's most important risks, decisions and strategic priorities. If you're looking for an Internal Audit leadership role where you can influence senior decision‑makers, provide genuine strategic insight and help shape organisational success, we'd love to hear from you.

What we can offer you

• A competitive salary (depending on experience)
• 28 days annual leave plus bank holidays
• Generous annual bonus plan
• We provide membership of the Railways Pension Scheme, a Defined Benefit arrangement under which you get a pension for life and a lump sum when you retire, based on your length of service and pay
• 4x Life Assurance cover
• Heath & Wellbeing Private Medical Insurance
• Employee assistance programme
• Health cash plan
• Eye care vouchers
• Flu vaccination
• Lifestyle
• We support hybrid and flexible working along with very generous family leave including 12 months full pay maternity leave and 6 months full pay paternity leave
• Buy and sell holidays
• Give as you earn scheme
• Paid volunteering days
• Flexible half days leave
• Electric vehicle leasing
• Cycle to work scheme

Inclusive and diverse

Railpen is committed to creating an inclusive and diverse environment, we value diversity and welcome people from all backgrounds and walks of life

At Railpen we know that it’s the talent of our people that makes us good at what we do and enables us to continue to achieve our mission to pay members’ pensions securely, affordably and sustainably. The unique nature of Railpen offers our people a wide variety of interesting opportunities for innovation, thought leadership and personal development. We encourage people to challenge, explore unconventional ideas and give each other the space to learn from our mistakes. We take time to listen to each other’s ideas and understand what we each do, and what we need from each other to help us be at our best. Railpen is committed to creating an inclusive and diverse environment, we value diversity and welcome people from all backgrounds and walks of life.