International Head of Internal Audit

U.S. Bank; Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown; On-site; EUR 120,000 - 170,000; Full time

Job summary

U.S. Bank is seeking a Head of Internal Audit in Ireland to lead the local audit team, oversee annual planning, and coordinate with regulators and external auditors.

You will report to the Audit Committee Chair and the Chief Audit Executive from the US, ensuring risk coverage across jurisdictions. The role requires extensive audit leadership experience, strong regulatory knowledge, and the ability to work across senior management and multiple locations.

Qualifications

• Fifteen years of industry experience, including a Head of Internal Audit or equivalent role.
• Demonstrates integrity, objectivity and inquisitiveness with ability to manage multiple tasks in a fast-paced environment.
• Ability to analyse complex data and communicate inherent and residual risk clearly to the business line.
• Excellent persuasive communication and negotiation skills for presenting audit findings and recommendations.
• Auditing expertise across risk assessment, control design, testing and reporting; knowledge of applicable standards.
• Ability to lead and coach audit teams across multiple locations and jurisdictions.

Responsibilities

• Lead the local Internal Audit team and engage with Audit Committee, Boards, Executive Management and risk stakeholders.
• Deliver the annual audit plan and oversee remediation of audit issues and regulatory findings across jurisdictions.
• Engage regulators, supervisory authorities and external auditors as required; report outcomes to governance committees.
• Coordinate with the broader US-based Audit Services function and cross-border teams to align governance requirements.
• Ensure effective leadership, coaching and talent development within the team and escalation of risks as needed.

Skills

Executive leadership

Integrity & objectivity

Data analysis

Communication

Regulatory knowledge

Audit standards

Coaching & mentoring

Multi-tasking

Education

Bachelor's degree in Accounting/related field

Professional Certification (CA/CIA)

Job description

At U.S. Bank, we’re on a journey to do our best. Helping the customers and businesses we serve to make better and smarter financial decisions, enabling the communities we support to grow and succeed in the right ways, all more confidently and more often—that’s what we call the courage to thrive. We believe it takes all of us to bring our shared ambition to life, and each person is unique in their potential. A career with U.S. Bank gives you a wide, ever-growing range of opportunities to discover what makes you thrive. Try new things, learn new skills and discover what you excel at—all from Day One.

As a wholly owned subsidiary of U.S. Bank, Elavon is committed to building the platforms and ecosystems that help over 1.5 million customers around the world to achieve their financial goals—no matter what they need. From transaction processing to customer service, to driving innovation and launching new products, we’re building a range of tailored payment solutions powered by the latest technology. As part of our team, you can explore what motivates and energizes your career goals: partnering with our customers, our communities, and each other.

We actively uphold transparent and fair hiring practices that support individual opportunity, inclusive culture, and career mobility across all levels of our organisation.

We offer meaningful opportunities for growth, a culture of inclusion, and a strong commitment to transparency and integrity in everything we do.

Job Description

This role will serve as Head of Internal Audit group based in Ireland and will be responsible for leading the local audit team. Responsibilities include annual audit planning, oversight of Risk and Control Design Assessments, supervision of Control Performance Effectiveness reviews, and summarisation of audit results in accordance with Audit Services policies and procedures. The role will also lead engagement with regulators and supervisory authorities across relevant jurisdictions, coordinate interactions with external auditors, and participate in key management and governance forums as part of ongoing risk monitoring and oversight.

Reporting to the Chair of the Audit Committee and also to the Chief Audit Executive based in the United States, the Head of Internal Audit in Ireland and Senior Audit Manager will be responsible for delivering the audit plan approved by the Audit Committee and governance bodies across their areas of responsibility.

This is a highly collaborative, cross-functional leadership role requiring effective coordination and communication with senior management, business line leadership, second-line functions, regulatory stakeholders, and Corporate Audit Services teams across multiple jurisdictions.

The Head of Internal Audit in Ireland will primarily support the audit oversight of U.S. Bank Europe DAC (USBE) within scope, providing independent assurance across a diverse range of businesses, functions and regulatory environments.

Accountabilities:

Lead the local Internal Audit team, including ongoing engagement with Audit Committee, Boards, Executive Management teams, and senior risk and control stakeholders.

Lead and oversee the Internal Audit activities supporting branches, subsidiaries and operations within scope. Responsibilities include:

• Leading delivery of the annual audit plan, including recommending changes required to address evolving business priorities, emerging risks and regulatory requirements across jurisdictions.
• Overseeing the timely and effective remediation of audit issues and regulatory findings.
• Engaging with regulators, supervisory authorities and other key external stakeholders, as required.
• Reporting audit outcomes, key risks and control themes to relevant governance committees and boards.
• Overseeing audit services performed across the wider U.S. Bank organisation and ensuring alignment with local governance requirements.

Ensure strong connectivity and coordination with the broader Audit Services function based in the United States, including business-aligned audit teams, Audit Directors and the Chief Audit Executive.

Lead completion of the audit plan across assigned areas of responsibility, ensuring audit coverage appropriately reflects changes in business activities, risk profiles and regulatory expectations.

Serve as a key point of contact for senior management throughout the audit lifecycle.

Supervise and direct audit teams during all phases of audit execution, including reviewing and approving risk assessments, sampling methodologies, testing strategies and conclusions. In addition, provide leadership, coaching and mentoring to audit professionals across multiple locations and jurisdictions.

Identify emerging risks, control issues and thematic concerns, partnering with audit teams and senior management to determine appropriate actions and escalation where required.

Manage personnel responsibilities for the assigned team in accordance with Human Resources policies, including performance management, career development, succession planning, training and talent acquisition.

Skills & Experience:

• Fifteen years industry experience including holding a Head of Internal Audit role or similar.
• The candidate should have unquestionable integrity, objectivity and probing inquisitiveness with ability to management multiple tasks in a fast paced environment.
• Expert ability to analyse a complex set of data and extract information critical to identifying and communicating the inherent and residual risk to the business line.
• Excellent persuasive communication and negotiation skills to effectively interact with staff and senior management during the presentation of audit findings and recommendations.
• The candidate should possess proficient business knowledge of their assigned area of responsibility, including prudential regulations and banking.
• The candidate should possess audit expertise with respect to: inherent and residual risks and the identification thereof; internal controls and the design of control environments including assessments thereof; control performance effectiveness testing including interpretation of results; sampling techniques including documentation of sampling rationale; and internal audit standards and techniques.
• Ability to lead and coach other team members.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor’s degree or Honours (Level 8) degree equivalent with emphasis Accounting or related discipline
• A combination of at least ten years progressive experience in public accounting, financial institutions internal audit or risk and controls consulting.
• At least five years of management experience
• Professional Certification such as a Chartered Accountant or Certified Internal Auditor
• High level of expertise of both Irish and European Banking regulations
• Ability to manage multiple tasks and deadlines simultaneously
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills

Preferred Qualifications

• Provenleadership skills including management and coaching of staff
• Advanced knowledge in auditing, reporting and analysis
• Relevant Financial Services Industry knowledge (e.g. Banking, Operations, Trust, Payment Cards, etc.) including understanding of risk theory, control frameworks, applicable financial services industry trends, laws and regulations; and impact of government legislation and regulation on business
• Previous experience of interacting with regulatory bodies such as the Central Bank of Ireland
• Previous experience of interacting with regulators and senior management
• Previous experience of interacting with Board level Committees

This role has been identified as a Pre-Approval Controlled Function (“PCF13*”) and Controlled Function (CF 1**) under the Central Bank of Ireland’s Regulations.

This role has also been identified as a Senior Management Function (“SMF5***”) under the Financial Conduct Authority FCA) and Prudential Regulation Authority’s (PRA) Senior Manager and Certification Regime (SMCR).

Accordingly, the Company must be satisfied on reasonable grounds that the role holder complies at all times with the requirements of:

a) the CBI’s Senior Executive Accountability Regime (SEAR), Fitness and Probity Regime and the Conduct Standards (as applicable to the role).

b) the UK SMCR Fitness and Propriety Standards and the Conduct Rules (as applicable to the role).

Applicants (**** and upon joining the Company, employees) **** agree to permit the Company (or its agents) to conduct such due diligence as it deems necessary to satisfy itself on reasonable grounds that you comply with the aforementioned requirements (as applicable to the role) and that you will provide the Company with all information and/or documentation relating to your qualifications, experience, employment history, financial soundness and other interests that the Company requests for that purpose.

It is the individual responsibility of every employee to maintain a current awareness and understanding of and to fully comply with U.S. Bank’s “Code of Ethics”. Each employee is also expected to maintain an awareness of the laws, regulations, internal policies and procedures that are appropriate for his/her position.

Accessibility

We are committed to providing an inclusive and accessible recruitment experience. If you need adjustments at any stage of the application or hiring process, please contact your recruiter for guidance and support.

Total Rewards

U.S. Bank is committed to fair, equitable, and transparent compensation practices in line with local regulatory and legal requirements. Our total rewards approach is designed to attract, retain, and support top talent while ensuring equal pay for work of equal value.

We offer a market-competitive compensation package that includes:

• Clearly defined salary ranges aligned with industry benchmarks and internal equity standards.
• Performance-based incentives for eligible employees (as defined by relevant plan rules), awarded through transparent, objective criteria that recognize both individual and company performance.
• Inclusive equitable benefits that are accessible to all employees and focused around our 3 main pillars of financial wellbeing, health & wellness).
• Continuous development opportunities including training, education support, and career progression pathways based on inclusive and transparent criteria.
• Employee recognition programs that celebrate achievements and milestones for all.

We regularly review our compensation and benefits to ensure they remain competitive, inclusive, and responsive to employee needs and market trends. Further details of the compensation package will be provided upon application.

We encourage candidates to explore the full value of our offer, including monetary and non-monetary benefits, at Employee benefits and development | U.S. Bank | Elavon.

Closing Date

Posting may be closed earlier due to high volume of applicants.

We aim to provide timely updates throughout the process and encourage early applications to ensure consideration.