AVP – Internal Audit

Axis Max Life Insurance Limited; Gurugram District; On-site; INR 3,500,000 - 5,500,000; Full time

Job summary

Axis Max Life Insurance Limited seeks an AVP - Internal Audit to design and drive a risk-based audit plan and oversee the internal audit function in line with the charter and professional standards.

The role focuses on providing assurance on risk management effectiveness, internal controls, and regulatory compliance across the organization. You will lead risk assessments, coordinate with senior management, and mentor a team to ensure timely, high-quality audit deliverables.

Qualifications

• Chartered Accountant with 12+ years of experience in control functions/audit in an insurance company.
• CISA or similar will be preferred.

Responsibilities

• Design risk-based internal audit plan and manage internal audit function per charter and standards.
• Provide assurance on effectiveness of risk management and internal controls.
• Lead risk assessments, develop annual IA plan and present to Audit Committee.
• Coach and develop team members; manage multiple priorities and cross-functional projects.

Skills

Collaboration

Stakeholder management

Team management

Strategic thinking

Analytical mindset

Problem solving

Multi-tasking

Education

Chartered Accountant

Job description

This position (AVP - Internal Audit) is responsible for designing risk-based internal audit plan and strategically managing the internal audit function in accordance with internal audit charter and the professional standards for internal auditing.

This role shall be primarily responsible for providing reasonable assurance on the effectiveness of the organization’s risk management and the strength of internal controls. The position assesses organization-wide compliance of internal policies and procedures, laws and regulations, efficiency of operations, and accuracy of programmatic and regulatory reporting/compliance and also contribute in overall control posture of an organization.

KEY RESPONSIBILITIES

• Perform organization wide risk assessment and develop annual risk-based internal audit plan for approval from Audit Committee (AC).
• Identify new themes which can be added as part of proposed Internal Audit (IA) plan and provide highlights of previous year.
• Provide technical assistance and subject-matter expertise to team members in designing risk universe at process level and identify new risk areas to ensure quality of reviews and effective reporting of observations.
• Manage the audit to ensure that overall audit is performed in accordance to the steps as defined in Internal Audit manual including methodical documentation of work plans, testing results, conclusions and recommendations.
• Lead audit closure meetings with process owners and provide update / reporting exceptions to functional SLTs.
• Provide practical recommendations for process improvement in order to mitigate associated risks, to ensure compliance, adequacy and reliability of internal controls & procedures.
• Ensure follow up on findings and corrective actions and assist process owners in practical implementation of recommendation to improve operational efficiencies and overall control posture for the organization.
• Coordinate and assist with the preparation of Audit Committee and management committee meeting (e.g. ORG, MRC etc.) materials.
• Responsible for coaching, mentoring, and developing career paths for direct reports.
• Responsible for managing multiple priorities, deadlines and quality deliverables and participate in cross functional teams (CFTs) and make notable contribution for overall success of the Project.
• Prepare plan for concurrent audit and testing various functionalities through automation and provide periodic dashboard to the management for all automation projects.
• Responsible for preparing plan for improvising the overall efficiency of Internal Audit team by deploying different measures like automation etc.
• Manage the work of Service provider’s / business partners on various outsourced projects / audits to ensure timely closure with quality outcome.
• Satisfactory completion of Quality Assurance Improvement Program and Peer review for the audits performed by the team in accordance to IIA (Institute of Internal Auditors)

MEASURES OF SUCCESS

• Correct identification of the key risk areas and timely approval by the Audit Committee (AC) of the IA plan
• Ensure documentation in accordance with the defined audit methodology
• Managing team and successful delivery of internal audit plan within defined timelines
• Lead audit closure meetings and exception reporting to functional leaders / SLTs.
• Ensure results of other external audits is consistent with the work performed by Internal Audit team with minimum material differences to safeguard reputational risk of the organization (penalties etc.).
• Continuous improvement in employee engagement score for the team
• Identify opportunities and increasing efficiency of Internal Audit team as a whole.

KEY RELATIONSHIPS (INTERNAL /EXTERNAL)

• Senior Management (Functional leaders / SLTs) including CRO / CCO
• Cross functional teams
• Process Owners
• Outsourced Vendors
• Team members including specialized staff (7-8 team members)

KEY COMPETENCIES/SKILLS REQUIRED

• Collaboration and Stakeholder Management
• Team Management and development
• Coaching new joiners and existing team members and making them ‘future ready’
• Strategic and Analytical mindset
• Problem solving ability
• Willing to take multiple priorities (multi-tasking)
• Growth Mindset

Desired qualification and experience

• Chartered Accountant with more than 12 years of rich experience in the areas of control functions / audit experience in Insurance Company. Additional qualification such as CISA will be preferred
• Proficient in understanding insurance specific (Branch Audit, Claims, Underwriting, Customer servicing, Products etc.) / functional processes (Human Resources, Products etc.) for overall risk assessment.
• Required in-depth knowledge of insurance concepts, various provisions of regulation / guidelines issued by IRDAI, statutory laws etc.
• Experience of managing 4-5 team members (including co-sourced partners) with varied experiences for specialized audits.
• Ability to effectively communicate with external stakeholders and senior management
• Technically proficient in audit, assurance and risk assessment area.
• Experience of participating in cross functional projects and contributing for overall success of project.