Manager, Internal Audit (IT/ Payment)

Finexus Group; Kuala Lumpur; On-site; MYR 240,000 - 360,000; Full time

Job summary

Finexus Group seeks an experienced Internal Audit Manager to lead risk-based audits across regulated fintech entities. You will manage a small team, engage senior stakeholders, and support regulatory examinations, delivering practical, risk-aware findings while maintaining independence.

This hands-on role focuses on building AI and automation capabilities, continuous monitoring, and informative reporting to the Audit Committee. Prior fintech/regulatory exposure is preferred.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance, information systems, IT or related field is required.
• 6+ years of relevant internal or external IT/audit or risk assurance experience.
• 2–3 years leading audit engagements or supervising staff.
• Experience in financial services, fintech, or regulated tech environments preferred.

Responsibilities

• Lead development and execution of risk-based audit plans across entities in line with regs and policy.
• Review team output for quality, evidence, and clarity before reaching senior stakeholders.
• Act as a risk-aware adviser on new products, systems and market launches, preserving independence.
• Assess design and operating effectiveness of internal controls, risks, governance with actionable improvements.
• Coordinate with Compliance and Risk to avoid duplication and ensure independent conclusions.
• Coach and develop team members; build AI and automation capabilities across the team.
• Oversee in-house vs external audit mix and manage outsourced providers when needed.
• Own Internal Audit’s AI/automation roadmap and embed data analytics into testing and reporting.

Skills

Audit expertise

Risk assessment

Regulatory awareness

AI in audit

Stakeholder management

Team leadership

Independence & integrity

Education

Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting, Finance, Information Systems, IT, or related

Job description

Why This Role Matters

Finexus Group operates across regulated fintech services, e-money, merchant acquiring, financing, remittance, transactional software, and regulatory reporting. As the Group scales and its control environment grows more complex, Internal Audit needs a manager who can lead audit delivery end-to-end, represent the function credibly with senior stakeholders, partner with the business rather than audit by checklist, and lead the adoption of AI and automation across a lean team.

About the Role

You will lead the planning and execution of risk-based audits across Finexus entities, manage and develop a small team, and act as the primary point of engagement for senior stakeholders and external audit partners, supporting regulatory examinations as needed. This is a hands‑on role, you’ll stay close enough to the work to guide quality and judgment calls, while delivering findings the business can actually use: clear, risk‑proportionate, and practical, without compromising the objectivity and independence Internal Audit must hold. We’re looking for an auditor who thinks like a business partner, not a checklist follower, someone who understands the business, challenges constructively, and sees AI and automation as core to how modern audit is done.

Mission and Expected Outcomes

• Deliver the annual audit plan on time, with findings that are rigorous, practical, and trusted by senior stakeholders.
• Build a small, well‑led team that’s confident handling a growing, multi‑entity audit portfolio.
• Make AI, data analytics, and automation a standard part of how audits are delivered — with a growing share of engagements using full‑population testing or continuous monitoring rather than sample‑based checks alone.
• Make Internal Audit a credible, respected voice at the senior management and Audit Committee level — a business partner management seeks out early, not a function it works around.

Key Responsibilities

• Lead development and execution of risk‑based audit plans across assigned entities, in line with regulatory requirements, internal policy, and business priorities.
• Review team output for quality, evidence, and clarity before findings reach senior stakeholders.
• Act as a risk‑aware sounding board for business leaders on new products, system and process changes, and market launches — offering an early, informal view on control and regulatory implications, without owning the decision or design, preserving independence to audit that work later.
• Independently assess the design and operating effectiveness of internal controls, risk management, and governance processes, identifying root causes and recommending practical process improvements — not just listing exceptions.
• Coordinate with Compliance and Risk to avoid duplicated effort and close coordination gaps, while keeping audit scope, testing, and conclusions independent.
• Coach and develop team members, manage workload across a small team covering a growing audit universe, and build the team’s AI and automation skills so automation becomes how the whole team works, not one person’s specialism.
• Own the audit portfolio’s in‑house vs. outsourced mix, and oversee external providers where audits are co‑sourced or outsourced.
• Own Internal Audit’s AI and automation roadmap — identifying high‑value use cases, embedding tools into evidence collection, testing, and documentation, and automating routine audit work wherever it adds value.

Audit and Regulatory Scope

• Business scope: regulated fintech products and services, technology platforms, transactional systems, and reporting solutions.
• Audit scope: internal controls, technology controls, risk management, governance, regulatory compliance, and operational processes.
• Regulatory and industry scope: Bank Negara Malaysia (including RMiT and related guidelines), PayNet, ISO 27001/9001, card scheme requirements (Visa), and PDPA — across Finexus’s regulated entities, several run concurrently within a single audit year. Approach: independent, objective, risk‑based, and evidence‑driven, with clear escalation of significant issues to senior management and the Audit Committee.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s Degree in Accounting, Finance, Information Systems, IT, or a related discipline. Professional certifications (e.g. CIA, CISA, CPA, ACCA, CFE, CAMS, or relevant ISO Auditor certification) are an advantage but not mandatory. The Company supports professional development and certification.
• At least 6 years of relevant experience in internal audit, external audit, IT audit, or risk assurance, including hands‑on experience assessing technology‑related risks and controls.
• At least 2–3 years of experience leading audit engagements or supervising audit staff.
• Experience in financial services, fintech, or other regulated, technology‑driven environments is preferred.

Required Competencies and Skills

• Audit expertise and judgment — independently plans and executes audits, evaluates evidence, identifies control weaknesses, and reaches sound, defensible conclusions.
• Business and risk acumen — understands how businesses operate, where material risks sit, and focuses audits on what matters most. Recommends practical, risk‑proportionate solutions rather than checklist‑driven compliance.
• Technology and regulatory awareness — understands technology risks, IT general controls, information security, and is familiar with BNM, PayNet, ISO standards, card scheme requirements, and PDPA.
• AI and automation capability — has practical experience applying AI, data analytics, or automation to improve audit testing, analysis, or reporting, and actively identifies opportunities to reduce manual work and strengthen audit effectiveness.
• Communication and stakeholder management — communicates findings clearly, challenges management constructively, and confidently presents and defends conclusions to senior stakeholders.
• People leadership and delivery — leads audit engagements from planning through closure, manages deliverables, and coaches and develops team members.
• Professional independence and integrity — works collaboratively across functions while maintaining objectivity, accountability, and sound judgment on escalation.

Preferred and Good to Have

• Experience auditing payment systems, transactional platforms, or regulatory reporting solutions.
• Experience leading AI or automation initiatives in audit from concept through adoption.
• Experience working in a fast‑growing or scaling company.
• Experience presenting findings to an Audit Committee or equivalent governance body.