Director of AI-Powered Audit Analytics

001 The Northern Trust Company; Chicago (IL); On-site; USD 137,000 - 240,000; Full time

Job summary

The Northern Trust Company seeks a Director of Internal Audit Data Analytics in Chicago to lead analytics, AI, and automation across Audit Services. You will define a multi-year roadmap, oversee scalable analytics, ensure governance, and partner with Technology, Risk, and enterprise AI governance to deliver measurable assurance.

Manage a global, multidisciplinary team and drive adoption of data-driven audit practices.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree or equivalent relevant professional experience.
• At least 10 years of experience in internal audit, risk management, data analytics, technology, or a related field, including experience leading significant transformation initiatives.
• Demonstrated success developing and executing multi-year strategies that modernize audit, risk, or control functions through data, technology, analytics, or AI.
• Strong understanding of internal audit execution and the ability to translate audit, risk, and business challenges into scalable analytical or technology-enabled solutions.
• Experience leading multidisciplinary teams and delivering outcomes across functions, regions, and time zones.
• Demonstrated ability to communicate complex analytical and technical concepts clearly to senior leaders, audit professionals, technical teams, and non‑technical stakeholders.
• Experience leading organizational change, including stakeholder alignment, communications, training, and adoption.
• Strong judgment and understanding of governance, risk, control, data quality, and regulatory considerations associated with analytics, automation, and AI.

Responsibilities

• Strategy and capability development: Define and own the Audit Services data analytics, AI, and automation strategy, aligned with enterprise priorities, the audit plan, regulatory expectations, and evolving technology capabilities.
• Develop and execute a multi-year roadmap to embed analytics and AI across audit planning, scoping, testing, reporting, continuous assurance, and risk assessment.
• Establish a sustainable operating model covering talent, technology, data access, governance, prioritization, and delivery.
• Maintain a prioritized portfolio of analytics, automation, and continuous assurance opportunities across the audit universe, with particular focus on horizontal risks and cross-functional insights.
• Analytics, AI, and technology enablement: Lead the design, implementation, and ongoing enhancement of scalable analytics and technology solutions that support risk identification, automated testing, continuous monitoring, and on-demand insights.
• Define and advance Audit Services’ AI strategy, including the responsible use of Microsoft Copilot and other approved AI capabilities.
• Partner with Northern Trust’s AI governance bodies and relevant control functions to identify, evaluate, approve, and implement high-value Audit use cases.
• Chair the Audit AI Working Group and establish a disciplined process for identifying, prioritizing, developing, testing, and scaling AI-enabled solutions.
• Guide the development of AI-enabled audit capabilities, agents, bots, and automation solutions with appropriate controls, documentation, validation, and human oversight.
• Ensure analytics and AI solutions comply with applicable data governance, information security, privacy, model risk, records management, and responsible AI requirements.
• Audit delivery and assurance impact: Oversee the delivery of analytics for individual audits to increase coverage, improve testing effectiveness, automate repeatable procedures, and generate deeper risk insights.
• Partner with audit leaders and engagement teams to translate complex audit and business risks into practical analytical solutions.
• Develop continuous assurance capabilities that provide timely indicators of emerging risks and control performance.
• Ensure analytical methods, data sources, assumptions, and outputs are appropriately documented, explainable, reproducible, and aligned with Internal Audit methodology and professional standards.
• Establish and monitor key performance indicators that measure delivery, adoption, efficiency, audit coverage, insight quality, and assurance impact.
• Leadership and change adoption: Lead, develop, and mentor a global multidisciplinary team with expertise across internal audit, business analytics, data science, AI, and automation.
• Build strong partnerships across Audit Services and with Technology, Data, Risk, Compliance, and other enterprise functions.
• Lead change management, communications, training, and stakeholder engagement to drive sustained adoption of data-driven audit practices.
• Advance analytics and AI fluency across Audit Services through targeted learning, mentorship, practical tools, and hands-on enablement.
• Represent Audit Services in relevant enterprise forums and build external credibility through engagement with professional associations, regulators, peers, and industry thought leaders.

Skills

SQL

Power BI

Snowflake

Microsoft Copilot

Job description

The Northern Trust Company seeks a Director of Internal Audit Data Analytics in Chicago to lead analytics, AI, and automation across Audit Services. You will define a multi-year roadmap, oversee scalable analytics, ensure governance, and partner with Technology, Risk, and enterprise AI governance to deliver measurable assurance.

Manage a global, multidisciplinary team and drive adoption of data-driven audit practices.