Internal Auditor

City of Columbia, SC; Columbia (SC); On-site; USD 60,000 - 80,000; Full time

Job summary

The City of Columbia, SC is seeking an experienced auditor to evaluate internal controls and conduct audits of city programs funded by Federal, State, and other sources.

The role coordinates external audits, investigates fraud, waste, and abuse, and improves compliance across City departments through independent planning and reporting.

Qualifications

• Bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance or a closely related field.
• Four years of relevant prior experience.
• Valid South Carolina Class “D” Driver’s License.
• Certified Internal Auditor designation is desirable.

Responsibilities

• Develops and manages the city’s Quality Assurance/Quality Control Program for HUD Programs.
• Develops long-range internal audit plans and programs.
• Performs professional internal auditing work to improve procedures and controls across the City’s fiscal system.
• Reviews policies for compliance with financial, administrative and legal standards; recommends changes.
• Assesses internal controls and oversight over Federal, State, and other funding.
• Evaluates contracts and city processes for internal control effectiveness.
• Coordinates Federal and State audits and monitoring visits; develops responses to findings.
• Identifies and reports Fraud, Waste, and Abuse across all departments.

Skills

Auditing

Internal controls

Fraud detection

Financial analysis

Education

Bachelor’s degree in accounting or finance

Job description

Description

This position evaluates the city’s internal controls and conducts internal monitoring/audits of city administered Federal, State and other programs; responsible for the coordination and response to external audits or monitoring by state and/or federal agencies as necessary; responsible for the detection and prevention of fraud, waste, and abuse in city and sub-recipient administered programs; performs a variety of complex professional, administrative and technical functions involved in auditing the performance of all City departments for compliance with established financial, administrative and legal policies, procedures and standards; and performs related work as assigned. The incumbent works within broad policy and organizational guidelines and does independent planning and implementation, reporting progress of major activities through periodic conferences and meetings.

The work is considered sedentary and involves walking or standing some of the time and involves exerting up to 10 pounds of force on a recurring basis or routine keyboard operations. The work requires the following physical abilities to perform the essential job functions: fingering, hearing, mental acuity, speaking, and visual acuity.

Work environment involves exposure to no known environmental hazards; and involves critical situations that require major decisions involving people, resources and property.

Essential Job Functions

• Develops and manages the city’s Quality Assurance and Quality Control Program for all HUD Programs;
• Develops and implements long-range internal audit plans and programs;
• Performs professional internal auditing work with emphasis on developing and maintaining effective procedures and procedural improvements to the City’s fiscal and administrative management system;
• Reviews City policies and procedures for effectiveness and compliance with generally accepted financial, administrative and legal standards; makes recommendations for change as appropriate;
• Assess existing internal controls and make recommendations to improve oversight over Federal, State and other funding;
• Develops a process for the evaluation of contracts or city processes that involve the delegation of key internal controls;
• Performs independent and objective internal audits to ensure that CDBG-DR Programs are administered in accordance with program policies and federal regulations;
• Coordinates all Federal and State audits and monitoring visits to include the development of responses for any concerns or findings in conjunction with the city Department;
• Develops protocols and processes for the identification and reporting of Fraud, Waste, and Abuse (ALL DEPARTMENTS);
• Analyzes cases of Fraud, Waste, and Abuse with presentation of cases to HUD OIG or other law enforcement agencies as necessary;
• Prepares monthly material and non-material exception reports to the City Manager’s Office to streamline existing processes and recommend corrective actions or programmatic improvements;
• Receives and responds to inquiries, concerns, complaints and requests for assistance in areas of responsibility;
• Schedules and attends city meetings as necessary;
• Attends training, conferences, seminars, workshops, etc., as necessary to enhance job knowledge and skills; and

• Performs other related duties as assigned.

Qualifications

MINIMUM REQUIREMENTS TO PERFORM WORK:

• Bachelor’s degree in accounting, finance or a closely related field;
• Four (4) years of relevant prior experience;
• Valid South Carolina Class “D” Driver’s License;
• Certified Internal Auditor designation is desirable.

Knowledge, Skills, and Abilities

• Knowledge of addition and subtraction, multiplication and division, and/or calculating ratios, rates and percentages;
• Ability to read technical instructions, procedures, manuals and charts to solve practical problems; composing routine reports and specialized reports, forms and business letters with proper format; speaking compound sentences using normal grammar and word form;
• Ability to plan and direct others in the sequence of major activities and reporting on operations and activities which are very broad in scope;
• Ability to handle or use machines, tools or equipment requiring brief instruction or experience, such as computers for data entry, fax machines, copiers, telephones or similar equipment; may service office machines, including adding paper and changing toner;
• Ability to perform supervisory work involving policy and guidelines, solving both people- and work-related problems;
• Ability to perform specialized technical or entry-level professional work requiring general understanding of operating policies and procedures and their application to problems not previously encountered; application of specialized technical or professional principles and practices or the use of a wide range of administrative methods in the solution of problems; requires normal attention with short periods of concentration for accurate results and occasional exposure to unusual pressure; and
• Ability to take action for others, requiring almost constant decisions affecting co-workers, customers or others in the general public.