Group Chief Internal Auditor

Are you looking for a significant career opportunity to join a fast paced and growing organisation? If so, we’d love to hear from you!

About Government Internal Audit Agency

We are an executive agency of Her Majesty’s Treasury (HM Treasury), established in April 2015 to improve the quality of internal audit provided to central government. Most of the Agency’s people are professionally qualified internal auditors, accountants or investigators. Many are also specialists in areas including counter fraud, project management, digital and commercial audit. Our workforce brings with it a unique depth of experience gained in a wide range of government departments, related bodies and other sectors. This enables us to offer a high-quality service based on cross-government insight and a strong understanding of our customers’ business.

We lead both the Government Internal Audit Profession and the Government Internal Audit Function. We are looking for a Group Chief Internal Auditor to lead the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) audit team and potentially smaller customers within the GIAA portfolio. This is an exciting opportunity for you to add real government insight to your portfolio, working in a fast-paced environment, where you will own responsibility for the Internal Audit service to the DEFRA Accounting Officer. We'll welcome your new ideas and fresh outlook, together with your exceptional leadership, energy and drive to deliver an outstanding service to your customers with your team of professional internal auditors.

This role is varied, but in summary your week may comprise a mixture of the following:

• Providing the Permanent Secretary, Accounting Officers, and client Audit Committees, with reliable, evidence based, independent opinions on risk management, control and governance.
• Directing activity to develop and implement an Internal Audit Plan which reflects the priorities of the client.
• Managing resources to enable effective delivery.
• Securing agreement to Internal Audit’s plans, with the Permanent Secretary, Accounting Officers and client Audit Committees.
• Delivering plans to time, budget and quality standards in order to support year-end assurances and other agreed stakeholder requirements.
• Supporting senior stakeholders in the identification and management of key risks.
• Assisting the Principal Accounting Officer in management of relationships with external bodies, including the National Audit Office, HM Treasury, and the Public Accounts Committee in respect of VFM and financial audits of the client department.

As a senior member of the leadership team of GIAA, you will also be responsible for:

• Inspiring and leading a team of professional auditors to deliver the highest quality service to one of our most significant customers;
• Collectively organising both individual and thematic reviews sufficient to provide annual assurance to individual Accounting Officers;
• Actively engaging with the agendas of client organisations, maintaining awareness of changing risk profiles and appetites, and adjusting audit programmes in response to these as appropriate;
• Working with the wider internal audit community in enhancing the service across Whitehall;
• Supporting the CEO in building the capability of the internal audit function to deliver a strong, value added service to all clients, a focus on strategic risks, and develop new leaders with the capability to develop the profession in the future.

What you will bring to the role

You will be a proven leader who is able to influence at senior levels, deploy strong professional internal audit skills to provide sound advice and respond quickly to fast moving priorities. 

You will need to demonstrate full current membership of a recognised professional accountancy/audit body: 

Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors UK & Ireland, must hold the chartered auditor/CMIIA designation or the MIIA designation where you are qualified under the previous exam route and did not apply to make this chartered. If you have passed all of the CMIIA/MIIA exams but do not hold the designation, you are not eligible to apply. 

Other Institutes of Internal Auditors that are part of IIA Global, If you studied with the Institute of Internal Auditors in another country, you must hold the equivalent of the MIIA designation. You should verify this with the IIA UK & Ireland prior to submitting your application, by emailing membership@iia.org.uk, No other level of internal audit qualifications meet the requirements of this post. 

OR 

Accountancy, fully qualified, current member of one of five CCAB bodies (ICAEW, ACCA, CIPFA, ICAS, Chartered Accountants Ireland or CIMA)

The Agency fully embraces diversity & inclusion and have recently appointed a dedicated senior diversity & inclusion lead to support our many people networks covering disability, LGBT+, black & ethnic minority groups, equal opportunities for all, faith and more, as well as to progress an ambitious D&I work programme and strategy.

We are moving to hybrid office/home working and will consider applications from people able to access any of the following offices: Birmingham, Bootle, Bristol, Leeds, London, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Reading, Sheffield, Swindon, York

Benefits

• Competitive salaries and in-year rewards
• Flexible working
• Civil Service Pension
• Discount on big brands
• Volunteering days
• Season Ticket Loan and Cycle to Work Schemes
• Free eyesight tests
• Family-friendly HR policies
• 25 days’ annual leave increasing by one day per year of service to 30 days after 5 years’ service.
• Geographically based Agency

Complaints procedure

If you need any reasonable adjustments to take part in the selection process, please tell us about this in your online application form, or speak to the recruitment team.

Our recruitment process is underpinned by the principle of appointment based on fair and open competition and appointment on merit, as outlined in the Civil Service Commissioners’ Recruitment Principles. If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with these principles and you wish to make a complaint, you should in the first instance contact HMT by email.

If you are not satisfied with the response you receive, you can contact the Civil Service Commission, which regulates all Civil Service recruitment.