Vice President, Business Internal Audit

Job information:

• Functional title – Business Audit
• Department – Internal Audit
• Corporate level - Vice President
• Report to – Executive Director, Corporate Functions Audit
• Location – New Jersey, on-site two days per week
• Expected full-time salary range between $ 180,000 - $200,000 + variable compensation + 401(k) match + benefits

Job Purpose:

CLS Internal Audit (IA) is an independent function. The Chief Internal Auditor (CIA) reports functionally to the Chairman of the Audit & Finance Committee and administratively to the Chief Executive Officer. The IA team provides a comprehensive audit service to the CLS Group of Companies and controls advice to the Board and senior management.

The Director will primarily support the Executive Director (Corporate Functions Audit) in providing risk-based integrated audit coverage and independent assessment of the effectiveness of key processes, controls and risk management across CLS. IA's ways of working reflect the requirements of CLS's designation as a Strategically Important Financial Market Utility (SIFMU). The requirements of the Audit Plan are diverse and challenging. The Director will lead and oversee a portfolio of audits. It is important that the Director be versatile and flexible so equally at home conducting a complex audit standalone, as line managing and guiding a small team. Importantly, the Director will be expected to have a sound understanding of financial services business practices and will be able to contribute to integrated audits of CLS’s various business divisions.

What you will be doing:

Stakeholder Management / Strategic: (20%)

• Perform continuous monitoring of the business, under the direction of senior audit management, to identify emerging risks and issues and report to audit management and the Audit & Finance Committee.
• Communicating audit work overseen and managed to regulators and executive management.
• Develop and maintain working relationships with all levels of management and external parties.
• To monitor strategic developments within CLS and highlight any unidentified risks or potential control issues.
• Supporting MI and reporting to executive management, AFC, and senior IA management.

Audit Delivery Management: (50%)

• Manage the development of the annual Audit Plan (for their respective portfolio) based on an assessment of the key risks within CLS and continuous review of risks to ensure the plan is amended where appropriate.
• Oversee and manage independent validation to confirm management’s remediation of audit and regulatory issues.
• Responsible for managing the planning and execution of complex audits and high-level reviews.
• Oversee and prioritize audit delivery across a small portfolio of audits.
• Lead complex, ambiguous, non-routine and cross-functional activity to support senior management in improving the departmental processes.

People Management: (25%)

• Manage direct reports, or other members of the Internal Audit team (including co-source resources), for the applicable portfolio audits.
• Performance management of direct reports (including coaching and performance reviews)
• Recruitment and retention of talent.

Professional Development (5%)

• Proactively maintain knowledge, skills and disciplines, with on-going professional development.
• Maintain the professional standard of the Internal Audit function and work within its agreed Terms of Reference and IIA standards/guidelines, Charter and Mandate.
• Demonstrate adaptability to ensure that the audit focus is maintained on key issues, under the guidance of audit senior management.

What we’re looking for:

• Extensive experience working within Internal Audit in a financial services environment (ideally banking) and / or strong financial and operational audit experience across a range of business audits in a financial institution.
• Ability to provide technical subject matter expertise during integrated operational audits.
• Experience of managing a portfolio of Internal Audit assignments.
• Strong analytical skills.
• Experience of dealing with all levels of management; ability to influence at all levels.
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal.
• Experience and understanding of regulatory requirements, e.g. FRBNY.
• Extensive experience of managing and developing junior colleagues.
• Working experience in auditing third-party risk management, finance, or compliance is desirable but not essential.
• Experience in supporting Internal Audit MI and reporting is desirable, including reporting to IA management and the AFC on IA internal metrics and performance, and thematic reporting to senior management/AFC on assurance outcomes.

Success Factors:

• Confident in managing and leading a portfolio of audits.
• Proven success in building, developing, and managing a team of auditors.
• Excellent interpersonal and communications skills (verbal and written).
• Must be a strong team player but also be able to work independently.
• Proactive, self-motivated - ability to plan, organize, perform and manage work with minimal supervision.
• Results oriented – able to deliver high-quality results in an environment of changing demands, variable workloads and tight timescales.
• Ability to engage and influence senior stakeholders.
• Innovative problem-solving approach. Able to think on a broad scale about issues affecting the company, not just those related to IA or the control environment.
• Able to interpret internal and external issues and recommend solutions/best practices.
• Ability to travel to oversee and manage audits and direct reports (approx. 1–2 trips per annum).

Professional qualifications / certifications

• Qualified Accountant (desirable) - ACA / ACCA (UK), CPA (US)
• Audit Certifications (desirable) – CMIIA (UK), CIA (US)