Head of Audit, Assurance and Risk

Job Description

IPSA is the independent body that regulates and administers the business costs and decides the pay and pensions of the 650 elected Members of Parliament and their staff in the UK. We were created by the Parliamentary Standards Act 2009, as the worlds firstindependent regulator of MPs financial remuneration.IPSA is on a mission! We want to enable MPs to do what really matters by providing an exemplary, seamless regulatory service. We have a compelling plan and were intent on transforming IPSA. Transparency lies at the heart of everything we do. We publishdetails of business costs claims made by MPs and their staff, as well as annual data about every MPs spending and other aspects of their activity.About the role:We are seeking to appoint a Head of Audit, Assurance and Risk who can help shape IPSAs future audit, assurance and risk arrangements and help us to continue delivering a seamless regulatory service. Youll be able to advise on whether internalaudit should be brought in house and, if so, youll be ready to develop and lead the audit, assurance and risk team with that extended remit, while working collaboratively across IPSA to embed it within our future regulatory approach. Youll be joining a dynamicand high-performing team, so youll be an inspiring leader with a qualification in audit or assurance and have substantial experience of working in the public sector. Youll have a continuous improvement mind-set and approach change head on, with determinationto ensure that IPSA achieves its strategic objectives.Main responsibilities:In addition to working with members of IPSAs Senior Leadership Team to develop and deliver activity aligned to IPSAs purposes and values, you will be responsible for:

• Leading the audit, risk and assurance team, ensuring the delivery of agreed plans and supporting the training and development of the team.

• Designing and delivering an internal assurance strategy and programme to support the Chief Executive in signing the annual governance statement and meeting all statutory, public sector and wider requirements.
• Improving, delivering, and embedding our risk management culture, framework and supporting arrangements to ensure that risk and opportunity drive our strategic and operational decision making.

• Ensuing that the Internal Audit plan, currently delivered by an external partner, is driven by the key risks facing IPSA and is successfully completed.

What we are looking for:Youll be a qualified professional (e.g., CIPFA, ACA, ACCA, IIA or CIMA) and an experienced leader who has experience of operating at a senior level. Youll have a deep understanding of the audit, assurance and risk landscape, with demonstrable experienceworking within the public sector. Your ability to manage multiple workstreams will be first rate and youll be a pragmatic problem-solver comfortable with thinking outside the box, even within the regulatory framework.With excellent written and verbal communication skills, youll be comfortable liaising with internal and external stakeholders at all levels, for example, with executive leadership and Board members, government departments and other stakeholders.Resilience, innovation and the ability to work at pace are important within the context of regulation and the changing landscape of the public sector.A full person specification is available on our website.How to apply:If you are interested in applying for this role, please send your CV and a one-page cover letter. We ask you to be succinct and to the point in your cover letter, highlighting why youd be a great match, and its always a good idea focus this around someof your key achievements which might be relevant to this role.We operate a blind recruitment process, so please remove any reference to your:

• Name and title
• Educational institution names
• Age and gender
• Email address
• Postal address and telephone number
• Nationality and immigration status

Please ensure that your CV and cover letter does not contain any personal details which could identify you. We may be unable to consider your application if you do not follow the application guidelines above.When you submit your application via email to our HR team, your name and email address will only be visible to them and not those who will conduct the shortlisting. The People team will contact you if you have been shortlisted. If you would like furtherinformation or an informal discussion, please contact us.We anticipate a high volume of applications for this role, and regretfully we will only be able to respond to you if you are shortlisted.Interview processOur interview and onboarding processes are virtual. If you want to join our team, youll need access to a secure WIFI network and a private space to work from. If youre successful we will provide you with equipment for onboarding, training, and workingfrom home.If you are shortlisted, there will be a competency-based interview where we will ask you a series of questions designed to help the panel assess your suitability for the role and for IPSA, and we may also ask you prepare a short presentation.We expect to shortlist for this role in w/c 27th February, with interviews in w/c 6th March, although we may decide to conduct initial telephone interviews before that date, depending on the volume of applications.Important informationWe aim to keep our application window open for four weeks which means the closing date for this role will be Friday 24th February. However, we will sift applications as they are submitted and therefore, we reserve the right to closethe advert at any point after two weeks.We expect to receive a high number of applications for this role, so we strongly advise you to apply before Friday 10th February.Privacy notice and right to workBy applying you confirm you have the right to work in the UK and have read our Human Resources Privacy notice.