Senior Audit Manager - Pensions Centre of Expertise

Job Description

The National Audit Office (NAO) supports parliament to hold government to account and to improve public services. We focus on driving long-term sustainable improvement in public service delivery and work with government and our stakeholders to deliver betterperformance. In a nutshell, we help the nation spend wisely.We are pleased to announce an opportunity for the role of Senior Audit Manager within the National Audit Office’s Pensions Centre of Expertise (Pensions CoE).Senior Audit Managers play a vital role in making sure we deliver high quality external audit work to support effective accountability and scrutiny. As a member of our Centres of Expertise, Senior Audit Managers will support our audit teams in deliveringhigh quality work through the provision of technical advice and support, training, and development of tools and templates and updates to our methodology in response to developments in auditing standards and quality reviews. Senior Audit Managers will workalongside our financial audit teams to deliver audit work that is both high quality and delivers insight to help improve public servicesAt the same time, Senior Audit Managers may have the opportunity to act as Engagement Manager or Engagement Director to support the delivery of pensions related audits.Our work auditing £1 trillion of public expenditure and income gives us great insight into how government manages its money. Our ambition is to make greater use of this insight to help improve the management of public finances and risks to delivering publicservices. Senior Audit Managers work with Directors to draw on the NAO’s knowledge hubs and centres of expertise to identify opportunities to add real value for the organisations in your portfolio.Our values reflect who we are as the NAO and how we work together and with those outside the NAO to achieve our purpose and priorities. Were looking for people who believe in and exemplify our values to help the NAO be a great place to work. We act withcourage and integrity – we’re honest, open and challenging of ourselves and others to achieve better outcomes. We are inclusive and respectful, treating our people and stakeholders with courtesy and understanding. We are curious and seek to learn to help ourselvesand government improve how they use public money. And we strive for excellence to achieve high quality work that makes a difference.ResponsibilitiesWe are looking for individuals who can hit the ground running as Senior Audit Managers in our Pensions CoE. This means individuals should:

• Be operating at a Senior Audit Manager level or equivalent within an audit firm;
• Have experience of auditing pensions-related balances

We are looking for candidates who can demonstrate expertise and significant experience of delivering external financial audit work in a regulated environment. Successful candidates will be able to demonstrate their ability to build strong working relationshipsand influence positive change.Background to the Centres of ExpertiseThe NAO’s Centres of Expertise (CoEs) provides support to financial audit teams through issuing guidance and tools, as well as through facilitating engagement with subject-matter and technical experts and responding to ad-hoc queries. The NAO has four Centresof Expertise: Digital, Financial Instruments, Pensions and Property.The objective of the CoEs is to help the NAO’s Financial Audit Service Line deliver high quality audits. A number of central government financial statements include balances relating to defined benefit pension schemes.We currently do this by:

• Developing tools and workflows which help auditors assess the risk of material misstatements, and guide auditors to perform audit procedures to appropriately address those risks;
• Provide consultation through which teams can seek advise on the financial reporting or audit of pensions;
• Providing audit teams with access to external experts through our arrangements with partner audit firms; and
• Investing in our people (and the development of their subject matter expertise) and deploying our people on a targeted basis into the Financial Audit Service Line to undertake specific pensions related audit work.

Skills requiredEssential skills and experiences for the Senior Audit Manager role:

• Relevant financial qualification (CCAB) with recent post-qualification experience in delivering external audit in line with ISAs
• Exceptional audit project management skills, delivering work across a range of clients and balancing both long-term and short- term priorities.
• Strong relationship management and influencing skills. The post holder will own the day-to-day relationship with our external partners, provide advice to engagement partners, and influence at all levels of our FA Service Line to ensure that the COE maximisedits impact on audit quality.
• Collaborative, engages well with colleagues at all levels, and invests in their development and the wider success of the organisation.
• Strong people management skills including the ability to lead, develop and motivate diverse teams and support all colleagues to deliver great work and achieve their potential
• A strong commitment to their own self development and to delivering the NAO’s strategic objectives
• Experience of designing, developing and implementing initiatives to improve audit quality.

Essential skills and experience for the Pensions CoE role:

• Strong understanding of the classification, recognition, measurement and reporting requirements (under IFRSs) for pensions-related balances and transactions (including defined benefit pension scheme disclosures in employer accounts, and also pension fundfinancial statements)
• Experience of auditing pensions, either in employer accounts or pension fund financial statements
• Enjoys working in fast-paced, responsive environment and has ability to manage the delivery of a portfolio of planned and responsive work, and the delivery of short and longer-term COE priorities

Desirable skills and experience

• Responsible Individual status, or the ability to acquire RI status within one year
• Experience of public sector or charity audits
• Experience in implementing and embedding transformational change in financial audit methodologies, software and use of data
• Working in a Centre of Expertise that provides assurance over complex transactions and balances, such as pensions
• Experience in supporting a firm’s second and third line of defence.

Educational requirements: CCAB qualified (ACA, ACCA, ICAS, Chartered Accountant