APP Quality Manager

Job summary

The Government Internal Audit Agency (GIAA) is driven by its unparalleled access across government to build ‘better insights, better outcomes’ for our clients.

This role offers a strong platform for career progression within the Agency and the wider civil service, providing opportunities to develop leadership, stakeholder engagement and strategic relationship management skills across government.

The Agency’s unique access across the public sector exposes you to different risk and control environments, allowing you to gain insights, apply experience, contribute meaningfully, and continue developing professionally.

Job description

Audit Profession and Practice (APP) is responsible for driving consistency and quality across GIAA via the audit methodology, audit management system and quality assurance work.

APP sets standards, monitors compliance against those standards and shares best practice to promote continuous improvement. It also supports development and capability for internal auditors within GIAA.

The APP Quality Manager will have a leadership and delivery role within the Agency and will be responsible for designing, developing and delivering on quality assurance activities, stakeholder management in relation to quality and preparing for our EQA.

This role involves working closely with colleagues across our internal audit teams to strengthen professional capability and drive continuous improvement initiatives. The post holder will play a key part in enhancing audit quality, delivering better insights and outcomes, and upholding quality assurance standards to protect the Agency’s reputation. The position also focuses on fostering a risk-oriented culture and supporting the ongoing professional development of the team, ensuring skills, capacity, and priorities are aligned to optimise overall delivery.

This role is rotational within the Agency’s internal audit function. Individuals appointed to this post will have the opportunity to gain experience in operational audit teams, complementing their professional development in APP. Rotations are expected to be up to five years, with arrangements agreed individually and supported by the Agency to ensure smooth transitions and continuity of expertise.

Responsibilities:

• Supporting and delivering quality assurance activities (QA) across the Agency in line with Global Internal Audit Standards (GIAS) in the UK Public Sector.
• Delivering end-to-end elements of the QA programme, including scoping, fieldwork, analysis, and reporting of results.
• Expanding and enhancing QA coverage across all audit work undertaken within the audit management system.
• Developing and applying data analytics and innovative approaches to strengthen quality assurance processes.
• Building and maintain effective stakeholder engagement, including developing communication plans and working with key groups such as Heads of Internal Audit and audit teams.
• Preparing for External Quality Assessments (EQA) and engage confidently with operational teams and assessors throughout the process.
• Monitoring and tracking actions arising from the Quality Assurance and Improvement Programme, including internal and external assessments.
• Providing leadership and oversight for members of the APP team, supporting their development and performance across multiple regional locations. Specific training will be provided to enable you to fulfil all requirements of this role.

Person specification

1. Expert knowledge of internal audit methodologies and audit management systems, with significant experience in planning, managing, and delivering a portfolio of risk-based audits, making effective decisions, and responding to rapidly changing priorities.
2. Proven ability to lead, manage, and develop high-performing internal audit teams, while driving and supporting change at both team and organisational level through a continuous improvement approach.
3. Strong project and workload management skills, with the ability to prioritise effectively, manage multiple tasks to tight deadlines, and operate with minimal supervision.
4. Excellent communication, interpersonal, and influencing skills, with the ability to build and maintain strong relationships and convey complex information clearly to stakeholders at all levels, including senior leadership.
5. Strong strategic thinking and analytical skills, with the ability to interpret complex or conflicting information, make sound judgements, and identify and address resource and capability gaps in audit service delivery.
6. Ability to promote and embed a culture of compliance and continuous improvement, demonstrating resilience and tact when handling challenges, and using innovative solutions to strengthen internal controls, risk management, and governance processes.

To apply for this role, you will need to submit your employment history, personal details and provide a statement of suitability of no more than 750 words, referring to the person specification.

Please note only your statement of suitability will be assessed at the sift stage.

Candidates invited to interview will be required to give a short presentation to the interview panel followed by questions. At interview you will be assessed on experience, strengths and the following technical skills: Internal Audit

Qualifications

All candidates will need to demonstrate full current membership of a recognised professional accountancy/audit body, either:
Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors UK & Ireland and must hold 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 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 meets the requirements of this post.
Or
Accountancy, fully qualified, current member of a CCAB body (ICAEW, ACCA, CIPFA, ICAS, Chartered Accountants Ireland or CIMA)

Technical skills

We'll assess you against these technical skills during the selection process:

• Internal

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £58,429, Government Internal Audit Agency contributes £16,926 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Benefits

• Competitive salaries and in-year rewards
• Flexible working
• A Civil Service Pension with an employer contribution of 28.97%
• 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

Things you need to know

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence can be a useful tool to support your application, however, all examples and statements provided must be truthful, factually accurate and taken directly from your own experience. Where plagiarism has been identified (presenting the ideas and experiences of others, or generated by artificial intelligence, as your own) applications may be withdrawn and internal candidates may be subject to disciplinary action. Please see our candidate guidance (opens in a new window) for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Selection process details

This vacancy is using Success Profiles (opens in a new window), and will assess your Strengths, Experience and Technical skills.

Recruitment Timeline

• Closing date: 3rd June 2026 before 23:55
• Shortlisting: w/c 08 June 2026
• Interviews: w/c 22 June 2026

This timeline is indicative and may be subject to change. We will inform you if there is a substantial change to the recruitment timeline.

If your contact details change at any time during the selection process, please ensure you update your Civil Service Jobs profile.

Please note that only applications submitted through Civil Service Jobs will be accepted.

Eligibility Statement

A candidate is not eligible to apply for a role in the Civil Service if the application is made within a 5-year period following a dismissal for carrying out internal fraud against government. Checks will be performed as part of pre-employment checks in line with this. Please refer to the Candidate FAQ document attached to the advert for more information.

Everyone working with government assets must complete Baseline Personnel Security Standard (BPSS) checks. Additionally, individuals appointed to the Treasury group will be subject to National Security Vetting. The level of security vetting required for this role is Security Check (SC)

To allow for meaningful checks to be carried out, applicants will need to have lived in the UK for at least 3 out of the past 5 years. In exceptional circumstances, for example if you have been working abroad on a government posting, a lack of residency would not be a bar to security clearance however the Department will need to consider eligibility on a case-by-case basis once the advert closing date has passed.

Please read the Vetting Charter for information on what to expect during the vetting process and what will be expected from you. Many areas of your life may be explored during your vetting journey, and it is important that every individual, regardless of their background and experiences, should feel comfortable going through this personal process, whilst having confidence that it is fair, proportionate, and inclusive.

Feedback will only be provided if you attend an interview or assessment.

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.Successful candidates must meet the security requirements before they can be appointed. The level of security needed is security check (opens in a new window).

See our vetting charter (opens in a new window).People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Nationality requirements

This job is broadly open to the following groups:

• UK nationals
• nationals of the Republic of Ireland
• nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities with settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) (opens in a new window)
• nationals of the EU, Switzerland, Norway, Iceland or Liechtenstein and family members of those nationalities who have made a valid application for settled or pre-settled status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)
• individuals with limited leave to remain or indefinite leave to remain who were eligible to apply for EUSS on or before 31 December 2020
• Turkish nationals, and certain family members of Turkish nationals, who have accrued the right to work in the Civil Service

Further information on nationality requirements (opens in a new window)

Working for the Civil Service

The Civil Service Code (opens in a new window) sets out the standards of behaviour expected of civil servants.

We recruit by merit on the basis of fair and open competition, as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's recruitment principles (opens in a new window).The Civil Service embraces diversity and promotes equal opportunities. As such, we run a Disability Confident Scheme (DCS) for candidates with disabilities who meet the minimum selection criteria.The Civil Service also offers a Redeployment Interview Scheme to civil servants who are at risk of redundancy, and who meet the minimum requirements for the advertised vacancy.

Diversity and Inclusion

The Civil Service is committed to attract, retain and invest in talent wherever it is found. To learn more please see theCivil Service People Plan (opens in a new window) and the Civil Service Diversity and Inclusion Strategy (opens in a new window).

Apply and further information

This vacancy is part of the Great Place to Work for Veterans (opens in a new window) initiative.The Civil Service welcomes applications from people who have recently left prison or have an unspent conviction. Read more about prison leaver recruitment (opens in new window).Once this job has closed, the job advert will no longer be available. You may want to save a copy for your records.

Contact point for applicants

Job contact :

• Name : Katie Woodhouse
• Email : GIAARecruitment@giaa.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : giaarecruitment@giaa.gov.uk

Further information

Complaints Procedure: The law requires that selection for appointment to the Civil Service is on merit on the basis of fair and open competition as outlined in the Civil Service Commission's Recruitment Principles. If you feel your application has not been treated in accordance with the Recruitment Principles, and you wish to make a complaint, you should contact: GIAARecruitment@giaa.gov.uk in the first instance. If you are not satisfied with the response you receive from the Department, you can contact the Civil Service Commission.

Attachments

Grade 7-APP Quality Manager-Candidate Pack Opens in new window (pdf, 916kB)Success Profiles - Candidate Overview Opens in new window (pdf, 617kB)