Band 3 Senior Internal Assurance Lead

Office for Nuclear Regulation

Hybrid

Expires: Expiring in less than 4 weeks

Policy

Full time

£46,513 - £56,174 per year

Job summary

Job Purpose

The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) is the UK’s independent nuclear regulator, responsible for ensuring that the nuclear industry controls its hazards effectively and maintains the highest standards of safety, security and safeguards.

We are seeking a highly motivated Senior Internal Auditor or Assurance Lead to provide independent, objective assurance on ONR’s governance, risk management and internal control framework.

This is a critical role at the heart of public service, supporting ONR in delivering its mission to protect society by securing safe nuclear operations. Internal Audit plays a vital role in strengthening organisational performance, improving systems, and safeguarding public confidence.

About The Role

As a Senior Assurance Lead, you will lead and deliver risk-based audit engagements across ONR’s regulatory and corporate functions.

You will act as a trusted advisor and critical friend, providing insight, challenge and assurance to senior leaders, helping to ensure effective decision-making in a complex, high-hazard regulatory environment.

ONR Operates a Three Lines of Defence model and you will perform Internal Assurance reviews in line with the second line of defence and Regulatory Assurance reviews acting on behalf of the third line of defence.

Principal Responsibilities

Deliver end-to-end internal assurance assignments, including planning, fieldwork, reporting and follow-up, in line with professional standards.
Develop and execute risk-based audit plans, aligned to ONR’s strategic risks and priorities.
Provide independent assurance on governance, risk management and internal control effectiveness, including undertaking embedded assurance reviews.
Produce clear, concise and impactful internal assurance reports with practical recommendations to senior stakeholders.
Build strong relationships across ONR to influence and support continuous improvement.
Monitor and track implementation of audit recommendations, ensuring timely resolution of findings.
Contribute to the continuous improvement of assurance methodology, tools and practices.
Support ad hoc reviews, investigations and advisory work as required.
Promote a strong culture of risk awareness, accountability and learning across the organisation.

Job description

Line Management Responsibilities

As part of this role there will be an expectation to manage staff.

Location / Travel

This post may be undertaken from a base at any one of ONR’s office locations (Bootle, Cheltenham, or London).

ONR operates hybrid working (working in the office and or at home) as part of our flexible working policy. There is an expectation that everyone will spend time in the office on a regular basis, recognising that some work is better done face to face. Managers will work with their teams on what works best to meet individual, team, business and organisational needs to enable collaboration, as well as balancing personal choice and wellbeing.

Person specification

Work with Us

Our colleagues are from all walks of life with varied personal experiences and career journeys into ONR. We want the best people for our roles. As an inclusive employer we value individuals’ contributions, regardless of their age, gender, race, ethnicity, disability, sexual orientation, social background, religion, or belief. Our values ‘supportive, open-minded, fair and accountable’ are central to this. We invest in our people to build capability, resilience, and promote wellbeing in our great teams, underpinned by our inherent focus on inclusion and excellence.

Security Clearance

Person Specification

Inclusion

We are committed to being an inclusive employer and welcome applicants from all backgrounds. We will consider reasonable adjustments to ensure the recruitment process is inclusive and barrier-free. If you require reasonable adjustments as part of your application, please contact ONR HR as soon as possible, preferably before the vacancy closes, by emailing ONR.Human-Resources@onr.gov.uk/ or francesca.fay@onr.gov.ukto discuss further.

We will also offer an interview to disabled people who meet the minimum criteria for applicants who opt into the guaranteed interview scheme.

We recognise we have a role to play in helping those leaving the Armed Forces and have a Veterans guaranteed interview scheme. We offer an interview to Veterans who meet the minimum criteria for applicants who opt into the scheme. Please see eligibility criteria below.

served for at least one year in His Majesty's Armed Forces (as a Regular or Reserve).
be in transition from, or ceased to be a member of, His Majesty’s Armed Forces.
not already be employed by ONR.

Skills/Job Related Expertise

Essential Criteria

Demonstrable experience delivering internal audit or assurance reviews in a complex organisation.
Strong understanding of risk management, governance and internal control frameworks.
Proven ability to analyse complex information and make risk-based judgements.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to influence senior stakeholders.
Experience of building effective relationships and providing constructive challenge.
Strong organisational skills with the ability to manage competing priorities and deliver to deadlines.

Desirable Criteria

Experience within a regulated industry.
Knowledge of government risk frameworks (e.g. Orange Book).
Experience of data analytics tools to support audit delivery.

Qualifications

A relevant professional qualification (or working towards), such as:

Chartered Internal Auditor (CIA)
CCAB-qualified accountant (e.g. ACA, ACCA, CIMA, CIPFA)
Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA)

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £46,513, Office for Nuclear Regulation contributes £13,474 towards you being a member of the Civil Service Defined Benefit Pension scheme. Find out what benefits a Civil Service Pension provides.

Learning and development tailored to your role
An environment with flexible working options
A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity
A civil service pension

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

For Further Information

For more information about this vacancy please contact Sophie Trevenna

* - sophie.trevenna@onr.gov.uk

How To apply

Please submit your application through the recruitment portal.

The closing date for receipt of applications is 29th June 2026 at 11:45pm

Your application should include:

CV to include a full record of your education and professional qualifications and a full employment history.
A suitability statement (maximum of 800 words) highlighting how you meet the ‘essential skills and experience” required for the role, which will be used at shortlisting in conjunction with your CV.
Where applicable highlight if you have any experience under ‘desirable skills and experience’ within the application form.

Throughout our shortlisting process, we will make decisions about your capability to do the job, based on evidence you provide against the essential criteria (and the desirable if applicable).

ONR do welcome applicants who require sponsorship through the skilled worker route. Unfortunately, this particular role is not open to application from those who will require sponsorship under the points based system. Should you apply for this role and it’s identified at any stage that you require sponsorship your application will be rejected, and any provisional offers of employment will be withdrawn.

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.

Important guidance when providing CV’s – please upload text-based CVs with no graphics or pictures to ensure the anonymisation function works correctly.

Please note - if whilst completing your application, you use special characters such as (‘; “- _ *) within your examples, Hireserve will convert these characters into symbols. We are currently unable to change this.

Whilst these examples will appear on your application, this will not prevent it from being reviewed at the shortlisting stage.

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

Security

Successful candidates must undergo a criminal record check.People working with government assets must complete baseline personnel security standard (opens in new window) checks.

Medical

Successful candidates will be expected to have a medical.

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

Please note this Post is NOT regulated by the Civil Service Commission.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.

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.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 : Sophie Trevenna
Email : sophie.trevenna@onr.gov.uk

Salary range

£46,513 - £56,174 per year