Director General Chief Executive Officer

Job summary

It is over ten years since the GIAA was formally established as an executive agency of HM Treasury, with the mission to bring together our collective internal audit expertise and capacity into a cross-government team, delivering high quality insight and assurance across all of government.

You will be joining a team that works across a diverse client base including most government departments and their many related organisations. As a maturing and ever evolving organisation, we are now at a crucial point in our development as we work to become an ever more efficient and impactful force in our professional field. Our delivery of better insights, better outcomes for our clients, and ultimately the public, is linked directly to the individual contribution made by each of our employees. Everyone who joins GIAA plays a role taking our vision forward and securing our future success.

We are looking for a talented, experienced and energetic leader to take the Agency into its next phase of maturity, as it continues its mission to drive insight and value from assurance whilst undertaking significant change and transition.

The Chief Executive will provide expert leadership, inspire teams, build capability and will set both the strategic vision and deliver great internal audit and counter fraud services for government.

Job description

The Chief Executive leads the Government Internal Audit Agency (GIAA), the UK government’s centre of expertise for internal audit. GIAA provides independent assurance to central government departments and public bodies. Its work supports Accounting Officers (the most senior officials responsible for public funds in each department) in managing risk, governance and control effectively.

We are seeking an executive leader who combines authentic leadership with sound judgement and the ability to inspire and develop a cohesive leadership team, fostering engagement at all levels.

They will possess extensive executive experience, successfully managing complex stakeholder relationships and leading change in large organisations.

The post holder will operate across central government, with the opportunity to influence and shape the changing assurance landscape, influenced by AI and other emerging technologies to achieve timely and relevant insights to support value for money.

As Chief Executive, you will:

• Lead a national professional services organisation delivering internal audit, counter fraud and allied services across government.
• Work in collaboration with an advisory Board to drive the medium-term Agency business strategy to support the current and future requirements of our clients.
• Unite, inspire and motivate our people around the Agency’s ongoing strategy, and into its next phase of development focused on increased client value, appropriate adoption of AI and driving continuous improvement insights.
• Develop a high performing Senior Leadership Team and championing leadership at all levels through the Agency.
• Serve as the Agency’s Accounting Officer, meaning you are personally accountable to Parliament for how public money is managed within the Agency.
• Act as Head of the Government Internal Audit Function, setting direction and standards for internal audit across central government.
• Ensure all audit services delivered by the Agency comply with the Global Internal Audit Standards and the UK public sector application of those standards.

Person specification

Key responsibilities

• Provide strategic, professional and operational leadership to GIAA, ensuring the delivery of high-quality, high-impact, independent, evidence-based risk-based internal audit and assurance services that improve governance and performance across government.
• Possess the drive, determination and capability to realise the Agency’s ambitions, as set out in our GIAA Strategy 2025-2029 and be able to raise the profile of the Agency by positively influencing the quality of the risk and control environment across our client base within government.
• Have responsibility for an annual budget of c.£47m, and a professional workforce of c.450 people, alongside cross-government functional leadership responsibilities with direct accountability to Parliament for Agency performance and stewardship of public funds.
• Set and lead delivery of the internal audit Function across government, ensuring that GIAA and the wider government internal audit community operate in line with the Global Internal Audit Standards.
• Position GIAA as a trusted, high-performing professional services provider within government.
• Lead organisational transformation, capability development, and innovation across the Agency’s client services: internal audit, counter fraud, investigations, applied data analytics.
• Champion independence, objectivity, ethical conduct, and delivery of insight through all client services.
• Oversee external quality assessments and continuous improvement programmes across all client services.
• Build strong relationships with Permanent Secretaries, Audit & Risk Assurance Committees and senior leaders across government.
• Work closely with HM Treasury as the sponsor department.
• Represent the UK Government’s internal audit profession nationally and internationally.

Person Specification: Essential Experience

• Senior executive leadership experience of providing professional services into a complex operating environment (public or private sector)
• Significant experience of leading internal audit and assurance teams; or being a client of scale and complexity of internal audit, assurance, or investigations.
• A track record in driving efficient ways of working and improved value for money through continuous improvement including utilising digital and AI while upholding professional standards.
• Significant experience of driving business strategy with the associated cultural change and capability building across an organisation.
• Experienced in independently influencing and engaging boards, audit committees, and stakeholders at the highest level.

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 1,250 words, explaining how you consider your personal skills, qualities and experience provide evidence of your suitability for the role, with particular reference to the essential experience in the person specification.

• The assessment process will include:

Case study situational judgement (1 hour preparation, 1 hour assessment – virtual)

Panel interview

Qualifications

Professionally qualified internal auditor (e.g. CMIIA/IIA or equivalent) or full CCAB, CIMA, or equivalent professional accountancy qualification.

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £130,000, Government Internal Audit Agency contributes £37,661 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

As part of our pre-employment security checks, if you are invited to interview and are not a current GIAA member of staff, you will need to bring:

• Proof of identity, e.g. your passport or driver’s license. Documents must be in date and valid.
• Proof of address, e.g. a utility bill or bank statement issued within the past 3 months
• Proof of your National Insurance (NI) number, e.g. letter from DWP confirming your NI number, or P60
• If you do not bring a UK or EU passport, you will need to bring other documentation of your right to work in the UK, e.g. your visa, biometric residence permit or birth certificate.

Further details regarding acceptable documents will be provided in the invitation to interview.

Please let us know if your contact details change at any time during the selection process.

Eligibility Statement:

Individuals appointed to the Treasury Group will be subject to National Security Vetting. To allow for meaningful checks to be carried out applicants will normally need to have lived in the UK within the past 10 years. A lack of UK residency in itself is not always a bar to security clearance but the Department will need to consider eligibility on a case by case basis using all information that can be obtained following a successful application.

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 developed vetting (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.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 : Rosanne Sarratt
• Email : rosanne.sarratt@gatenbysanderson.com

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

GIAA CEO Candidate Pack_ Opens in new window (pdf, 687kB)Success Profiles - Candidate Overview Opens in new window (pdf, 616kB)