Senior Internal Audit Manager

Job summary

Internal Audit & Assurance Division (IAAD) is an independent assurance and advisory service. Through the management and discharge of the annual audit programme, the Head of Internal Audit provides:

• An opinion to the Accounting Officer (the Chief Executive) on risk management, control and governance; and
• An advisory service to help management improve UK Export Finance’s risk management control and governance.

The Head of Internal Audit and Assurance reports independently to the Chair of the Audit Committee (AC), in respect of the audit programme and to the Chief Executive.

About the Role

Working as part of a team the post holder reports to the Head of Internal Audit and Assurance and provides quality assurance that the key principles of Internal Audit are being upheld within the terms and conditions of the Global Internal Audit Standards, as applicable in the UK Public Sector, Managing Public Money and other key Government / industry standards. Working at a senior level across our complex organisation, using their understanding of the corporate credit risk and operational risk environment as well as corporate lending and insurance products, the post holder will add value to the organisation, completing and oversighting risk-based financial, operational and information systems audit coverage.

Job description

Main Activities

• Deliver and oversight planned audits to scope, quality, time and within budget.
• Key contributor to the development and delivery of the overall internal audit functional strategy and the process of ongoing assurance to the Accounting Officer and audit sponsor/s on the adequacy, reliability and effectiveness of UKEF’s risk management, control and governance processes,
• Key driver in the development and implementation of Internal Audit function methodologies, professional practices, tools, automation etc to meet and exceed relevant professional internal audit standards.
• Key driver of the ongoing internal audit universe risk assessment and audit planning process and related reporting.
• Represent internal audit at key governance fora, including on programme and project boards as necessary to advise on risk and control issues and to provide assurance in regard to adherence to relevant programme and project management standards,
• Deliver draft and final reports in line with agreed deadlines, keeping sponsors and key stakeholders informed of major issues as they arise and at key stages of fieldwork.
• Promote the role and value of the Internal Audit and Assurance services on an ongoing basis through formal and informal channels,
• Maintain and assess the quality of the audit process including issuance of terms of reference, fieldwork, testing, reporting and follow-up.
• Monitor and report key performance indicators and insightful audit reporting to key stakeholders.
• Procure, co-ordinate and oversight co-source external subject matter expertise as and when required, ensuring knowledge transfer to the division.
• Contribute to development and maintenance of the quality assurance and improvement programme within Internal Audit.
• Ongoing horizon scanning to identify and respond to relevant developments and emerging risks.
• Support and stand-in for the Head of Internal Audit as necessary.
• Champion best practice in governance, controls and risk management.
• Maintain effective working relationships with other assurance providers within the Department and with External Audit to ensure the efficient use of the total audit effort.
• Keep abreast of developments in Corporate Governance best practices and advise the business accordingly.

People Management & Development

• Manage a small team of auditors, both as a line manager and through providing oversight on an audit project basis.
• Manage and oversee Auditors through performance planning, coaching and performance appraisals.
• Hold direct reports and others accountable for managing their audit assignments to ensure the function's goals are achieved and customers satisfied.
• Provide ongoing feedback to the team to ensure they develop the skills and competencies required for effective planning and individual professional and personal career growth.
• Motivate and inspire the team by providing them with the information and tools they need to do their jobs well and meet stakeholder expectations.
• Deal with performance issues, discipline as necessary, ensuring functional targets and customer satisfaction is not compromised.

This list is not exhaustive; the job holder may be required to carry out additional duties according to business need.

Person specification

UK Export Finance is looking for motivated individuals with a desire to learn about the business. Successful candidates will be provided not only with functional training to enable them to do well in their role, but also with personal development to help them to achieve their career ambitions. Please note that the person specification below outlines at which stage(s) you will be assessed on how you meet the criteria for the role(s) including:-

A = assessed at application stage I = assessed at interview stage = assessed at presentation stage

Essential

Qualifications

• Fully qualified CMIIA, CCAB or equivalent (ACA, ACCA, CIMA or CIPFA). Copies of which will need to be supplied at interview(A)

Knowledge

• Practical understanding of Global Internal Audit Standards as applicable to the UK Public Sector (A, I, P)
• Be pragmatic and able to actively contribute to the proportional development of an effective, efficient and well-governed organisation. (A, I, P)
• Contribute as a key player in the development and implementation of the Internal Audit and Assurance Division functional strategy and plan. (A, I, P)
• Corporate Banking, Insurance or wider financial services internal audit. (A)
• Knowledge of project and change assurance and agile auditing techniques. (A, I, P)
• Risk-based auditing (A, I)

Skills/Ability

• Clear and effective communication skills including verbal (presentations) and written (reports). (A, I, P)
• Influencing and negotiation ability at a senior level. (A, I, P)
• Demonstrate a proven track record in building effective client relationships at all levels. (A, I, P)
• Effective analytical capability combined with the ability to be able to communicate complex positions clearly to a wide range of audiences. (A, I, P)
• Excellent planning and organisational skills with the ability to balance multiple assignments within agreed timelines. (A, I)
• Be able to work with a range of clients to understand the risks to which they are exposed and display an understanding of the control strategies and structures employed. (A, I)
• An independent and analytical problem solver who can challenge the status quo, express their views and make decisions. (A, I)

Experience

• Considerable experience in Internal Audit at a senior level across complex organisations, with a focus on adding value to the organisation. This will cover delivery and oversight of financial, operational and information systems audits. (A, I, P)
• Experience of working at least up to senior/ executive management level. (A, I)
• Substantial experience undertaking financial services internal audits, with an extensive understanding of the corporate credit risk and operational risk environment as well as corporate lending and insurance products (A, I)
• Substantial experience of managing team members' performance and development. (A, I)

Desirable

Qualifications

• Degree level qualification
• CISA/ Other IT, Cyber or Project Management certifications

Knowledge

• An understanding of the management and assurance of risks in the Trade Finance sector
• Knowledge of IT, cyber security, digital and project risks and assurance over these risks.

Skills / Ability

• IT Audit skills
• Data Analytics skills and the use of AI

Experience

• Civil Service auditing experience.
• Trade Finance Experience.
• Experience of optimising the use of Data Analytics and AI to maximise data-driven assurance and insights.
• Implementing audit automation.
• Developing Quality Assurance and Improvement Programmes.
• Oversighting the work of and managing the relationship with co-source assurance providers.

Qualifications

Fully qualified CMIIA, CCAB or equivalent (ACA, ACCA, CIMA or CIPFA).

Behaviours

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

• Changing and Improving
• Making Effective Decisions
• Leadership
• Communicating and Influencing

Technical skills

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

• Technical - you will be assessed across your technical expertise and acumen, in relation to the essential criteria and your experience of Internal Auditing
• Technical Presentation - a short presentation, this will be a topic determined by UKEF and will need to be prepared in advance (linked to the behaviour Changing & Improving)

Benefits

Alongside your salary of £69,053, UK Export Finance contributes £20,004 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 with an employer contribution of 28.97%

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 Behaviours, Experience and Technical skills.

We are assessing candidates using Success Profiles and Line Management Standards (see Appendix 1) and across the whole process we will assess your Experience, Technical, Behaviours and Line Manager Standards as highlighted below.

The application must be completed by 23.55 on the day of the closing date for it to be accepted.

Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)

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 for more information on appropriate and inappropriate use.

Please ensure that you read through the Candidate Information Pack attached to this advert, before applying.

All applications will be sifted against our essential criteria outlined in the personal specification.

• Qualification:
  • Fully qualified CMIIA, CCAB or equivalent (ACA, ACCA, CIMA or CIPFA).
• Statement of suitability - you should fully articulate in 750 words how you meet the essential criteria outlined in the person specification within the Information Pack.

In the event of a high volume of candidates we will carry out a pre-sift on:

• Qualification:
  • Fully qualified CMIIA, CCAB or equivalent (ACA, ACCA, CIMA or CIPFA). (A)
• Essential Criteria's
  • Corporate Banking, Insurance or wider financial services internal audit. (A)
  • Considerable experience in Internal Audit at a senior level across complex organisations, with a focus on adding value to the organisation. This will cover delivery and oversight of financial, operational and information systems audits. (A, I, P)

For the initial sift your application will be evaluated against:

1. Experience - CV / Application and/or Statement of Suitability

If you are successful following the sift stage, you will be invited to an initial 1st technical interview, via MS Teams; this will include the following assessment:

1. Experience and Technical - you will be assessed across your technical expertise and acumen, in relation to the essential criteria and your experience of Internal Auditing

If you are successful following the 1st technical Interview, you will be invited to a 2nd interview, these will be held face to face in our London office; this will include the following assessment:

1. Behaviours / Experience / Line Management Standard - a formal panel interview where you will be interviewed across all four behaviours highlighted in Appendix 1 of the Candidate Information Pack attached.
   • Behaviour Presentation - Changing and Improving (linked to the Technical Presentation)
   • Behaviour Question - Making Effective Decisions
   • Behaviour Question - Leadership (demonstrating the Line Management Standard - People Focus)
   • Behaviour Question - Communicating and Influencing
2. Technical - you will be assessed across your technical expertise and acumen, in relation to the essential criteria
   • Presentation - a short presentation, this will be a topic determined by UKEF and will need to be prepared in advance (linked to the behaviour Changing & Improving)

Details of interview panel members will be e-mailed to all successful candidates who are invited for interview.

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.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 : UKEF Recruitment
• Email : Recruitment2@ukexportfinance.gov.uk

Recruitment team

• Email : Recruitment2@ukexportfinance.gov.uk

Further information

Should you have a complaint or wish to raise any concerns regarding the recruitment process, please e-mail your complaint to the Head of Pay and Resourcing (UKEF) at Recruitment2@ukexportfinance.gov.uk and include “Complaint” in the subject heading. Should you remain dissatisfied following UKEF’s investigation then you can refer your complaint to the Commission - http://civilservicecommission.independent.gov.uk/making-complaint.

Attachments

Information Pack - Senior Internal Audit Manager - June 2026 Opens in new window (pdf, 4359kB)