Global Audit & Risk Director

Job Title - Global Audit & Risk Director

About us - With over 200 brands sold in nearly 180 countries, we're the world's leading premium drinks company. Bring your passion and use your curiosity as you explore, collaborate, and innovate to build brands consumers love. Together with passionate people from all over the world, you'll test new ideas, learn and grow, and unlock a brighter, more exciting future. Join us to create a career worth celebrating.

About the Function - Our Finance team delivers sustainable growth for our business, customers, and much-loved brands. We're part of a $12.2 billion gross profit organisation, responsible for driving an exceptional level of performance and creating the potential for future growth. Whether we're utilising our digital capabilities and analytics to inform our business strategy or creating capacity to invest in the future - no two days are the same in our Finance team. Wherever your skills lie, we'll help you to learn and develop, supporting you along the way in our inclusive culture.

About the team - There is a high degree of complexity in the role. Global Audit has a global remit, providing assurance over all Diageo operations including Demand companies, Supply operations, and Global Functions. Successful candidates need to be able to understand the risks and deliver high-quality audit work across everything Diageo does. The successful candidate will be externally curious, able to collaborate efficiently and act decisively. The role has direct exposure to senior executives (Audit Committee, senior management including the Diageo executive) and is responsible for providing quality assurance and support to understand Diageo's key risks and risk management capability, and influencing to take actions where there are gaps and/or opportunities to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of controls. Travel (approximately 30 to 40%) will be required.

About the role - Delivery of high quality and holistic risk management and internal audit assurance across a broad range of functions. Skilfully influence the Diageo leadership population to take additional / different action when gaps are found in the organisation's management of risk. Provide insights and solutions that promote effective and efficient business governance, enhanced controls, and better risk management. Support governance, risk, and compliance across the business by providing regular guidance to functional and business unit management.

Leading Change

1. Identifies needed changes or directions that require adjustment, challenges assumptions and norms - within the internal audit function, as well as in the broader business.
2. Challenges assumptions about 'the way things are done'.
3. Communicates explicitly what must change, why changes are necessary, and possible outcomes and costs. Delivers this message with a degree of commercial empathy.
4. Adjusts communication style to the audience to help them understand and accept the change.
5. Encourages people to support and propose changes and ideas. Fosters a culture of openness in this regard.

Role Responsibilities -

1. Act as an ambassador for the function and champion the value and importance of a risk and control mindset to protect value and support growth across Diageo.
2. Impactful and can 'stand your ground' where required with senior stakeholders. Quickly build strong relationships in fieldwork with business partners.
3. Demonstrate an understanding of business risks across multiple process areas.
4. Ensure audit results and key risks are well understood and accepted by leaders. Need to influence and skilfully manage conflicts where these arise. Deliver thoughtful and value-adding insights on audit assignments that convince leaders to take actions that enhance Diageo's performance and or risk / control environment.
5. Empowered to articulate effective and efficient risk mitigation strategies. Demonstrate thorough and consistent knowledge and application of our ways of working (WoWs).
6. Own business partnering relationships with business leaders and mid-management outside of audits. Provide ongoing proactive advice and support to help those leaders better anticipate and respond to risks.
7. Understand the Diageo Purpose (specifically the importance of governance and compliance) and can clearly articulate how others can understand, connect to and help deliver it.
8. Partner with the business in finding solutions for risks and opportunities.
9. Understand the internal and external risk radar to enable the business to identify solutions to existing and emerging risks.
10. Provide functional support and coaching to less experienced team members.
11. Leverage strengths within Global Audit and the wider business and be open to ideas and learnings from others.
12. Grow both functional and leadership capability and experience.

Experience / skills required - The Global Audit Director role is an integral member of the CARE leadership team and a key contributor to the global agenda, including enhancing both the capability and breadth of assurance across the organisation and upskilling the team and the business in risk and control thinking. The successful candidate will have:

1. Strong business acumen and financial understanding of Diageo's processes to be able to challenge existing practices and work to bring results which better manage risk by improving the design of controls and make processes more efficient.
2. A track record of working in an audit function and driving the development of an Internal Audit function to be 'leading edge' in terms of creating a future-focused audit agenda, high-quality people, ways of working, and relationships with the business.
3. The ability to influence change and build strong objective relationships internally with senior leadership members across Diageo.
4. CA / MBA / ACCA/ CPA / CIA or other equivalent degrees.
5. 15+ years of work experience.
6. Good understanding of Audit (Statutory / Internal), and/or SOX, Risk management processes.
7. Expert level understanding of risk and mitigation approaches.
8. Attention to detail with ability to go in-depth and leverage data meaningfully.
9. Excellent written and presentation skills.
10. Experience in broader business finance and Big 4 is a positive differentiator.
11. A collaborative approach and stakeholder influencing skills.
12. Strong project management skills.
13. Ability to leverage technology to drive efficiencies.
14. Ability to work across cultures.
15. Ability to prioritise, move with urgency and overcome challenges / obstacles.

Flexible Working Statement - Flexibility is key to our success. Talk to us about what flexibility means to you so that you're supported to manage your wellbeing and balance your priorities from day one.

Rewards & Benefits Statement - (TE)

Diversity statement - Our purpose is to celebrate life, every day, everywhere. And creating an inclusive culture, where everyone feels valued and that they can belong, is a crucial part of this. We embrace diversity in the broadest possible sense. This means that you'll be welcomed and celebrated for who you are just by being you. You'll be part of and help build and champion an inclusive culture that celebrates people of different gender, ethnicity, ability, age, sexual orientation, social class, educational backgrounds, experiences, mindsets, and more. Our ambition is to create the best performing, most trusted and respected consumer products companies in the world. Join us and help transform our business as we take our brands to the next level and build new ones as part of shaping the next generation of celebrations for consumers around the world.

Feel inspired? Then this may be the opportunity for you. If you require a reasonable adjustment, please ensure that you capture this information when you submit your application.