Head of Audit, Transformation

We are seeking a talented and passionate senior individual to join the Group Internal Team and you will be accountable for the design and execution of strategy for the audit coverage of Transformation across the Bank.

To do this effectively, your focus will be to lead, coach and develop your team, and those internal auditors adjacent to your team.

You will need to collaborate with your internal Group Internal Audit (GIA) leadership partners to build an integrated coverage model.

The aim is to build timely coverage of thematic risks and Transformational Change programmes, while accepting audit risk in a considered manner.

You will need to work closely with the businesses and functions, to challenge thoughtfully and effectively.

Our aim is to help the Group learn from experience, and to build a robust and sustainable change control framework that supports the Bank in achieving its strategic ambitions and satisfying its regulatory obligations.

To achieve all the above, you will need to create trust, with your team, your GIA partners and your business stakeholders.

Key Responsibilities

• Own and deliver the strategy for risk assessment, coverage design and execution of third line assurance over the Transformation portfolio.
• Design the audits to address key risks and regulatory requirements/ expectations.
• Assess the continued relevance of the audit plan throughout the year and propose appropriate changes.
• Ensure that audit team operates in line with the Audit Charter during engagements and remains independent from management.

Business

• Act as the deputy for the Global Head of Audit Transformation.
• Establish and maintain effective working relationships with the relevant programmes and portfolio leadership.
• Represent GIA at relevant programme steering committees and portfolio quarterly performance reviews.
• Serve as the GIA portfolio subject matter expert – proactively engage with peers and stakeholders, to maintain, build and share knowledge.
• Proactively seek an external lens to support delivery of meaningful audit work.
• Successfully manage external stakeholders such as regulators and reviewers.
• Identify and implement opportunities for improved productivity in own audits.

Processes

• Act as Team Manager, as necessary, and take responsibility for overseeing the delivery of high-quality audits, the performance of which cause minimal disruption to the business. Responsible, where serving as Team Manager, for the finalisation of audit issues and the audit report.
• Execute audit work and issue validation in an efficient and effective manner, within the given budget and timelines.
• Provide clear guidance, detailed review and supervision of the audit team’s work, so that audit deliverables meet quality standards.
• Clearly identify the risks and impact of issues during issue writing, agreeing these issues with management and obtaining quality management action plans to mitigate the risks.
• Provide guidance to the team on business/ audit technical knowledge and management skills.
• Provide technical input and challenge on audit work being undertaken within the scope of the product area of responsibility.
• Support adherence to the GIA methodology in all areas of the audit engagement, as well as raising awareness and understanding of the methodology.
• Demonstrate sound knowledge of Transformation, the business areas and expert knowledge in the audit process.
• Monitor the implementation/ delivery of the agreed issues/ audit plans. Provide advice to the issue/ action plan owners. Escalate unresolved audit issues.
• Support the production of regular updates on Transformation to Audit and Risk committees.

People & Talent

• Champion and act as a role model of the Group’s values and culture.
• Demonstrate strong leadership and the ability to motivate and guide your audit team.
• Share knowledge to increase specialism within the function.
• Identify personnel growth areas on an ongoing basis and identify how best to develop them.
• Facilitate the development of audit team members by providing on the job training and recommending formal training to support GIA activities.
• Proactively employ and retain talent for GIA.
• Create a motivational and challenging environment for staff which is conducive to creativity and performance with customer centricity in mind.
• Lead continuous monitoring of portfolio areas and build and maintain constructive stakeholder relationships.
• Update the audit entities on a regular basis to identify changes in risk profiles.
• Propose any changes to the audit plan.
• Promote early identification and escalation of risks, issues, trends and developments to relevant stakeholders.
• Be prepared to raise issues/ concerns outside the normal audit process.
• Adopt an anticipatory approach to risk assessment through stakeholder engagement and monitoring of the external environment to improve audit planning.
• Review MI and reports regularly to keep up to date with key trends within the business and audit deliverables.

Governance

• Attend and represent GIA at formal committees and Group meetings, providing meaningful challenge and data-driven insights.
• Manage the stakeholders and establish good working relationships to help the businesses improve the control environment.
• Lead by example on how to communicate audit-related matters and resolve any conflict during an audit.
• Use network and relationships to build engagement and achieve results.
• Escalate delays in the execution of audit work, both to business and GIA management.
• Be able to clearly explain issues, along with the risks and root causes to GIA and business management.
• Use language designed to be understood by non-experts.

Regulatory & Business Conduct

• Display exemplary conduct and live by the Group’s Values and Code of Conduct.
• Take personal responsibility for embedding the highest standards of ethics, including regulatory and business conduct, across Standard Chartered Bank. This includes understanding and ensuring compliance with, in letter and spirit, all applicable laws, regulations, guidelines and the Group Code of Conduct.

Effectively and collaboratively identify, escalate, mitigate and resolve risk, conduct and compliance matters.

Lead the Transformation team to achieve the outcomes set out in the Bank’s Conduct Principles: [Fair Outcomes for Clients; Effective Financial Markets; Financial Crime Compliance; The Right Environment.]

Key stakeholders

Designated business stakeholders including programme sponsors, business and function Transformation portfolio leaders, and the Group Transformation Office.

GIA stakeholders – team managers, team leaders, team members, and heads of audit.

Other Responsibilities

GIA represents the Third Line of Defence and provides independent assurance of the effectiveness of management’s control of business activities (the first line) and of the control processes maintained by the Risk Framework Owners and Policy Owners (the second line). GIA works with the Group's other control functions, such as Finance, Risk and Compliance, but does not place unqualified reliance on their work. GIA is an independent function whose primary role is to help the Board and Executive Management to protect the assets, reputation and sustainability of the Group.

As defined in the Audit Charter, all staff in GIA must exhibit the highest level of professional objectivity in gathering, evaluating and communicating information about the under-review activity or process. They must make a balanced assessment of all the relevant circumstances and not be unduly influenced by their own interests or by others in forming judgments.

GIA will adhere to the Definition of Internal Auditing, the Core Principles for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing, Code of Ethics and the Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing that are published by the IIA.

It is expected that all members of GIA strive to operate as role models for the Group’s valued behaviours.

GIA methodology has defined “Habits of a Human Auditor” which are aligned to the Group’s valued behaviours.

Skills and Experience

Our Ideal Candidate

• A Bachelor’s or Master’s degree holder.
• 12+ years of experience in Financial Services.
• 8+ years of experience in Internal Audit.
• A CPA holder or equivalent relevant Audit Qualification.
• A deep understanding of Transformation, portfolio and programme management risks.
• Growth mindset. Appetite, ambition, and ability to experiment and learn quickly.
• Proven ability to prioritise issues within a large, rapidly changing environment and manage a wide variety / high volume of tasks while maintaining quality delivery.
• A results-driven professional. Takes ownership to deliver, with a high level of flexibility and a preparedness to get the job done.
• Strong influencing and communication skills – oral, written and presentation. Proven success in communicating technical information in a simple way.
• A proven ability to work independently, solve problems and make balanced judgments / decisions.
• Confident and courageous to raise/ escalate issues in a pro-active, professional, and timely manner.
• Demonstrate an understanding of and commitment to the Group’s core values.

Role Specific Technical Competencies

• Audit Execution & Delivery Skills
• Data Analytics Skills
• Verbal and Written Communication Skills
• Project & Change Management

About Standard Chartered

We're an international bank, nimble enough to act, big enough for impact. For more than 170 years, we've worked to make a positive difference for our clients, communities, and each other. We question the status quo, love a challenge and enjoy finding new opportunities to grow and do better than before. If you're looking for a career with purpose and you want to work for a bank making a difference, we want to hear from you. You can count on us to celebrate your unique talents and we can't wait to see the talents you can bring us.

Our purpose, to drive commerce and prosperity through our unique diversity, together with our brand promise, to be here for good are achieved by how we each live our valued behaviours. When you work with us, you'll see how we value difference and advocate inclusion.

Together we:

• Do the right thing and are assertive, challenge one another, and live with integrity, while putting the client at the heart of what we do
• Never settle, continuously striving to improve and innovate, keeping things simple and learning from doing well, and not so well
• Are better together, we can be ourselves, be inclusive, see more good in others, and work collectively to build for the long term

What we offer

In line with our Fair Pay Charter, we offer a competitive salary and benefits to support your mental, physical, financial and social wellbeing.

• Core bank funding for retirement savings, medical and life insurance, with flexible and voluntary benefits available in some locations.
• Time-off including annual leave, parental/maternity (20 weeks), sabbatical (12 months maximum) and volunteering leave (3 days), along with minimum global standards for annual and public holiday, which is combined to 30 days minimum.
• Flexible working options based around home and office locations, with flexible working patterns.
• Proactive wellbeing support through Unmind, a market-leading digital wellbeing platform, development courses for resilience and other human skills, global Employee Assistance Programme, sick leave, mental health first-aiders and all sorts of self-help toolkits.
• A continuous learning culture to support your growth, with opportunities to reskill and upskill and access to physical, virtual and digital learning.
• Being part of an inclusive and values driven organisation, one that embraces and celebrates our unique diversity, across our teams, business functions and geographies - everyone feels respected and can realise their full potential.

Recruitment Assessments

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