Senior Audit Manager - Assurance (Lancashire & Manchester)

Job overview

As a Senior Audit Manager (Band 8A) you will be earning up to £60,504, leading the delivery of internal audit and adding value to NHS and Public Sector organisations, all within a flexible working environment.

The key purpose of this role is to:

• To take responsibility for operational elements of team delivery and client management of a broad and challenging portfolio of internal audit plans. This includes the personal conduct of highly complex audit assignments.
• To conclude upon the quality of all audit opinions produced for the team’s allocated reviews to support the drafting of the Head of Internal Audit Opinions.
• To direct and supervise staff to deliver the allocated audit reviews on time, to budget and to quality standards.
• To report to Senior Executives and the Audit Committee on a regular basis on specific reviews as required.
• To respond to a broad range of sensitive and complex queries from clients and staff.
• Support the development of knowledge sharing activities to inform the work of MIAAs internal teams so as to strengthen knowledge and practice across the Agency.
• Support the development of the profile of the Greater Manchester & Lancashire MIAA Audit team.

Main duties of the job

Job Summary

To take responsibility for the operational elements of client management of a broad and challenging portfolio of audit plans including the personal conduct of highly complex assignments.

To conclude upon the quality of all audit opinions produced for allocated clients, draft the Head of Internal Audit Opinion, and assist in the drafting of the Annual Governance Statement as required.

To direct and supervise staff to deliver the allocated audit plans on time, to budget and to quality standards.

To report to the Audit Committee on a regular basis.

To respond to a broad range of sensitive and complex queries from clients and staff.

Working for our organisation

MIAA is an NHS Shared service, hosted by Liverpool University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. MIAA is the predominant provider of internal audit services to over 50+ NHS and public sector organisations in the Northwest and beyond. MIAA offer clients a number of services in addition to internal audit including Solutions, Anti-Fraud, Technical Risk Assurance, Capital, Clinical Coding, Healthcare Quality Support Unit.

MIAA’s budgeted turnover is 12 million, which is demonstrative of the organisation’s ambitious and strategic goals.

We pride ourselves in promoting equality and valuing diversity.

• Flexible/Hybrid Working
• Generous pension scheme
• Development and protected learning time
• Career Progression

• Trust
• Respect & Compassion
• Innovation and Excellence

Detailed job description and main responsibilities

• Produces, agrees, and oversees delivery of risk-based plans with allocated clients that are designed to produce sufficient assurances to fulfil the requirements of the Head of Internal Audit Opinion on the effectiveness of internal control.
• Manages the planning, conduct, output, and opinions for all audit work for allocated clients within agreed deadlines, budgets, and quality standards.
• Operates as budget holder for allocated plans i.e., a discrete set of services, requiring the planning and organizing of complex activities and programmes to ensure income is recovered, costs contained, and outputs delivered. Often these budgeted plans need to be adjusted on an ongoing basis for reporting to Audit Committees as priorities shift.
• Manages and develops the key relationships with allocated clients, particularly at Director of Finance and Audit Committee level.
• Provides the principal advice to allocated clients on Annual Governance Statement preparation and related governance and risk management matters.
• Responsibility for ensuring allocated plans is incorporated into the overall planning of resources and commitments for the function. Plans and organises the work schedule for allocated clients to ensure weekly, monthly, quarterly, and annual timetables are delivered particularly regarding Audit Committee deadlines.
• Personally, conducts a range of highly complex audits for reporting to senior management and the Audit Committee. These will routinely be complicated and multi-layered where sensitive judgements need to be framed in situations where solutions are not clear.
• Conducts complex research on behalf of the team and the Agency to develop and pilot approaches to emerging auditable areas.
• Makes recommendations as appropriate often involving significant proposed changes to working practices and procedures following policy implementation across multiple areas and NHS organisations. These routinely will involve contributing to service redesign and providing benchmarking information.
• Undertakes complex systems reviews that conclude upon financial control, physical security of cash and the safeguarding of assets.
• Responds to, and often anticipates, queries from clients, which may be of a highly sensitive and highly confidential nature, and investigates and reports as necessary to the satisfaction of the client. These queries may relate to complex issues requiring a detailed understanding of complex client risks, NHS systems and existing guidance. This will include advice, information, and guidance for direct use by patients, relatives, or carers.
• Secures added value additional consultancy work which enhances the profile and capability of the Agency.
• Participates in preparation and delivery of presentations for tendered internal audit contracts.
• Manages the work of Delivery Managers, Principal Auditors and Auditors within the function.
• On occasions, deputises for the Regional Assurance Directors.
• Manages the relationship with the external auditors for allocated clients to ensure integration of audit resource and positive review of internal audit quality.
• Builds effective client relationships across the function’s clients.

Please read job description and person specification in full.

Person specification

Qualifications

• Professional accountancy qualification (CCAB) qualified plus significant demonstrable PQE plus self-certified CPD plus experience of operating at Board level/equivalent/, presenting to Audit Committee and influencing Executive and Non-Executive Directors. OR
• MIIA plus significant demonstrable PQE plus self-certified CPD for a significant period plus experience of operating at Board level, presenting to Audit Committee, and influencing Executive and Non-Executive Directors plus experience knowledge and skills/equivalent.

• Professional healthcare qualification recognised by UK professional body/Quality Improvement qualification plus significant demonstrable PQE skills, knowledge, experience, and expertise

Experience

• Must have experience of working in audit and demonstrable understanding of audit role and techniques.
• Must have experience of managing and supervising staff.

• Experience of working in NHS or other public sector organization resulting in a good understanding of systems and processes is desirable for the post. Alternative experience in an equivalent organization may be acceptable.

Knowledge

• To demonstrate a full understanding of NHS structure, policy, functions, and systems together with the aptitude to build on that knowledge.
• Must understand corporate governance, risk management and assurance principles and practice.
• To demonstrate a full understanding of audit and financial principles and practice together with the aptitude to build on that knowledge.

Skills

• Must have excellent oral and written communication skills to enable complicated audit and financial issues to be explained to a range of NHS staff, often at a senior level. This will include presentational, negotiation and influencing skills.
• Must have excellent analytical skills and have the ability to collate complex data from various sources.
• Must have strong supervision, staff management, coaching and mentoring skills.
• Must have the ability to negotiate and persuade, sometimes in a setting that is unresponsive or hostile to audit findings.
• Must have a good level of numeracy, keyboard skills and computer literacy (ECDL or equivalent)
• Must have the ability to make judgements and recommendations in the context of complex systems and risk and materiality of findings.
• Must have good time management skills and the ability to work to tight deadlines whilst managing competing priorities.

Please ensure you check the email account (including junk/spam boxes) from which you apply regularly as we will use this to contact you regarding your application.

Posts advertised to ‘internal staff’ are open to employees of hospitals within University Hospitals of Liverpool Group and you should confirm your employment within your application form.

Only those applicants who demonstrate clearly how they meet our person specification will be shortlisted for interview.

We reserve the right to close any vacancies from further applications when we have received a minimum number of applications from which to make a shortlist. Please ensure you apply without delay if you wish to be considered for this role.

Candidates applying for the role of Healthcare Assistant on the staff bank should note that due to the nature of the role, workers must be aged 18 or above when commencing in post. Applicants are therefore welcome from those aged over 18 or within 3 months’ of their 18^th birthday.

Not all roles are suitable for every flexible working opportunity all of the time. Flexible working options may include reduced hours, compressed hours, fixed shifts, time back in lieu and home working.

The Trust is committed to promoting equality and diversity; we value the contribution of individual talent, skills, knowledge and experience and aim for a workforce demography representative of the local community. We encourage applicants from the following groups that are currently under-represented in our workforce black, Asian and minority ethnic, lesbian, gay, bisexual and Transgender (LGBTQ+), disabled, male and age 16-24.

Bank posts require upfront payment. DBS applications submitted from 2nd December will be subject to the new DBS fee of £26.50 (standard) and £54.50 (Enhanced).

From April 2017, Skilled visa applicants and their adult dependant(s) will be required to provide a criminal record certificate from each country they have lived in consecutively for 12 months or more in the past ten years.

Applicants requiring sponsorship may wish to determine the likelihood of obtaining sponsorship for this position by assessing themselves against the criteria on the gov.uk website - https://www.gov.uk/check-uk-visa.

This organisation has a zero-tolerance approach to the abuse of children, young people and vulnerable adults. All staff must ensure they adhere to the organisations safeguarding children and adults’ policy and comply with the Local Safeguarding Children and Adult Board procedures.

Staff should be mindful of their responsibility to safeguard children and adults in any activity performed on behalf of the organisation in line with the requirements of statutory guidance and legislation.

All employees (and volunteers)are expected maintain their safeguarding knowledge and skills by completing mandatory safeguarding training which includes understanding and recognising the signs of abuse and neglect and taking appropriate action.

As an organisation, we have adopted the Merseyside Domestic abuse workplace scheme which supports our staff who are experiencing Domestic Abuse /any forms of sexual violence.

If you have any personal requirements that will enable you to participate in our recruitment process please contact a member of the Recruitment Services by phone on 0151 706 4666 at the earliest opportunity to ensure that measures can be put in place to enable your application for this post.

Please note: new entrants to the NHS will commence on the first pay point of the relevant band.