We are seeking a Director - Operational Audits to be the leader of the operational Audit team for a prestigious Real Estate project, based in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. The Project office is located in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Reports to: Executive Director - Internal Audit
Job Purpose
Leads the development and delivery of professional, objective, and impactful IA services (including assurance, advisory, asset IA support and AC support services) to senior management and the Project Audit Committee (AC). Acts as a Business Partner, developing strong relationships with senior management, including Executive Management and provides insights that make a positive difference to the project.
Job Dimensions
Direct Reports - Audit Managers • Auditors • Audit Analyst Total Headcount: 4 - 6
Key Activities, Responsibilities, and Accountabilities
1. Authority and Decision Making • Key decisions having a significant impact on the IA Department are referred to ED for approval. • Develops and delivers the IA Plan, including approving plan additions and removals. • Acts as the Engagement Supervisor (for assigned engagements in the IA Plan), and is responsible for approving
2. Engagement Delivery • Oversees the development of a dynamic, risk-based Platform IA Plan which is periodically refreshed to capture key and emerging risks and trends which feeds into the prioritized, overall IA plan. • Proactively monitors the platform risk environment by developing an understanding of any pertinent industry standards and keeping up to date with relevant trends. Provides early identification of key areas of concern for the platform and adjusts the plan accordingly.
• Oversees effective and efficient assurance and advice to enable complete and collaborative delivery of both the Platform and overall Project IA Plan, including the follow-up of management action plans.
• Drives the use of analytics (throughout the audit lifecycle), to achieve efficiencies and deeper insights. • Supports the IA Team (as required) in managing difficult client conversations (including engagement scopes and adverse reports), and influencing the business to implement management action plans. • Ensures timely, simple, pragmatic, and easy to read reporting is provided for inclusion in AC reporting. • Maintains oversight of Department IA reports to ensure consistency of ratings and identification of emerging risks and themes.
3. Business Partnering • Creates, develops, and maintains strong relationships with senior management, to keep abreast of their changing business needs. • Oversees the delivery of impactful communication to senior management through tailored platform communication.
• Escalates overdue action plans to senior management for appropriate intervention. • Supports in building and sustaining independent and objective relationships with other assurance and consulting service providers, including the development and implementation of an aligned assurance framework. • Develops relationships across the project and externally, to enable effective knowledge sharing within IA and the project. • Ensures the development of effective relationships with relevant regulators for the IA Department, to equip the IA Team with a sufficient understanding of regulatory risk and compliance requirements and the impact of regulatory changes.
4. Collaboration • Shares knowledge across the IA Team, the projects's IA Function, as appropriate. • Collaborates with IA and Functional IA peers to promote the sharing of resources and information to leverage the Function’s key strengths and support the efficient and high quality delivery of the overall IA plan. • Continually updates knowledge of latest IA global best practice (through proactive networking, participation in benchmarking opportunities and online research), and identifies enhancements to the Function’s practices to further enhance core operations.
• Constructively challenges peers to ensure that the IA Function performs at its optimal level. • Recognizes, rewards, and celebrates collaborative behavior across the IA Team and Function.
5. Budget Planning and Monitoring • Supports in monthly budget reporting for the Function, and liaises with Department heads to ensure that the Function’s overall position against its budget is properly managed. • Supports the effective management of the IA and Operations expense budgets, including travel and consultant expenses. • Supports the provision of periodic updates on spend against IA budget as required for consolidation.
6. Management Reporting • Supports the rollout and subsequent management of an automated management information system (i.e. PowerBI) which is actively used across the IA teams and Function to identify performance gaps and opportunities for improvement.
• Supports and monitors Function IA information (including the Performance Scorecard and other KPIs) to ensure that it is complete and accurate, and provides regular updates to the IA management and team.
• Supports the Head of IA with AC reporting. • Ensures complete and accurate IA information is maintained and provided regularly to IA management and team.
7. IA Leadership and People Management • Plans, manages, and reviews direct reports’ and IA Team’s performance to track that KPIs are achieved. • Provides honest and timely feedback, development and coaching and takes prompt action, where necessary, to ensure progressive development and learning opportunities are pursued.
• Establishes clear direction, prioritization, and delegation across the team. • Drives the team’s development, encouraging secondment opportunities both into and outside of IA. • Supports the IA Team in periodically assessing the IA Team’s skills and competencies. • Contributes to the development and execution of the Function’s Strategy and initiatives. • Inspires the team to capture and act on ideas to contribute towards the strategic direction of IA. • Leads and supports assigned IA strategic initiatives.
• Positively and proactively leads change relating to all work practices. • Role models the Function’s functional competencies the project’s leadership competencies and values. • Oversees the team’s participation in the Quality Assurance and Improvement Program (QAIP), including timely and effective delivery of QA peer reviews (as required). Ensures that feedback received is appropriately addressed. • Advocates Quality across the Department and project IA Function.
8. Policies and Procedures
• Supports the administration and maintenance of the audit management system to drive conformance to the Function’s procedures.
• Undertakes all relevant activities above in line with the IA charter and procedures, including the IA Manual.
Communication and Working Relationships
Internal: All relevant Project departments
External: Significant external stakeholders - Government bodies, Tourism Authorities, Hospitality companies as well as those involved in Construction, Engineering and Real Estate Asset Management.
Job Requirements
Minimum Preferred
Academic Qualifications: • Bachelor’s degree in Finance,
Accounting, Business Administration, Public Administration or equivalent.
• Master’s degree preferred
Experience:
• Minimum of 10 years of experience in progressive and more complex senior- level roles.
• At least 5 years of relevant experience leading internal audit teams.
• Preferably with experience leading a range of internal audit activities across the real estate development and projects industry.
Language Proficiency: • English: Proficient • Arabic: Proficient
Professional Certifications: • A recognized professional certification such as CIA, CFE, CISA, CPA, ACCA, ACA, CMA, CCSA or equivalent.
Competencies
Technical & Behavioral Competencies
• Ability to influence, communicate and lead discussions with executive and senior management. • Strong relationship management skills, based on credibility, rapport and trust. • Strong analytical skills and understanding of data analytics tools and techniques. • Strong financial accounting knowledge. • Proven ability in business process improvement • Proven ability in leading internal audit team
• In-depth knowledge of governance, risk and control frameworks and concepts, including the IIA’s International Professional Practices Framework (IPPF).
• Strong business acumen and industry knowledge. • Advanced critical thinker, providing objective assurance and insight to management. • Strong coaching skills.