Job summary
The Government Internal Audit Agency (GIAA) is driven by its unparalleled access across government to build ?better insights, better outcomes? for our clients.
This role offers a strong platform for career progression within the Agency and the wider civil service, providing opportunities to develop leadership, stakeholder engagement and strategic relationship management skills across government.
The Agency?s unique access across the public sector exposes you to different risk and control environments, allowing you to gain insights, apply experience, contribute meaningfully, and continue developing professionally.
Job description
We are an executive agency of HM Treasury established in April 2015 to improve the quality of internal audit provided to central government.
Most of the Agency?s people are professionally qualified internal auditors, accountants or investigators.
Many are also specialists in areas including counter fraud, project management, digital and commercial audit.
This is a new Director role responsible for the development and delivery of the Government Internal Audit Agency?s (GIAA) specialist internal audit services, predominantly in the Digital, Data and Technology (DDaT) functional area, but also in Project and Programme Management (PPM) and other specialist disciplines.
We are recruiting an accomplished senior leader with experience of leading technology-led transformation in a large and complex organisation. The successful candidate will bring strong technology credibility, a sound understanding of risk and control frameworks, and the ability to influence and provide authoritative challenge to senior stakeholders.
The post holder will shape and grow GIAA?s specialist assurance capability, ensuring our services remain relevant, impactful and forward-looking as technology, AI and emerging risks transform the way government operates.
We lead both the Government Internal Audit Profession and the Government Internal Audit Function.
Our workforce brings with it a unique depth of experience gained in a wide range of government departments, related bodies and other sectors.
This enables us to offer a high-quality service based on cross-government insight and a strong understanding of our customers? business.
In GIAA, we aim to be a great place to work and to ensure that we have the capability and capacity to make even more of a significant contribution to achieving A Brilliant Civil Service over the coming years.
Our initial focus was on becoming ?a single audit practice?. We are now focused on taking GIAA to the next level so we can provide better insights and better outcomes for government.
Responsibilities
- lead GIAA?s strategic shift towards a more DDaT-focused approach to assurance, ensuring technology, data and digital risks are reflected effectively in audit planning and delivery
- shape and deliver a compelling approach to technology-related risk and assurance, helping senior clients understand and manage emerging risks across cyber security, AI, cloud services, data quality and operational resilience
- build GIAA?s specialist capability and capacity, developing the skills, expertise and partnerships needed to provide high-quality, forward-looking assurance across government
- position GIAA as a trusted adviser to senior digital and technology leaders, providing insight that supports better management of complex and rapidly evolving risks
- harness insight from specialist assurance work to identify cross-government themes, emerging risks and opportunities to strengthen controls and governance
- play a leading role on GIAA?s Executive Committee, helping to shape the Agency?s strategy, transformation and long-term effectiveness.
Initial Responsibilities
- providing strategic leadership for GIAA?s specialist internal audit portfolio, including DDaT, Project Portfolio Management and Commercial and Contract Management (including Grants), ensuring services are high quality, impactful and delivered to agreed professional standards
- developing and implementing a medium and long-term strategy to grow GIAA?s specialist assurance capability, with an initial focus on DDaT and the development of wider organisational capability in areas such as AI and core technology controls
- building influential relationships with senior stakeholders across government, ensuring specialist risks are appropriately reflected in audit planning, client engagement and assurance activity
- leading and developing a directorate of around 60 people, including two SCS1 Deputy Directors, creating a high-performing, inclusive and collaborative culture and building capability for the future
- overseeing the effective deployment of internal resources and external specialist partners, ensuring GIAA has the right expertise and capacity to meet client needs and deliver value for money.
- championing quality, innovation and continuous improvement across specialist services, ensuring delivery complies with the Global Internal Audit Standards and GIAA methodology
- working across GIAA and the wider government internal audit community to turn specialist insight into improved strategic risk management, governance and controls
- contributing collectively to the leadership of GIAA as an Executive Committee member, supporting delivery of the Agency?s strategy, transformation, performance and financial sustainability.
Essential Experience
The successful candidate will need to demonstrate their knowledge, experience, capability and behavioural approach to a high standard against the following key criteria:
a strong track record of leading/consulting/advising on significant technology-led transformation within large or complex organisations, functions or services; focused on building people capability and confidence, fostering strong relationships and driving impactful change
significant senior leadership experience relevant to digital, data and technology, with the breadth of understanding and credibility to engage and influence senior executives and DDaT professionals
robust strategic and commercial acumen gained in large scale and complex environments, with a proven track record of shaping cultural change, leading high-performing teams, driving continuous improvement, and delivering measurable impact, through dynamic strategic leadership
a thorough understanding of risk, control and assurance frameworks, gained either through leading assurance activity or as a senior leader responsible for receiving and acting on assurance
a proven track record in building organisational capability to respond to evolving technology risks and controls, including cyber security, AI, data quality and operational resilience with a focus on empowering ideas, and implementing innovation
a proven ability to communicate complex technology and risk issues clearly, creating a compelling narrative that influences senior stakeholders and builds confidence, engagement and an appetite for strategic and organisational change.