Canada Life UK looks after the retirement, investment and protection needs of individuals, families and companies. We help to build better futures for our customers, our intermediaries and our employees by operating as a modern, agile and welcoming organisation.
Part of our parent company Great-West Lifeco, Canada Life UK has operated in the United Kingdom since 1903. We have hundreds of respected and supported employees committed to doing the right thing for our customers and colleagues.
Canada Life UK is transforming to create a more customer-focused business by providing our customers with expertise on financial and tax planning, offering home finance and annuities propositions, and providing collective fund solutions to third party customers.
Job Purpose
The primary role of the CLUK Internal Audit (IA) function is to assist the Board in discharging its governance responsibilities in monitoring and reviewing the effectiveness of systems of internal control, by providing independent reliable assurance that the organisation's governance, risk management and control processes are adequate, effective and sustainable.
The Senior Internal Auditor serves as a member of the IA team, assisting IA Management to meet the strategic objectives of the function.
Key Accountabilities
- Lead audit engagements including the following activities: drafting engagement-level risk assessment, design and execution of audit work programme; drafting the audit report.
- Managing time and prioritising workload to deliver under time pressure.
- Work collaboratively with the audit team through regular internal catch ups and meetings with the audit client (business contacts) to discuss and resolve queries raised during the audit.
- Provide regular communication to the Internal Audit management team on progress of audit engagement.
- Maintain effective working relationships with the audit client throughout audit engagements.
- Lead or attend the engagement closing meeting with the audit client and agree recommendations.
- Follow up on previously reported issues to ensure that corrective action has been taken, in line with Internal Audit quality standards.
Desired Knowledge / Experience / Skills
The following skills and/or experience are essential:
- Applied knowledge and expertise in the use of risk-based audit methodologies, tools and techniques.
- Ability to work under pressure within a team and individually to take responsibility for ensuring deadlines are met.
- Ability to communicate persuasively at all levels with clarity and precision, both written and verbally.
- Strong interpersonal skills to facilitate working in a small team and liaising with internal and external customers.
- Sound business and technical acumen, with the ability to navigate a complex organisation effectively.
- Able to analyse complex business and technical situations, make informed decisions about appropriate corrective actions and convince others to act.
- Applied knowledge and experience in using computer-assisted audit tools and techniques (e.g. Excel, ACL, PowerBI) and internal audit management software.
The following skills and/or experiences are an advantage:
- Relevant work experience in a Big Four accounting firm or within a financial services company with demonstrated working knowledge of governance, risk management and internal controls.
- Applied knowledge and experience in the use of internal audit and control frameworks (e.g. COSO Internal Control - IIA's International Professional Practices Framework).
- Awareness and knowledge of Enterprise Risk Management and Solvency II Systems of Governance.
- Applied advanced knowledge and experience of project assurance methodologies and practices.
Qualifications:
- Qualified accountant or Chartered Internal Auditor (essential).
- GCSE (or equivalent) English and Maths (essential)
- Bachelor's degree from accredited college or university (essential)
Benefits of working at Canada Life
We believe in recognising and rewarding our people, so we offer a competitive salary and benefits package that's regularly reviewed. As a Canada Life UK colleague, you'll receive a competitive salary and comprehensive reward package including a generous pension and bonus scheme, along with, income protection, private medical insurance and life assurance. We have a fantastic number of other benefits and support services as well as regular personal and professional development.
How we work at Canada Life
Our culture is unique and incredibly important to us. We care about doing the right thing for our people, customers and community and helping others to build better futures. Our blueprint behaviours shape and influence how we work, and are central to the relationships we have with others. Every day we are encouraged to be more curious, own the outcome, face into things together and find a way forward.
We want colleagues to have rewarding careers with us so we invest in the development of our people, technology and workplaces. That's why we offer a range of training, flexible working and opportunities to grow and develop.
Diversity and inclusion
Building an inclusive workplace with a diverse workforce where everyone can feel they belong and achieve their potential regardless of gender, ethnicity or any other characteristic is a key commitment for us. We are proud of the progress we're making in DEI, and we continue for it to be a significant focus.
"At Canada Life we believe in the power of great people from different backgrounds, experiences and perspectives coming together to build better futures. Emerging talent is crucial to our growth and creating an environment that continues to inspire us all." Nick Harding, Chief People Officer, Canada Life UK
We appreciate that everyone has different work and life responsibilities. We're happy to discuss flexible working arrangements, including part time, for any of our roles should this be a requirement for you.