Assurance Leader (Internal Audit)

Job Introduction

Job Description for Assurance Leader:

There’s never been a more exciting time to be part of the nuclear sector. New opportunities are being created all the time. At NNL, you’ll be in the ideal place to capitalise on this momentum, face new challenges and develop a long, successful and meaningful career.

We’re an organisation that’s here to experiment and push the limits of what’s possible. So, if you’re keen to excel in your chosen field, this is the place to do it. Because at NNL, anything is possible.

The role will involve carrying out 3rd line oversight of the company’s internal controls processes and the 1st and 2nd line assurance activities implemented by NNL.  This will provide confidence as to whether NNL is operating in a legal and compliant manner, meeting its regulatory and stakeholder requirements in a range of topic areas including corporate governance, risk management, finance, procurement and commercial, technical, engineering, design, management systems, project management.

The location for this role is flexible and can be based at Sellafield, Workington, Preston or Risley.

Role Responsibility

Main Responsibilities for Assurance Leader:

• Understand the business risk profile using both formal risk registers and any other available internal and external information, prioritising this information to provide input to the annual Independent Assurance work programme to plan the work for the area and set the scope of interventions (i.e., audits).
• Undertake specific investigations / interventions relating to the topic area covered by the remit of the role on request of the Audit, Risk and Assurance Committee (ARAC) or the Board and report back to the ARAC/Board on the outcome of such assessments. Undertake periodic effectiveness reviews on Board related improvements as required. 
• Gather evidence of business compliance with processes and requirements using a range of tools and techniques and prepare reports highlighting areas of good practice and areas of lack of compliance and concern.
• Report on assurance outcomes (findings) against risk areas visited and devise suitable recommendations to enable process owners toto address these, driving positive behaviours and continual improvements. Recording the reports and findings on the company database. 
• Monitor their progress against the Independent Assurance team programme to ensure that the agreed areas are covered on schedule and to appropriate depth.
• Directly influencing Board members, Executive Directors, leaders and senior managers towards mature assurance on a 1:1 basis and through feedback of intervention findings., 
• Review of external audit / intervention reports to provide ongoing oversight and challenge in order to assure NNL’s close out of external non-compliances or non-conformities.
• Upkeep and control of any maintained documentation e.g,. procedures and instructions relevant to their area of responsibility to ensure that documentation is current and in-date.
• Oversee any training materials for their topic area to ensure that training is in line with best practice and company procedures.
• Provide coaching and mentoring to any potential new assurance resources required for succession planning with the Independent Assurance team as a subject matter expert for their area of responsibility in order to create healthy turnover within the team.
• Maintain an understanding of NNL’s operations and how they relate to the NNL mission, particularly in relation to those within their topic area, to provide a firm basis for interventions (i.e. audits).
• Maintain an understanding of future regulatory changes in the topic field covered by the remit of the role in order to advise the Board on the impact of these changes on NNL’s reporting and internal controls.

The Ideal Candidate

Essential Criteria for Assurance Leader:

• Ability to obtain SC level security clearance (this includes but is not limited to identity, employment, financial and criminal record checks plus 5 years’ worth of UK residency).

Qualifications:

• Graduate or equivalent with experience of working within a regulated industry.  Experience in auditing or working within relevant topic areas is preferred.  This includes but is not limited to finance, procurement, commercial., science, engineering, project management/delivery.
• Required to be either a member, or working towards membership of a professional institution. 

Experience:

• Using, implementing or assuring business processes relating to risk management, corporate governance and internal controls.
• Experience of operating, influencing and building effective working relationships with senior management.
• Good communication and interpersonal skills, both face-to-face and in writing, including the ability to communicate complex issues clearly and succinctly and influence senior stakeholders up to Board level. This should be supported by strong report writing skills.
• Organisation and planning skills with the ability to deal effectively with both short term and long term work.
• Understanding of internal and external requirements relating to the topic area, including Government Functional Standards as appropriate.

Desirable Criteria for Assurance leader:

• Understanding of risk management and governance best practice.
• Ability to develop relationships with key stakeholders including external partnerships with government bodies although support will be provided to build on existing NNL relationships.
• Experience of operating in a project delivery/technical organisation
• Desirable - A member or working towards membership of IIA, ICAEW, ACCA, CIPFA, ICAS or equivalent.

About the Company

NNL is an incredible place to work A place where people do things that have never been done before A place where people push boundaries to further themselves, the business, and society as a whole.

This is a place where personal and professional opportunities are limitless. If you want to change the world, if you want to tackle climate change, if you want to help advance medical science, if you want to help put things in space, if you want to answer the big questions, if you want to work with extraordinary materials, if you want to meet great people, learn new skills, challenge yourself, work flexibly, and build a long successful career with the power to make a real impact… you can do it all here.

NNL has a vision for Equality, Diversity, and Inclusivity (ED&I) where NNL aims to be an inclusive workplace that attracts diverse talent through transparent and equal policies and procedures. We want you and the diverse mix of people that we employ, customers that we service, and stakeholders that we influence to feel valued. We encourage a workplace culture where everyone can thrive with a sense of belonging.

Recruitment Agency Notice

We operate a strict Preferred Supplier List (PSL) for the provision of recruitment services. Only agencies on our PSL may provide CVs and only when the role is released to them by our recruitment team. We will not accept unsolicited CVs from suppliers not currently on our PSL. We explicitly reserve the right to add candidate details from unsolicited CVs from non-PSL agencies into our own candidate database and to pursue/hire such candidate(s) without any obligation, financial or otherwise, to the agency concerned.

United Kingdom National Nuclear Laboratory