Internal Audit Director

The Director of Internal Audit is ultimately responsible for the annual development of an audit plan, and execution of all audit related procedures and initiatives, across North America for all Divisions of the company - including the global IT landscape.  This role is the subject matter expert for key business decision makers providing insight on governance, internal control, audit and accounting related matters.  This role oversees the IT audit, compliance audit and operational audit activity for the North America region and provides internal consulting around system and process transformations.

This position is not hybrid/remote and will be located at our Global Headquarters in Cleveland, OH. 

Because this role involves access to confidential financial information, the Company has determined that a review of criminal history is necessary to protect the business and its operations and reputation and to provide similar protections for its clients and potential investments.

CORE RESPONSIBILITIES AND TASKS

BUSINESS AND AUDIT KNOWLEDGE:

• Develops and maintains a rolling audit plan and related calendar of responsibilities for team members, while still ensuring responsiveness to escalated ad hoc risks / needs that arise across the organization and in the marketplace.
• Provides open communication to Division financial leadership around deficiencies and audit issues identified, upcoming audits, open audit issues, or other areas of concern.  Ensure quality and timely reporting of audit reports, and other applicable communications as needed.
• Oversees all audit activities performed in the North America region, while challenging audit approach to help ensure appropriate risk coverage.  Participates at varying levels in planning and fieldwork phases, while actively participating in the reporting phase of all projects to ensure clear, concise, and impactful audit reports to Management.
• Ability to identify control concerns, assess situations and adapt as needed.  Understand levels of risk related to company operations and set audit plans accordingly.  Understand broader considerations and downstream impacts when issues arise.
• Dedication to staying current on Internal Audit guidelines and regulations.

• Minimizes cost associated with compliance over runs through a commitment to quality results through all direct assist and reliance efforts as coordinated with external audit.

• On a quarterly basis, develops departmental summary (detailed metrics covering audit accomplishments, efforts and forecasting goals) of the organization relating the work to emerging risks in the audit realm, to ultimately be presented to the Audit Committee.

• Presents to various groups across the organization on select topics as requested by meeting organizers such as Internal Control Awareness and Audit Support in order to educate and enhance importance of SOX 404 Compliance.

• Provides consulting services on transformational projects to help ensure the appropriate governance and control.

BUILD STRATEGIC WORKING RELATIONSHIPS:

• Understands company structure and key contacts both within the company and external contacts (ie EY).

• Builds and develops partnership with key financial, IT, and Operational leadership across the organization and utilize a risk-based approach to align with organizational strategies, goals and objectives.

• Acts as liaison between external auditor and S-W Management on many audit related fronts, to ensure appropriate procedures are being performed in an efficient manner based on S-W environment. Holds external auditor accountable to drive execution excellence and meeting deadlines.

• Consistently aligns with Management and external auditor on system implementations / conversions to appropriately manage risk and develop audit procedures to complete post-mortem review.

• Identifies incremental opportunities to take on direct assistance work from external auditor, and subsequently reduce audit fees; while ensuring all work is completed timely and of the highest quality.

• Remains aligned with external audit and audit industry guidance and related emerging risks to stay in front of potential changes, especially in the IT environment.

• Proactively partners with business stakeholders across various Divisions / Functional Areas throughout organization to ensure risks are adequately managed and addressed, while creating solutions when issues arise, in order to satisfy risk mitigation efforts.

• Develop relationships with key customers to highlight the importance of Internal Audit and provide value-added service to the company, while maintaining an independent profile.

• Maintain an environment of collaboration and teamwork in order to achieve department(s) goals.  

• Clearly convey performance expectations and implications.

PLANNING AND ORGANIZING:

• Establishes guidelines for team to provide quality audits providing assurance of adherence and compliance to all interested parties (external Audit, Audit Committee, etc.)

• Develop and approve hours allocation budgets for each audit year, to maximize resource capabilities.

• Prioritize and set schedule for Direct Assistance, Internal Audits, and special projects.

• Leverage resources to maximize output, including improving the Direct Assistance provided to the external audit team.

• Identifies opportunities to challenge the status quo and further expand the types and level of service provided by Internal Audit.

• Continuously assess department process and technology needs to further drive efficiencies in audit coverage and execution.

• Effectively communicate to appropriate audience professionally and timely, including audit concerns, changes to plans, etc. 

COACH AND DEVELOP OTHERS:

• Oversees North America Finance and IT audit managers and their teams. 

• Evaluate skill set requirements as changes within the Internal Audit risk landscape changes. 

• Develop Internal Audit staff to prepare for advancement in the company.  

• Oversee recruitment efforts, including seeking outlets and opportunities to recruit above and beyond the normal paths.

• Oversees respective audit teams.  Set priorities, department goals and direction for North America Internal Audit teams under direction.

• Drives a culture of continuous improvement across the department and identify opportunities to assess and improve business processes and operations, while optimizing controls where possible to drive down cost of compliance and improve efficiencies for organization.

• Establishes and delivers growth opportunities for team members to allow them to gain exposure to the organization, different Divisions, processes, etc. to expand horizons and present new challenges.  Utilize these opportunities to assist with career progression and showcasing department talent.

• Grows and evolves the department and audit methodology to further drive an analytical and data driven approach to auditing through enhancing business acumen and optimizing business relationships, acting as a value-add consultant while shifting from traditional Internal Audit compliance-based approaches.

Plan and execute international and domestic audits over critical IT applications and ERP systems, assist in reviews over enterprise-wide business processes, as well as plan and execute IT focused audits (i.e., cybersecurity, ICS, system conversions, other one-off audits, etc.).

• Continue developing strong business relationships with key stakeholders across strategic IT areas throughout the various divisions / functions.  Identify opportunities to act as a consultant to the audit client, while strengthening the overall control environment, and working to provide value-add, cost savings, and process / compliance improvement findings.

• Provide guidance to assist Manager / Supervisors / Leads during the scoping / planning process, to appropriately utilize critical thinking in developing a tailored audit program specific to the risks within the clients’ environment, audit subject at hand.  Further, provide guidance to the team in high-risk areas which are to be emphasized in the audit scope.

• Oversee the Manager / Supervisor, and Leads in charge of the execution of fieldwork to drive effective and efficient procedures

• Align with IT leadership on impactful findings and navigate the exit conference with local and corporate management.

• Own internal audit reports and memos to ensure issues are clearly described and recommendations are 

  reasonable and in accordance with Company policy. Work with Management to co-develop action plans that are clear, concise, and appropriately address the issue – while ensuring audit reports are issued timely.  Continue to partner with Management on the timely remediation of issues identified.

• Obtain understanding around all components of system conversions to perform accurate SDLC assessments (i.e., data conversions, key control mapping, testing phases (i.e., SIT, FUT, UAT, etc.), security design requirements, etc.).

DRIVING RESULTS THROUGH TECHNOLOGY

• Identify opportunities to utilize technology (i.e. Data Analytics, AI, Automation) in the execution of audit analysis and procedures during operational audits and consulting initiatives. 

• Support the North America team from a data analytic and data mining standpoint, and seek opportunities to leverage analytics in the future for compliance related activities (including Sarbanes-Oxley).

• Gain an understanding of all key systems, data, business processes, and audit objectives to identify opportunities to provide analytic services to the IA department.

• Provide sustainable services by independently assessing and challenging the technology program to help improve efficiencies, completeness, and accuracy of testing. 

• Manage the completion of special projects using technology. 

DRIVE RESULTS

• Maintain an environment of continuous improvement by measuring department performance and setting stretch goals to maximize value add of the internal audit department.

• Manage and participate in special assignments as deemed necessary by Corporate Audit Leadership, Loss Prevention and Security; management; and/or the Audit Committee to provide senior management with the necessary levels of assurance.

POSITION REQUIREMENTS

Required:

• Bachelor degree in Accounting, Finance, or Management Information Systems 

• 10+ years of prior Audit work experience 

• Advanced understanding of general accounting, SOX, COSO, US GAAP and manufacturing/retail industry

• Experience managing audit projects from start to finish, which includes planning, executing, and completing audit reports 

• Must be legally authorized to work in the United States without sponsorship now or in the future for employment visa status 

• Must be at least eighteen (18) years of age

Preferred:

• Experience with Big 4 audit firm or public company internal audit team 
• MBA
• CPA,CISA, or CISSP

Travel: 10%