Principal, SOX

Position: Principal, SOX and MAR
Location: New York

** Principal, SOX and MAR
** The Principal, SOX serves as the senior execution lead and technical subject matter expert within the SOX Program Management Office (PMO), accountable for driving day-to-day execution, governance, documentation quality, stakeholder coordination, and continuous improvement of GEICO’s Sarbanes-Oxley and NAIC Model Audit Rule compliance programs under the direction of the Director, SOX PMO.The Principal partners closely with process owners and key stakeholders, including IT leadership, Internal Audit, and External Audit, to help ensure that Internal Control over Financial Reporting (ICFR) remains effective, scalable, and risk-aligned in support of management’s assertions under Sections 302 and 404 of Sarbanes-Oxley and Section 16 of the NAIC Annual Financial Reporting Model Regulation (Model #205).

This role serves as a catalyst for strategic transformation and continuous improvement across the SOX program.
** Role in Context
** The Principal operates within the SOX PMO as a management governance and execution role. Process and control owners remain accountable for control design, execution, evidence, certification, and remediation. The SOX PMO establishes and administers the program framework and standards. Internal Audit independently tests controls and provides independent assurance.

The Principal is authorized to manage routine program execution and enforce approved SOX PMO standards, while escalating material scoping decisions, methodology changes, deficiency classifications, unresolved stakeholder matters, and other risk-significant judgments to the Director, SOX PMO.
** Key Responsibilities
**** 1. SOX Program Execution and Governance
*** Coordinate execution alignment with the parent company’s consolidated SOX program, including applicable methodology, scoping, documentation, certification, and reporting requirements, and escalate potential alignment issues to the Director.
* Maintain the annual SOX program calendar, including key planning, walkthrough, testing readiness, deficiency evaluation, remediation, certification, and reporting milestones.
* Serve as the day-to-day program execution lead, developing governance documents, maintaining program trackers, coordinating deliverables, preparing status materials, and escalating risks, delays, and decision points to the Director, SOX PMO.
* Drive governance over both business process and IT-dependent controls by promoting adherence to program standards, methodologies, and documentation requirements.
* Identify opportunities to enhance program effectiveness, efficiency, and scalability through process improvements and automation initiatives.
* Apply SOX, ICFR, and COSO expertise to guide day-to-day program execution, documentation, and stakeholder decisions.
** 2. Risk Assessment and Scoping
*** Lead execution of the annual SOX risk assessment process, including analysis of significant accounts, applications, disclosures, financial reporting risks, fraud risks, and changes impacting in-scope processes, systems, reports and third-party service providers, with recommendations prepared for Director review and approval.
* Evaluate business, operational, and technology changes for potential SOX impacts, including MAR considerations and governance of entity-level controls (ELC).
* Govern SOX content and change control within the GRC platform by developing and maintaining program standards, reviewing risk-significant changes and facilitating approval through the SOX PMO governance process.
* Partner with control owners to help confirm risks, controls, applications, evidence, deficiencies, and remediation plans remain current, accurate, and audit ready.
** 3. Business Process Controls Execution
*** Lead reviews of process…