IT Audit Specialist

Location & Salary

Location:

London or Newcastle offices. Working arrangement includes a mix of time at the assigned office, time at client sites across the UK as required, and working from home. A minimum of in‑person attendance for 2 days a week at NAO or client offices is required, with the possibility of increased attendance during busier periods.

Salary: £69,017 p.a. (London) or £61,967 p.a. (Newcastle) plus Civil Service Pension. A higher base salary may be available for an exceptional candidate.

The National Audit Office (NAO) supports parliament by holding government to account and improving public services. It focuses on driving long‑term sustainable improvement in public service delivery and works with government and stakeholders to deliver better performance.

• Support IT Senior Audit Managers and IT Audit Managers in scoping, planning and delivering the annual programme of IT audit work.
• Provide management of specific IT audit engagements, depending on experience.
• Guide Financial Audit (FA) teams to respond to IT‑related risks and support the production of detailed IT audit responses for relevant technology layers.
• Audit IT application and supporting general IT controls in systems such as Oracle EBS, Oracle Fusion, SAP ECC, SAP S/4 HANA or Unix systems; knowledge of Active Directory and cloud‑based systems is favourable.
• Obtain assurance over the effective operation of IT controls/functions, interfaces, reports (e.g. SQL), segregation of duties, automated calculations, new system implementations or migrations.
• Produce quality IT audit work for manager review and produce clear documentation of complex business processes and controls.
• Interpret and evaluate third‑party reports (e.g. ISAE
  3402) in accordance with ISA 402 to support financial audit teams.
• Translate IT processes and audit issues into understandable language for non‑specialist colleagues and communicate risk relevance to audit managers.
• Summarise IT audit findings, assess impact on business/financial statements, recommend additional audit work and draft practical recommendations for audited body management.
• Maintain professional relationships with the Financial Audit team, audited bodies and internal stakeholders, ensuring evidence schedules are met and issues are escalated appropriately.
• Identify opportunities to improve the quality, efficiency or value of the IT audit team’s work.
• Support the development and training of IT audit trainees and colleagues through knowledge sharing.
• Keep up‑to‑date with IT audit team activities, initiatives and priorities relevant to NAO internal practice networks.

• Significant IT audit experience supporting financial audit, particularly with large complex systems.
• Experience in Oracle (including Fusion) and SAP (including S/4 HANA) systems.
• Experience auditing automated and supporting general IT controls across relevant technology layers.
• Preferably a senior consultant or equivalent nearing promotion to a managerial role.
• Formal audit qualifications such as CISA are preferred but strong practical experience is more important; a formal finance qualification would be an advantage.
• Strong verbal communication, report writing and the ability to produce client‑facing and internal‑facing written material.

• Intellectual curiosity, especially about technology and business process matters.
• Trusted to work independently and co‑operatively in a team to deliver quality work.
• Drive and determination to overcome obstacles and challenges to achieve goals.
• Commitment to personal development and keeping technical skills up to date.
• Clear and appropriate communication in writing and verbally for a range of audiences, including junior staff and senior client staff.

The NAO is independent of government and the civil service. The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) leads the NAO and has statutory authority to audit and report on the financial accounts of government departments and other public bodies. The Public Accounts Commission oversees NAO work.