Financial Compliance Auditor

Closing Date: 18/09/2026

The University of Sheffield is a remarkable place to work. Our people are at the heart of everything we do. Their diverse backgrounds, abilities and beliefs make Sheffield a world-class university.

We offer a fantastic range of benefits including a highly competitive annual leave entitlement (with the ability to purchase more), a generous pensions scheme, flexible working opportunities, a commitment to your development and wellbeing, a wide range of retail discounts, and much more. Find out more about our benefits (opens in a new window) and join us to become part of something special.

This is a fantastic opportunity to join a developing Finance compliance function and help strengthen the University of Sheffield’s approach to financial control and compliance.

Whether you are an audit professional looking for your first move out of practice, or you already have established in‑house experience, this role offers a great platform to develop your skills and career.

Reporting to the Head of Financial Assurance, you will support the delivery of the University’s financial compliance framework across our academic Schools and Professional Service departments. You will carry out compliance audits, track agreed actions, support policy development and provide clear advice to colleagues from across the institution.

The University is a large and complex organisation, with around 25,000 students and an annual income of around £900 million. This role requires both strong technical assurance and analytical skills and the ability to communicate financial and compliance issues clearly to colleagues who may not have a finance background.

As the University’s compliance framework matures, the volume and depth of assurance work is increasing. This post has been created to strengthen delivery capacity and will provide wide exposure to the University’s financial operations.

We are looking for an analytically‑minded audit, assurance, compliance or finance professional who can combine sound technical judgement with practical communication skills, collaborative working and a commitment to improving how controls operate in practice.

• Deliver financial compliance health checks across the University’s academic Schools and Professional Service departments, including planning, data analysis, fieldwork, reporting, and follow up.
• Extract and analyse financial data to identify trends, exceptions, risk areas and potential control weaknesses.
• Translate compliance risks and findings into clear, practical messages for finance and non‑finance colleagues, including the causes, consequences and required actions.
• Maintain the assurance action tracker, monitoring agreed actions through to completion and escalating delays where appropriate.
• Manage the central Financial Compliance mailbox, acting as a first point of contact for enquiries and providing clear, professional advice.
• Support the Head of Financial Assurance to develop, maintain and improve the University’s financial compliance framework.
• Support policy updates and process development, ensuring they align with institutional standards and regulatory expectations.
• Support the design and monitoring of remedial actions, helping colleagues address root causes rather than only correcting individual issues
• Provide compliance input into major change initiatives - including an upcoming ERP implementation - to help maintain effective financial controls.
• Build effective working relationships with colleagues across Finance and the wider institution to promote good governance, risk awareness and proportionate control.
• Carry out other duties, commensurate with the grade and remit of the post

Our diverse community of staff and students recognises the unique abilities, backgrounds, and beliefs of all. We foster a culture where everyone feels they belong and are respected. Even if your past experience doesn't match perfectly with this role's criteria, your contribution is valuable, and we encourage you to apply. Please ensure that you reference the application criteria in the application statement when you apply.