As a Delivery Lead of Internal Financial Controls, you will be leading the complex IFC framework project workstreams and provide technical and delivery leadership for the design and implementation of sustainable controls across insurance and finance processes. The role supports a project to strengthen the design, documentation and sustainability of internal financial control arrangements across insurance and finance processes. The successful candidate will combine risk and controls expertise with sound judgement, credible challenge and clear written communication.
What youll be DOING
What will your essential responsibilities include
- Lead complex IFC projects and workstreams, setting delivery approaches and translating programme objectives into executable plans through implementation readiness and handover.
- Own the translation of IFRS financial statement risks into control design principles.
- Facilitate design workshops with Finance, Operations, Technology and process owners to ensure proposed controls address risks and can operate sustainably.
- Provide expert advice and credible challenge in complex situations, influencing senior process owners and escalating material decisions, dependencies and barriers through programme governance.
- Assess the impact of process, system, data and organisational change on control design and implementation sequencing.
- Maintain oversight of delivery plans, milestones, interdependencies, risks and evidence requirements.
- Ensure deliverables are internally consistent and suitable for review by Group IC, external auditors and senior governance forums.
- Coach team members and business stakeholders on risks, control design, evidence standards and methodology application.
- Support programme leadership through status reporting, decision papers and recommendations.
- Understand end-to-end processes, relevant systems, data flows, hand-offs and financial statement impacts before proposing control changes.
- Assess IFRS financial statement risks and translate them into relevant financial statement assertions and process outcomes.
- Design sustainable controls with clear ownership, frequency, evidence, escalation and retention requirements.
- Apply AXA Group Internal Control methodology pragmatically while maintaining alignment with required standards.
- Distinguish control design or coverage issues from documentation enhancements and evidence limitations.
- Produce complete and consistent documentation capable of withstanding Group IC and external auditor scrutiny.
- Support development of standards, training, action tracking and the embedding of enhanced ways of working.
- Provide expert advice in complex situations and communicate difficult concepts in a way that influences stakeholders to adopt appropriate solutions.
You will report to Senior Risk Governance Manager.
What you will BRING
Were looking for someone who has these abilities and skills:
Required Skills and Abilities:
- Robust understanding of insurance business processes, including underwriting, claims, reinsurance, technical accounting, finance and reporting.
- Ability to understand IFRS financial statement risks and related financial statement assertions.
- Ability to translate risks into precise, practical and testable control objectives.
- Demonstrated experience designing sustainable controls rather than simply documenting existing activities.
- Working knowledge of SOX, ICFR or comparable internal financial control frameworks and risk-to-control mapping.
- Ability to apply group methodology proportionately and pragmatically while documenting judgement.
- Confidence to challenge process owners and senior stakeholders constructively and credibly.
- Excellent written communication skills with the ability to produce concise, evidence-based documentation suitable for governance and assurance review.
- Robust analytical skills, attention to detail and ability to manage dependencies across multiple workstreams.
- Ability to assess financial statement coverage and maintain clear mapping between balances, processes, risks, controls and financial statement assertions.
- Practical understanding of process narratives, walkthroughs, risk and control matrices, design and operating effectiveness testing and quality assurance expectations.
- Awareness of technology dependencies relevant to financial reporting, including critical financial applications, IT general controls, end-user computing and outsourced service providers.
- Ability to maintain consistency across process documentation, testing evidence and risk and control systems with a clear audit trail and disciplined version control.
- Robust change delivery and stakeholder communication skills.
Desired Skills and Abilities:
- Significant experience in SOX/ICFR consulting, Internal Control, technical accounting, finance transformation or insurance process improvement.
- Experience leading complex internal control, control design or finance change workstreams within a large, regulated or multinational organisation.
- Insurance industry experience supported by a practical understanding of accounting and reporting processes.
- Experience within a Big Four or specialist consulting firm, Internal Control function, technical accounting or finance transformation environment, or as an insurance process SME.
- Relevant professional qualification or equivalent experience in accounting, audit, risk, controls or finance.
- Ability to build effective working relationships across cultures, functions and levels of seniority.
- Demonstrated accountability for delivery, quality of outputs and stakeholder engagement.
