Senior Associate, System of Quality Management Internal Controls Testing, Risk Management, CBS,

Location: Belfast, Northern Ireland

The opportunity

This is an exciting and varied role the Firm's Risk Management, internal controls function. The firm is investing heavily in setting up risk management processes in the Belfast area and has identified controls testing as an addition to this capability. Ideal for individuals looking to further progress their career or step into a Big 4 firm. The role helps ensure the firm meets its external regulatory obligations and demonstrates a robust approach and system of quality management (ISQM1). Due to the breadth of the role, you will learn a remarkable amount about the firm and it's network, interact with senior business stakeholders and be given the opportunity to input into ongoing process improvements supporting EY in creating business value. The skills applied and developed as part of this role allows successful candidates to access longer term career progression and pursue opportunities within the wider business should they wish.

We understand the importance of professional development and are committed to empowering our employees with the resources they need to succeed. If you do not already hold a relevant professional qualification, we will provide study support for you to complete your Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) certification!

Your key responsibilities

This role has a primary focus on performing the design and operational effectiveness testing over EY UK Member Firm and EY UKI Region controls in the System of Quality Management. The successful candidate will play a key role in reviewing, analysing and documenting design adequacy assessments and performing operational effectiveness testing procedures over them.

As a Senior Associate you will also be involved in supporting other areas of the ISQM1 as needed and you will be encouraged to identify opportunities for improving efficiency and proposing value adding process improvements.

Experience and attributes

You will be working on critical elements at the core of EY's ISQM1 framework and will gain exposure to stakeholders across all areas of the business, including senior firm leadership. You will be supported by leaders who have a strong belief in professional skills development, and you will build broader experiences in a fast paced and dynamic organization.

We are looking for an individual, experienced in executing design and operational effectiveness controls testing procedures, with strong analytical and communication skills who demonstrates a desire to learn, grow and add value through doing.

To qualify for the role, you must have:

• Ability to show logic, diligence and detail in the way you approach work
• Experience control design and delivering operational effectiveness testing including reporting final conclusions to senior management.
• Ability to process information provided from various sources to assess the level of risk mitigation and appropriateness/sufficiency of the information to conclude on testing procedures.
• Ability to link and understand interrelationships between quality objectives, risks and control responses across different SQM components and articulate interdependencies and the impact of these on testing procedures and related conclusions.
• Ability to manage, coordinate and participate in regular interactions with stakeholders from all service lines of EY and to deliver conclusions both verbally and written. To this end, you will need to have strong information processing skills, ability to apply judgement, and the ability to succinctly communicate conclusions.
• Proven Ability to self-manage, prioritise and coordinate multiple tasks and testing team deliverables efficiently and effectively.
• Ability to provide regular updates on progress of assigned work and share views on a short-term and long-term plan for assigned areas considering set deadlines.
• Proven organization, communication, and influencing skills to contribute to the delivery mindset of the team. Your ideas will be listened to and taken on board no matter what level you are.
• Experience extracting, analysing, and providing summary data to inform management and key stakeholder decision making.
• Excellent communication skills and strong ability to present results/output using core Microsoft applications (Word, Excel, PowerPoint).

• Prior experience and understanding of ISQM1 requirements or working in an ISQM1 role is desirable but not essential.
• Ability to critically review a control, apply expert judgement, and assess the level of mitigation it provides to a given quality risk(s) and where applicable propose updates to the overall system of quality management. Note the role is focused on non-application/IT related control responses.

• A team player who actively owns and delivers their scope and proactively looks for opportunities to contribute and develop.
• A committed individual with a strong work ethic akin to working in a fast-paced environment and delivering against deadlines.
• An individual with an inquisitive and problem-solving mindset.