Are you a qualified and experienced Audit Manager who thrives on making a  difference and passionate about ensuring public services are run properly for the  people of Scotland? If so, we can offer you the chance to lead audit teams and  contribute to the leadership of Audit Scotland. You will help to create a better  Scotland through leading financial, performance and Best Value audit work and our  wider engagement with public services. 

We are Audit Scotland. We're Scotland’s public sector auditor, independent of government.  We employ more than 320 talented professionals who know that their work helps ensure the  efficient delivery of public services in Scotland. We believe that public money (around £57  billion a year) should be spent wisely.  

There's plenty of change ahead, and the need for robust public audit that provides  assurance about public spending and helps public services improve is more important than  ever. We want to make sure Scotland makes the very best of the opportunities and that  change is delivered well – transparent financial reporting and delivering value for money are  key to this.  

There has never been a more interesting or important time to join us. We offer a rewarding  place to work, a supportive and open culture and a wide range of professional development  opportunities. Benefits include 42 days of annual leave including public holidays, personal  development allowances and flexible working hours. We’ve also been named one of the top  40 workplaces in Scotland and the UK’s fourth best accountancy workplace in the Sunday  Times’ 2021 Best Companies awards. 

Overall purpose of the role 

Our Performance Audit and Best Value Group (PABV) delivers audit products on issues  such as public bodies’ response to the Covid-19 pandemic, health and social care  integration, digital transformation, community empowerment, inequalities, skills and  training, economic development, and climate change. Our Best Value audits of councils look  at important issues like how well they perform in delivering services to their  communities. Our work programme is dynamic and refreshed on a regular basis to ensure it  responds to changing circumstances.  

Our work involves identifying audit risks affecting the Scottish public sector, scoping audit  work to ensure it focuses on what matters, developing audit methodologies, gathering and  assessing evidence (quantitative and qualitative), forming judgements and conclusions,  and writing clear, evidence-based reports for the public and Scottish Parliament, that include  recommendations for improvement to public bodies.  

You will conduct and manage complex audit work, make audit judgements and oversee and  manage the work of the team to deliver our audits to a world-class standard. Your work will  provide assurance to the public and Scottish Parliament, help support improvement and  focus on what’s important for audited bodies and stakeholders. 

How you can help us

As manager of a team working on performance or best value audits, you will: 

• make risk-based decisions about the audit approach and breadth and depth of  auditing required in proportion to the circumstances 

• make complex audit judgements, and lead the team to make audit judgements and  strategic recommendations based on all the evidence collected draft and finalise audit outputs and be responsible for the content of the finished  products 

• be responsible for planning and delivering audits to time, cost and quality standards.  This includes responsibility for all elements of managing an audit, including  resourcing, cost and risk monitoring (and taking appropriate action), impact work and  supporting media enquiries 

• identify, build and maintain relationships with internal and external stakeholders, and  proactively use these networks to add value to our work and reputation provide leadership, build capacity and resilience in the team; and motivate, support  and develop people to achieve their full potential 

• line manage colleagues, actively managing their development and addressing  performance issues 

• maximise the impact of our work, including presenting and promoting audit outputs  and findings at the highest client and stakeholder levels, eg the Scottish  Parliament, Accounts Commission, governing boards, audit  committees, conferences 

• identify lessons learned to improve audit quality and efficiency and, where  appropriate, share these across the organisation lead on distinct areas to support the development of Audit Scotland’s work  programme 

• contribute to the management of Audit Scotland through participation in corporate  activities. 

Specific knowledge and experience 

You will be a fully qualified accountant (CIPFA, ICAS, other CCAB, CIMA or equivalent).  Preferably you will have practical experience of delivering high-quality audits, ideally in a  public sector environment. Those without recent audit experience will be expected to build  up their audit skills as a key part of the role. You’ll undertake professional and personal  development to maintain technical expertise, meet CPD requirements and enhance your  career prospects at Audit Scotland. Self-aware in your own abilities, you can plan and  manage your own work. You will have well developed auditing, accountancy and analytical  skills. You will have the ability to convert your analysis into clear judgements backed up by  clear recommendations for improvement. You know how to work seamlessly within an audit  team and help to bring out the best in your colleagues, mentoring and coaching where  necessary.  

You may also have experience of:  

• The public sector including knowledge of public finances and policy. 

• Dealing confidently with stakeholders, including staff in audited bodies.  

As your career develops you will:  

• Demonstrate significant audit experience across the public sector. 

• Possess an awareness of key on-going activities across the organisation, covering  both audit and non-audit work.  

• Be able to lead discussions with senior staff in audited bodies and stakeholder  groups. 

• Gain experience of dealing with difficult situations in a professional and effective  manner. 

Interested? Next steps 

Click the apply button to complete an application form. If you wish, you can also share your  CV. We offer a range of benefits, please visit our careers page for more information. 

Our application deadline is 24th October 2021 at midnight, We’ve reserved week  commencing 1st November 2021 for virtual interviews to take place. 

Diversity and Inclusion 

We value the unique perspective a diverse workforce brings to what we do. Therefore, we’re  keen to increase representation in our workforce and support progression of minority ethnic  groups. We are also a proud disability confident employer. 

How we work 

We employ more than 320 people in a wide variety of roles, based at our offices in  Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Inverness, at sites across Scotland and working from  home. This isn’t your typical work from home or work from office type job. We’re flexible  about working patterns and we’ve transformed how we deliver high-quality public audit. We  support you to work in the ways that achieve the best results for you, your team and the  business, including your physical location and how you manage your hours. Put simply, we  trust you to do your job, and want you to have the ability to have a rewarding work-life  balance and best support your individual circumstances, be that childcare,  adult carer responsibilities or managing disabilities. 

We welcome applications from across the UK. Some travel to our offices or client sites will  be necessary at times, but you don’t need to live in Scotland to work for us.