Providing independent, objective assurance and consulting activity to add value and improve an organisation’s operations.
Occupational Profile
The role of Internal Audit (IA) departments is to provide an independent, objective assurance and consulting activity to add value and improve an organisation’s operations. IA helps an organisation accomplish its objectives by bringing a disciplined approach to evaluate and improve the effectiveness of risk management, control and governance processes. Internal Audit has an enterprise-wide mandate, assessing the adequacy and effectiveness of all areas of an organisation. IA is the last line of defense in an organisation and must remain impartial and independent in how it works alongside the organisation.
IAProfs are recognised as experts in risk management, internal audit, governance and control. IAProfs are highly competent professional internal auditors, capable of making a significant contribution to the success and strategic direction of an organisation through being an independent voice to leadership. The IAProf will act autonomously, providing challenging and sometimes provocative insights into risks and internal controls. They act in an independent and objective position at all times, representing the interests of the organisation’s stakeholders and must maintain the highest standards of professional conduct and competency; upholding ethical behaviour and integrity at all times. The IAProf is typically part of an audit team, potentially managing other IAProfs or Internal Audit Practitioners (IAPracs). The IAProf typically reports to the Internal Audit Manager or Head of IA.
The IAProf’s typical responsibilities include:
Managing audit engagements, including: (i)planning engagements, supervising and checking the quality of engagements, communicating results to senior stakeholders, discussing and agreeing remedial actions, and monitoring engagement outcomes; (ii)Critically evaluating the inherent risk and control implications of different business processes; understanding the key risks that may jeopardise the organisation’s strategy and objectives, and developing and delivering a risk-based audit programme to help the organisation succeed; (iii)developing stakeholder relationships and acting as an independent assurer, demonstrating a commercial awareness and critically evaluating the external macro environment to identify the short and long term impact of this on the organisation in order to provide a view of the internal risk and control landscape; (iv)using this information to influence senior stakeholders and shape the Audit Plan; (v)lead and manage projects and investigations as required by senior stakeholders, which adds value and informs change to the internal audit function and wider organisation
IA roles will be found in the public, private and voluntary sectors, where the IA function is acknowledged as a cornerstone of good corporate governance essential to the success of an organisation, as recognised by the UK Corporate Governance Code (or other sector-relevant codes of practice). The profession is overseen by the Chartered Institute of Internal Auditors (Chartered IIA), which sets out guidance and standards on how the profession should manage itself and deliver internal audit services for organisations.
Summary of Standard
https://www.instituteforapprenticeships.org/apprenticeship-standards/internal-audit-professional/
Full Standard
