Executive Freelance Internal Audit Jobs (NOW HIRING)

How will this role impact First Command?

Reporting to the Vice President, Chief Audit Executive, the Director of Internal Audit is a senior leader responsible for providing strategic direction, leadership, and oversight for the Internal Audit function across First Command and its subsidiaries. This role is accountable for leading the planning, execution, reporting, and validation of risk-based internal audits and advisory activities, with emphasis on governance, risk management, internal controls, regulatory compliance, and operational effectiveness within a regulated financial services environment. The Director provides leadership to Internal Audit managers, senior auditors, auditors, interns, and co-sourcing partners, ensuring audit work is appropriately scoped, well documented, completed timely, and aligned with professional standards, regulatory expectations, and the annual Internal Audit Plan.

What will the employee do in this position?

• Partner with the Vice President, Chief Audit Executive to provide strategic direction, leadership, and oversight for the Internal Audit function and the execution of the annual Internal Audit Plan.
• Serve as a senior leader within Internal Audit, providing direction on audit strategy, scoping, planning, execution, reporting, issue validation, and continuous improvement of audit methodology.
• Lead, coach, and develop Internal Audit team members who perform planning, walkthroughs, testing, data analysis, documentation, issue development, and management action plan validation.
• Provide real-time review and oversight of audit work to ensure audit procedures are appropriately designed, conclusions are supported, testing remains aligned to scope, and workpapers are clear, complete, and review-ready.
• Ensure audit programs leverage past audit results, external research, data analysis, regulatory requirements, and an understanding of business processes and controls to focus on the areas of highest risk and highest value to the organization.
• Lead and oversee audits and advisory work related to financial services activities, including Broker Dealer, Registered Investment Adviser, banking, operations, compliance, technology, governance, and risk management processes.
• Maintain current knowledge of FINRA, SEC, and other applicable regulatory expectations impacting Broker Dealer and RIA activities, and incorporate relevant requirements into audit planning, testing, reporting, and issue validation.
• Maintain current knowledge of applicable banking regulatory expectations, including requirements issued by federal and state banking regulators, and incorporate relevant requirements into audit planning, testing, reporting, and issue validation for banking activities.
• Collaborate with the Second Line of Defense to understand enterprise risks, control design, regulatory obligations, and management action plans while maintaining Internal Audit independence and objectivity.
• Oversee the preparation, review, and issuance of audit reports, ensuring findings, risk statements, root causes, recommendations, and management action plans are clear, balanced, practical, and appropriately supported.
• Partner with business leaders and senior management to socialize audit results, confirm factual accuracy, promote timely remediation, and maintain trusted relationships without compromising audit independence.
• Manage Internal Audit co-sourcing and outsourcing partners to ensure audit quality, efficient execution, knowledge transfer, and appropriate oversight of third-party work performed on behalf of Internal Audit.
• Support communication of Internal Audit matters to executive management, external auditors, regulatory examiners, and the Audit Committee of the Board of Directors, as requested by the Vice President, Chief Audit Executive.
• Promote the effective use of audit technology, data analytics, GRC tools, and reporting practices to enhance audit coverage, documentation quality, issue tracking, and departmental efficiency.
• Provide assistance with regulatory examinations, external audit requests, special reviews, investigations, and other strategic projects, as needed.
• Work in collaboration with the Vice President, Chief Audit Executive to provide clear, consistent, and executive-ready communication of Internal Audit subject matter to senior management, external auditors, regulatory examiners, and the Audit Committee.

What roles will this employee lead?

• Responsible for leading and developing Internal Audit Managers, Senior Internal Auditors, Internal Auditors, interns, and co-sourcing resources, as assigned.

What skills & qualifications do you need?

Education

• Bachelor’s degree in Accounting, Finance, Business, Risk Management, Information Systems, or a related field required.

Work Experience

• FINRA and SEC regulatory experience required, including experience evaluating compliance, supervision, books and records, advisory activities, customer account activity, fee billing, branch or field oversight, and related control environments.
• Banking experience preferred. 
• 10 or more years of internal audit, external audit, regulatory compliance, risk management, or related financial services experience required.
• At least 5 years of leadership experience within Internal Audit, regulatory compliance, risk management, or a related assurance function required.
• Experience leading risk-based audits, supervising audit teams, reviewing audit workpapers, drafting audit reports, and communicating results to senior management required.
• Experience with IT audit, data analytics, GRC systems, or technology-enabled audit practices preferred.
• Demonstrated experience managing audits from planning through final reporting, including scoping, walkthroughs, testing strategy, workpaper review, issue development, report writing, and management action plan validation.
• Experience working with regulators, external auditors, executive management, and business stakeholders in a regulated financial services environment.
• Experience leading, coaching, and developing audit professionals at varying levels of experience.

Certifications

• Audit-related certification preferred, but not required (i.e., CFE, CIA, CPA, CISA)
• FINRA licenses preferred, but not required (i.e., Series 99, 6, 7, 24 or SIE)

Required Knowledge, Skills and Abilities

• Senior leadership presence with the ability to set direction, influence outcomes, and develop a high-performing Internal Audit team.
• Strong understanding of internal auditing standards, risk-based audit methodology, internal controls, governance, risk management, and control frameworks.
• Knowledge of FINRA, SEC, Broker Dealer, Banking and Registered Investment Adviser regulatory requirements and the ability to translate regulatory expectations into practical audit procedures.
• Ability to independently research legal, regulatory, and industry issues and assess their impact on audit scope, testing, findings, and management action plans.
• Exceptional interpersonal skills, including oral and written communications, listening, interviewing, facilitating, influencing, and fostering open communication with business leaders and audit stakeholders.
• Ability to balance strategic leadership with tactical execution, including managing multiple audits, advisory projects, validations, and regulatory requests in different phases.
• Highly analytical and inquisitive, with the ability to understand complex business processes, identify control gaps, evaluate root cause, and recommend practical improvements.
• Strong judgment, discretion, maturity, and professionalism when handling confidential, sensitive, regulatory, or executive-level information.
• Ability to form effective relationships and foster partnership with the business while maintaining independence and objectivity of audit conclusions.
• Absolute commitment to timely delivery of high-quality, accurate, and well-supported work product.
• Strong computer skills, including Microsoft Office, audit management systems, GRC tools, data analysis tools, and the ability to quickly learn new systems necessary for audit execution.
• Demonstrated ability to identify opportunities to improve audit processes, enhance coverage, leverage technology, and strengthen Internal Audit’s value to the organization.

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