Public Sector Audit Director

Join us and you'll shape more than just your career

We believe we're best positioned to make a meaningful impact on the economy. Every day, we provide a diverse range of organisations with the kind of business and financial advice it takes to do this. Our ideas and insights empower our clients to make big decisions about the future and unlock sustainable growth. With a relentless focus on quality and integrity, we help businesses, communities and our people to flourish.

Job Description:

Following the appointment of Fiona Baldwin, our Head of Audit and member of the Senior Leadership Team, Grant Thornton has seen a number of positive steps forward across our audit business. With quality and inclusion at the forefront, we have a clearly defined and robust audit strategy over the next 5 years. The strategy outlines our commitment to quality, business growth across our public sector client base, having the right talent in senior positions and working with the right clients that share our values.

Part of achieving this commitment sees us looking to strengthen our Public Sector Team with a particular focus on our Engagement Leader population. This is a fantastic opportunity for someone who would be keen to play a leading role in the development of our client proposition, whilst having a critical focus on our people and quality.

Our Public Services Group comprises a team of 500 nationally including circa 300 in the audit group.. With our reputation as the market leaders of assurance services to local government (40% of appointments) and the NHS ( circa 30% of appointments ) clients intact, the team are now looking to recruit a Director. You will join us and develop as an engagement leader, taking responsibility for a portfolio of public sector clients and a focus on the strategic growth of the team.

The ideal candidate will be at Director level looking for an opportunity to take a leading strategic role. You will be currently operating as an audit Engagement Leader within Public Sector Audit, with a focus on people experience. You will hold an accountancy qualification and a high audit quality rating. You will have a passion to work within a collaborative, high performing, and inclusive working environment to drive business growth and valued client relationships. We keen to grow our audit practice by bringing in the right people, so we do not want to be restricted by grade. If you are an experienced Senior Manager ready for Director, then we would be interested to speak with you too. You will need to be an existing Key Audit Partner ( eg authorized by ICAEW to carry out public sector audit) or someone whose work is emersed in public audit so that you could meet the Key Audit Partner requirements.

What you'll be doing:

• You'll take the lead on dealing with a portfolio of NHS and Local Government clients with minimal partner input
• You'll act as a trusted business adviser to our clients
• You'll be leading client meetings with senior members of our clients' workforce, including Chief Executives and Finance Directors
• You'll be trusted to oversee all aspects of client engagement assuming overall responsibility for allocating work
• You'll work with our Senior Managers and Managers to ensure they're being supported and coached, whilst identifying any areas for development
• You'll be client facing and contributing to winning work

Who we're looking for:

• You'll hold a professional accountancy qualification (CIPFA/ACA/ACCA or equivalent)
• You'll have experience of auditing clients within the NHS and Local Government sectors
• You'll have significant post qualification experience and the ability to manage a large portfolio of audit clients
• You'll have experience of leading and managing audits of varying sizes across a range of public sector clients
• A genuine interest in our clients with an ability to confidently discuss business challenges and needs
• You will contribute as part of a senior leadership team that is growing our business inservice areas such as internal audit and wider assurance.
• We have an open and collaborative culture and as such, you need the ability to communicate confidently and effectively with colleagues and clients at all levels

There's more to life than work

So if you'd like to work flexibly, let us know. We're happy to look at flexible working options for all our roles, and we'll always do our best to keep your work and life in balance.

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