Internal Auditor: Non-Life Insurance SA

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Job Summary

An opportunity has become available for an experienced Internal Auditor to join our Non-life Insurance South Africa (Short Term) Absa Internal Audit (IA) team, which is part of the Absa Financial Services (AFS) Group. The Insurance SA business provides short-term and life insurance products to our Absa customers. In addition, the wider AFS Group also provides stockbroking, trusts, wills, estates and financial management services, of which the incumbent must be familiar with. The incumbent is required to also have a solid understanding of Banking, in order to support the Bank’s bancassurance strategy (cross-sell between secured lending products (Home loans and Vehicle and Asset Finance) and insurance products).
The core responsibility of an auditor within Absa is to monitor the business risk profile and execute audit assignments in accordance with the Group Audit Plan and relevant policies, procedures and quality standards.

Job Description

Key Accountabilities:

Strategic Initiatives:

• Ensure awareness of available tools and demonstrate competence in ability to utilise digital tools during audits.

Audit Delivery and Business Monitoring:

• Budget/Finance Management - cost for the Audit portfolio to be optimised and tracked against budget. Timesheet completion for self to be done on time each week applicable period;
• Business monitoring: Ongoing business monitoring that impacts overall risk profile of the Business Unit (BU)/Function business. This includes attending relevant governance committees where applicable and document the business monitoring workpaper accordingly.
• Audit Planning: Input into the audit scope and completion of planning documents. This includes taking accountability, completing within agreed timelines and ensuring the planning documents are complete before submission to Audit Lead (AL)/Manager for review. Performance of walkthroughs, Design Effectiveness Assessment (DEA) documentation. 
• Audit Fieldwork: Execution of fieldwork by performing Operational Effectiveness Testing (OET) of workpapers assigned and documentation. Drafting of audit issues and obtaining management action plans (clearance with control owners). Capturing of all work papers and supporting documentation on AuditBond file and ensure that Quality Assurance (QA) checklist is completed.
• Audit Reporting: Input into the draft audit and report high quality, insightful reporting.
• Issue Validation:  Be the issue validation champion on a rotational basis which means tracking audit issues as they come due, informing AL of upcoming issue validations so that issue validation tasks can be assigned to the relevant auditor and ensuring all issues statuses have been updated on AuditBond timeously (by month end). Ensure issues raised during the audit are validated timeously. This includes following up with action owner for Issue Closure Pack (ICP), documenting issue validation workpaper where applicable, drafting issue closure email or issue re-open email for submission to AL for review and closing issue on AuditBond accordingly. 
• No material exceptions raised in QA reviews or audit reports to be re-issued
• Data analytics- all audits able to use data analytics, where possible. Re-useable scripts with a plan of demonstration of re-deployment.

• Proactively take on additional tasks as requested by the Head of Audit – which may include managing Issue Assurance and production of team Management Information.

Leadership / Culture / Values:

• Leadership/Values/Culture: Demonstration of Absa and IIA code of conduct values/behaviours in all aspects of work.
• Team Player: Positive team engagement, helping build the desired culture for IA. Measure of success - all survey scores and feedback from stakeholders to be within target ranges, including Colleague Experience Survey.
• New Ways of Work: Timely adoption and role modelling of all new ways of work and enabling technology i.e. strategic initiatives/platforms/tools/solutions i.e. on effective date to ensure it supports implementation and embedment across function.
• Develop, Grow and Learn (Self): Timely feedback on performance, development feedback, career development planning and training and Learning and Development (L&D) for self and individual development plans in place.

Stakeholder Management:

The key clients and stakeholders will be the Non-Life Insurance SA business teams. With emphasis on:

• Possess excellent communication skills (verbal and written) to effectively communicate to clients.
• Develop and maintain relationships with business (including 1and 2 Line of Defence) and actively monitor the risk profile of the business to inform audit planning, reporting and audit delivery. Support the Combined Assurance effort across the three LOD to strengthen the control environment.
• Provide input into Risk and Committee reporting, clear messaging and impact on the risk and control environment of the business.
• Know our clients/customers and understand how the team’s work benefits them.
• Embed the performance culture and role model Group values and behaviours.
• Align to IA overall principles for driving a profession, value adding, service oriented, digitally savvy owner led stakeholder engagement approach for the portfolio.

Education and Experience Required

• Bachelor’s degree (B): Accounting or Internal Audit (Required); and/or
• Honours degree in Accounting/Internal Audit (Required)
• CIA (Levels 1,2 or 3) or
• CA (SA)

Preferred Experience:

• 3 - 5 years’ experience in Internal/External audit or commensurate experience in a major financial institution.
• Strong background in the financial services / insurance industry and Bancassurance
• Knowledge of the regulatory environment for the short insurance industry i.e. PPR, Insurance Act etc.
• Knowledge of prevailing legislation requirements, the insurance and banking industry and bancassurance practices will be an added advantage.

Knowledge and Skills:

• Experience in risk-based auditing or risk/control activities
• Evidence of driving change, leading business initiatives and setting direction.
• Ability to communicate and influence stakeholders in the organisation
• Ability to think and operate in an enterprise-wide capacity, contributing to the main effort of the Function over the demands of individual silos.

Competencies:

• Deciding and initiating action
• Learning and researching
• Entrepreneurial and commercial thinking
• Relating and networking
•  Adapting and responding to change
• Persuading and influencing
• Creating and innovating

Education

Bachelor`s Degrees and Advanced Diplomas: Business, Commerce and Management Studies (Required)

Absa Bank Limited is an equal opportunity, affirmative action employer. In compliance with the Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998, preference will be given to suitable candidates from designated groups whose appointments will contribute towards achievement of equitable demographic representation of our workforce profile and add to the diversity of the Bank.

Absa Bank Limited reserves the right not to make an appointment to the post as advertised