Associate Assurance Officer

The Assurance & Enterprise Risk Management (ARM) team helps protect the integrity of the foundation’s brand and reputation in the service of impact. We provide assurance to foundation leadership and the trustees over the dollars we invest, the data we gather, and the de‐sign of business processes we rely on.

We do this through:

• Providing objective and independent assurance to the trustees and to foundation leadership;
• Monitoring the foundation’s risk exposure;
• Assessing the foundation’s and its partners’ performance and capabilities;
• Investigating possible illegal, unethical, or improper conduct related to our grantmaking.
• This position reports to the Director of Assurance and Enterprise Risk Management.

Your Role 

We are looking for a full-time Associate Assurance Officer to support the team leading and driving the foundation’s internal and grantee audits and reviews and supporting other key ARM team activities. We have the flexibility to hire either an Assurance Officer or an Associate Assurance Officer, and as part of our interview process will map the final candidate to the appropriate role based on our assessment of your level of experience, aptitude, and related expertise.

The Associate Assurance Officer/Associate Assurance Officer’s key work will be to support grantee audits and internal audits. They will also support risk management and investigations and other special projects of the team, and the Finance and Resource Planning division as needed. This role helps provide assurance to the Audit Committee and foundation leadership and crafting advisory projects to facilitate leadership decision-making.            

What You’ll Do

Grantee Audit and Assurance 

The core of the role is to support a portfolio of 25+ annual audits of foundation grant recipients. This is co-sourced with an audit firm and crafted to provide assurance on grant expenditure, reporting accuracy, and internal controls across foundation investments. Key deliverables include:

Develop and co-manage the annual grant audit plan:

• Work with the co-sourced service provider to ensure that audits are conducted at a high level of quality, and in line with our expectations;
• Calibrate findings to the risk appetite, translate findings into implications for programmatic work and align with foundation staff on a response to engage the grantee;
• Work with foundation and grantee leadership to develop and agree upon management actions;
• Evaluate the results of audits to consolidate findings, analyze implications from the findings for foundation grantmaking policies and risk appetite, make recommendations for improvement, and engage with relevant partners to influence change;
• Proactively share lessons learned and ensure awareness of assurance value and resources.
• Supervise daily workflow and project activities, ensuring jobs and responsibilities are clear, tasks and results are met, and action items are completed.
• Track results and supervising status, including document creation, presentation preparation, logistical support, and systems management.

Internal Audit and Advisory

• Each year, the ARM team undertakes several internal audit projects which emanate from high priority risks identified in collaboration with foundation leadership. You will support the design and execution of 1-3 internal audits/advisories, which may involve the engagement and management of external consultants.
• Support the development, implementation, and maintenance of an internal audit program that addresses key risks across the foundation, including crafting, leading and running internal audit engagements;
• Ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of the control environment; identify control gaps and provide recommendations for improvement;
• Evaluate audit results/findings, and lead discussions providing knowledgeable and objective counsel to operations and program leadership;
• Support an annual entity-wide risk assessment which identifies the key business risks and the adequacy of the processes and controls to address such risks;
• Offer opinions on control efficiency and consult on the development of policies, procedures and systems;
• Stay ahead of changes to regulatory requirements and company compliance policies and procedures; communicate applicable changes; and
• Identify areas for process improvement and standardization and make recommendations to the team.

Other work

• Work on special team projects as needed, including ad hoc support of Investigations and Enterprise Risk work.

Your Experience

• Bachelor or Advanced degree in Accounting, Management, or related field, or equivalent blend of education and experience
• 5+ years of dynamic internal audit experience in an organization of comparable scale and complexity
• International development experience and/or experience in a grantmaking institution a definite plus
• CIA, CPA, CISA or similar professional credential preferred
• Foreign language skills preferred

Source: https://gatesfoundation.wd1.myworkdayjobs.com/en-US/Gates/job/Seattle-WA/Associate-Assurance-Officer_B020782-2