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Risk Assurance Officer

PermanentFull-time

Directorate: Audit, Risk and Assurance

Salary £35,000 - £36,000

 

 

Location: The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) is a hybrid organisation. We have an office in central London which you can work from, although we welcome applications from all across the UK, flexible on UK mainland locations.

 

Background:

IPSA is the independent body that regulates and administers the business costs and decides the pay and pensions of the 650 elected Members of Parliament and their staff in the UK. We were created by the Parliamentary Standards Act 2009, as the world’s first independent regulator of MPs’ financial remuneration.

IPSA is on a mission! We want to enable MPs to do what really matters by providing an exemplary, seamless regulatory service. We have a compelling plan and we’re intent on transforming IPSA. Transparency lies at the heart of everything we do. We publish details of business costs claims made by MPs and their staff, as well as annual data about every MP’s spending and other aspects of their activity.

We are looking for an experienced Risk Assurance Officer to continue developing IPSA’s risk management and assurance arrangements. This role is vital to continuing to develop and embed audit, risk and assurance as key drivers of IPSA’s strategic direction and day to day operations, with a key focus on continuous improvement.

 

About the role:

The role sits within IPSA's Audit, Risk and Assurance function. Working with the Head of Risk and Assurance and other team members, you’ll develop and embed IPSA’s risk and assurance arrangements. You’ll also provide assurance to the Board and the Executive and Senior Management Teams to ensure key risks and controls have been identified and are working well. Where they're not, you'll make recommendations to improve them to help ensure that IPSA achieves its strategic objectives.

 

Main responsibilities:

  • Act as ‘owner’ of the risk framework and risk management system (including Pentana risk management software) ensuring IPSA’s risk management arrangements are effective and reflect good practice.
  • Embed effective risk management through guidance and training.
  • Conduct second line of defence risk assurance assignments and ‘deep dives’.
  • Support IPSA risk owners in effective conduct of risk management including in keeping the Pentana risk management system up to date and operating effectively.
  • Providing advice and reports to IPSA’s Board, Audit and Risk Assurance Committee and the Executive Leadership Team.

 

What we are looking for:

You’ll have a strong understanding of the risk management process and demonstrable experience of providing risk advice in other reputable organisations. Qualified or part qualified as an auditor, risk manager or in assurance, with demonstrable experience in the subject area. You’ll be IT proficient with a good level of expertise in MS Excel to analyse and present data and ability to design and use data analytics and be comfortable using systems and software.

With excellent written and verbal communication skills, you’ll be comfortable liaising with internal and external stakeholders at all levels, for example, with executive leadership and Board members, government departments and other stakeholders.

Effective relationship building and stakeholder management skills will help you further develop IPSA’s risk management and assurance arrangements and will help you, in helping us to keep IPSA safe.

A full person specification is available on our website.

 

Benefits:

  • Civil Service Pension
  • Generous holiday entitlement
  • Season ticket/rent deposit loans
  • Hybrid and flexible working options
  • Access to learning and development tailored to your role
  • Working in a high-performing organisation
  • A culture encouraging inclusion and diversity; with IPSA Pride, IPSA ID, Women’s, and Green workplace groups
  • Cycle to work scheme
  • Volunteering days

Our commitment and values We’re committed to making IPSA a more diverse and inclusive organisation and we choose to recruit, retain, and develop people with a diverse mix of skills and experience. We are a highperforming organisation that values diversity and we live our values through all the work that we do. Our inclusive workplace environment welcomes people from all backgrounds and our ID, Green, Women’s and LGBTQIA+ networks signal our commitment to celebrating and promoting diversity, inclusion, and sustainability.

Our core values are Staying Connected, Seeing the Bigger Picture, Being Open, Doing the Right Thing and Making a Difference. If you share and live our values, then we would like to hear from you. We are a values-based organisation, and you can expect these to feature throughout the recruitment process and beyond.

 

How to apply:

If this Risk Assurance Officer position looks right for you, please send your CV and a one-page cover letter and apply below now. We ask you to be succinct and to the point in your cover letter, highlighting why you’d be a great match, and it’s always a good idea focus this around some of your key achievements which might be relevant to this role.

We anticipate a high volume of applications for this role, and regretfully we will only be able to respond to you if you are shortlisted.

 

Interview process:

Our interview and onboarding processes are virtual. If you want to join our team, you’ll need access to a secure WIFI network and a private space to work from. If you’re successful we will provide you with equipment for onboarding, training, and working from home.

If you are shortlisted, there will be a competency-based interview where we will ask you a series of questions designed to help the panel asses your suitability for the role and for IPSA and we may also ask you prepare a short presentation.

We expect to shortlist for this role in w/c 13th February, with interviews in w/c 27th February, although we may decide to conduct initial telephone interviews before that date, depending on the volume of applications.

 

Important information:

We aim to keep our application window open for four weeks which means the closing date for this role will be Monday 13th February. However, we will sift applications as they are submitted and therefore, we reserve the right to close the advert at any point after two weeks.

We expect to receive a high number of applications for this role, so we strongly advise you to apply before Sunday 5th February.

Privacy notice and right to work:

By applying you confirm you have the right to work in the UK and have read our Human Resources privacy notice - https://www.theipsa.org.uk/privacy