Controls Assurance Manager (12 month FTC) in Edinburgh

At Aberdeen, our ambition is to be the UK’s leading Wealth & Investments group. Strengthening talent and culture is one of our strategic priorities. We strive to make Aberdeen a great place to work so that we can attract and retain the industry’s best talent. Our people put our stakeholders at the heart of everything they do by helping us to make a positive difference to the lives of our clients, customers, colleagues, shareholders, and society.

We are focused on growing our direct and advised wealth platforms and repositioning our specialist asset management business to meet client demand. We are committed to providing excellent client service, supported by leading technology and talent.

Aberdeen comprises three businesses, interactive investor (ii), Investments, and Adviser, each of which focuses on meeting and adapting to our clients’ evolving needs:

• Interactive investor, the UK’s second largest direct-to-consumer investment platform, enables individuals in the UK to plan, save, and invest in the way that works for them.
• Our Adviser business provides financial planning solutions and technology for UK financial advisers, enabling them to create value for their customers.
• Our Investments business is a specialist asset manager that focuses on areas where we have both strength and scale to capitalise on the key themes shaping the market, through either public markets or alternative asset classes.

The Finance Controls Office supports the Finance function in maintaining a strong control environment and meeting key governance and regulatory requirements, including the revised UK Corporate Governance Code. The team plays an important role in strengthening internal controls and supporting clear, effective assurance and reporting.

The Central Functions Controls Assurance Manager role offers the opportunity to contribute to a high-profile agenda with tangible impact across the organisation, and forms part of a team supporting the business to achieve the following goals:

• Deliver high-quality, action-focused Finance governance and management information reporting
• Improve Finance’s overall alignment with the firm’s ERMF
• Enhance the quality of Balance Sheet Substantiation processes through robust quality assurance
• Remediation support for control design and operating weaknesses, risk issues and events.
• Education and upskilling for Finance on risk management and controls

This is an excellent opportunity for a high-calibre candidate to join a visible and evolving team at the centre of Finance governance and control enhancement. The role provides meaningful exposure to senior stakeholders, the chance to influence how controls are designed and embedded, and the opportunity to build expertise in an area of growing strategic importance.

Specifically, the role holder is responsible for planning and executing controls assurance activity across Central Functions, alongside delivery of quality assurance over Balance Sheet Substantiation.

Key Responsibilities

• Planning and delivery of controls assurance activity across Central Functions, including coordinating testing activity, tracking progress against plan, and ensuring outputs are completed in line with Aberdeen methodology.
• Working with stakeholders across Central Functions to agree testing scope, communicate findings clearly, and support the timely remediation of control gaps or weaknesses identified through testing.
• Oversight and support of offshore testers, ensuring testing activities are delivered consistently and in line with agreed methodology and timelines.
• Executing the monthly Balance Sheet Substantiation quality assurance process and producing reports on the results for presentation at governance forums.
• The role holder may also be involved in activities within the broader remit of the Finance Controls Office, supporting team priorities and contributing to the ongoing development and enhancement of the Finance risk and control environment as required.

About the Candidate

The essential criteria for the role are as follows:

• Controls assurance – experience planning and delivering controls assurance or testing activities, assessing control design and effectiveness, and communicating findings clearly.
• Accounting and financial reporting – strong understanding of core accounting principles, financial reporting requirements, and the operation of key finance processes and controls.
• Stakeholder management – ability to build effective relationships, work collaboratively across teams, and engage confidently with stakeholders at different levels across the organisation.
• Global team management – experience managing or overseeing global teams, including coordinating delivery across locations and maintaining consistent quality and standards.

Qualifications - Qualified accountant or auditor preferred; candidates with relevant operational risk or controls experience will also be considered. Additionally, experience with balance sheet substantiation processes and related quality assurance or review activity would be advantageous.

We are proud to be a Disability Confident Committed employer. If you have a disability and would like to apply to one of our UK roles under the Disability Confident Scheme, please notify us by completing the relevant section in our candidate questionnaire. One of our team will reach out to support you through your application process.

Our benefits

There's more to working life than coming home with a good salary. We have an environment where you can learn, get involved and be supported. When you join us, your reward will be one of the best around. This includes 40 days’ annual leave, a 16% employer pension contribution, a discretionary performance-based bonus (where applicable), private healthcare and a range of flexible benefits – including gym discounts, season ticket loans and access to an employee discount portal.

An inclusive way of working

Whatever way you like to work, if you have the talent and commitment to join our team, we’d like to hear from you. At Aberdeen we’ve adopted a ‘blended working’ approach. This approach combines the benefits of face-to-face collaboration, coaching and connecting in our offices with the flexibility of working from home. It enables colleagues to find a balance that works for their roles, their teams, our clients and our business.

An inclusive culture, where diverse perspectives drive our actions, is at the core of who we are and what we do. If you need assistance with your application, or a reasonable adjustment to your interview arrangements – for example, because you are neurodivergent, or have a physical, sensory, cognitive, mental, visible or invisible disability – please let us know and we’ll be happy to help.

We’re committed to providing an inclusive workplace where all forms of difference are valued and which is free from any form of unfair or unlawful treatment. We define diversity in its broadest sense – this includes but is not limited to our diversity of educational and professional backgrounds, experience, cognitive and neurodiversity, age, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, disability, religion or belief and ethnicity and geographical provenance. We support a culture that values meritocracy, fairness and transparency and welcomes enquiries from everyone.

If you need assistance or an adjustment due to a disability please let us know as part of your application and we will assist.