Graduate Trainee Auditor

Overall purpose of the role 

Our Graduate Trainee Scheme includes financial support to become a qualified Chartered Accountant with ICAS. You will get a prestigious, internationally recognised qualification, whilst being involved in varied and interesting work, auditing public bodies in Scotland.  

What you will be doing 

As a Graduate Trainee Auditor, you will help your team to plan and deliver quality audit work across a range of public sector bodies, and in doing so, you will contribute to the development of various audit reports and other outputs.  

Promoting and developing great audits:

• Undertake audit assignments in accordance with professional standards and the Code of Audit Practice.
• Contribute to the development of appropriate audit approaches, audit tools and techniques (e.g. sampling, use of data analytics, research and interviews) tailored to the audit scope and designed to deliver a sufficient and appropriate evidence-base for the audit work. 
• Identify key points arising from audits to help form sound judgements, conclusions, and constructive recommendations. 
• Contribute to the drafting of accurate, clear, and concise audit reports. 
• Build strong relationships with staff in public bodies and utilise these relationships to ensure successful outcomes that add credibility and value to the reputation and strategic aims of Audit Scotland. 

Enabling impact, innovation and improvement:

• Undertake a programme of training with a view to becoming a professionally qualified accountant and complement this with a personal development programme to enhance your career prospects in Audit Scotland. 
• You may be deployed across the organisation to provide specific expertise and contribute to audit work in other areas – you may also get the opportunity to be involved in performance audit work, working closely with colleagues from across the business. This will normally be for a defined period or on a rotational basis. 
• Use professional and technical expertise and experience to challenge and support public bodies to be accountable, to demonstrate sound governance and to improve.
• Creating the right environment, culture and ways of working that allow people to flourish 
• Identify and develop relationships with key stakeholders to maintain an understanding of risks and issues facing public bodies so that our work is valid, and our recommendations are realistic and capable of being implemented. 
• Maintain good working relationships across Audit Scotland and participate in collaborative working for the benefit of the Auditor General for Scotland, the Accounts Commission, audited bodies, and other stakeholders. 

Knowledge and experience:

You don’t need to be an accountancy graduate or have achieved a specific grade in your honours degree to join us. Our trainees come from a variety of backgrounds and have studied a range of degree subjects. Our trainees join us straight from university or later in their careers.  

What matters is that you’ve got great analytical and people skills, are committed to studying for a professional qualification, and excel in a challenging and rewarding role.

Person specification – specific knowledge and experience  

Essential: 

• You’ll need to have achieved or be on track to achieve an honours degree or equivalent in any subject (S) 
• A minimum of National 5 Grade C or GCSE Grade 4/C (or equivalent) in both Maths and English (S) 
• Strong verbal and written communication skills to be able to build and maintain relationships in your audit teams, across Audit Scotland and with external stakeholders (S, I & A) 
• You’re self-aware and have the confidence to work using your own initiative (S) 
• You excel in working as part of a team (I) 
• You will demonstrate a commitment to studying for a professional qualification and be able to divide your time between work and study effectively (S) 
• An interest in Audit Scotland and/or the public sector as well as the Auditing and Accountancy profession (S & I) 
• Sound analytical skills to be able to effectively gather, interpret and evaluate data and translate into clear and concise audit reports (I & A) 
• Disciplined and organised with good project management skills to plan and carry out audit activities and meet key deadlines (I) 

S = Shortlisting criteria I = Interview criteria A = Assessment / Exercise 

Audit Scotland 

Our vision is that public money is well spent to meet the needs of Scotland's people. 

To achieve this, we support the Auditor General for Scotland and the Accounts Commission to provide clear, independent, and objective assurance on how effectively public money is being managed and spent. Our work covers about £59bn of public spending, almost 300 public sector accounts, and the services and projects that affect all people and communities in Scotland.

As well as what we do, how we do it is integral to delivering our vision and critical to our wellbeing and our organisational success. We put our organisational values of equality, independence, innovation, integrity, and respect at the heart of everything we do.

We employ around 340 staff in a wide variety of roles, working from our offices in Edinburgh, Glasgow and Inverness and through a network of regional offices across Scotland. We currently have trainee opportunities available across Scotland in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Inverness and Aberdeen. Our trainees can expect to work a mixture of at home, in the office and at client sites.

There has never been a more interesting or important time to join us. We offer a rewarding place to work, a supportive and open culture and a wide range of professional development opportunities. Benefits include 42 days of annual leave including public holidays, an attractive local government pension scheme with 17.6% employer contributions, personal development allowances and flexible working hours.  

Diversity and Inclusion  

We value the unique perspective a diverse workforce brings to what we do. Therefore, we’re keen to increase representation in our workforce and support progression of minority ethnic groups. We are also a proud disability confident employer.  

Reasonable Adjustments 

Audit Scotland’s recruitment process may include various stages and activities including application forms, online assessments, and interviews, to assess whether you meet the requirements of the role.  

As a Disability Confident employer, we are committed to providing inclusive and accessible recruitment where everyone is supported to perform at their best.

When applying for a job with Audit Scotland, you will be asked in the application form if you need an adjustment at any stage of the recruitment process. Please include the reason you require an adjustment and details of what adjustment/s might help.

Some examples of adjustments that have been given to candidates include changing the time, location or format of interviews and providing additional time in any assessments and interviews. This is not an exhaustive list, and we will consider any adjustments that you might need.  

As part of our commitment to equality and diversity, our equality network groups would be delighted to offer an insight into Audit Scotland’s culture of inclusivity. If you consider yourself to have a visible or hidden disability and wish to hear more about life at Audit Scotland or wish to speak with someone about the possibility of any adjustments, please contact careers@audit-scotland.gov.uk or call 0131 625 1500 for further information and a member of the HR team will be in touch. 

Other conditions 

Audit Scotland is committed to ensuring that:  

• We minimise our impact on the environment in accordance with Government policy affecting public sector organisations.   
• We uphold the principles of equality, fairness & diversity.   
• We all work within a safe environment and adhere to good standards of health & safety.   
• All information is protected and managed appropriately.  
• We maintain independence and political neutrality.