Senior Auditor (Audit Services Group)

Are you an auditor who thrives on making a difference and passionate about ensuring public services are run properly for the people of Scotland? If so, we can offer you the chance to take an exciting new step in your career with the opportunity to lead financial audit work of organisations across Scotland’s public sector including the Scottish Government, NHS bodies, councils, and colleges. 

We have two Senior Auditor roles available across our Audit Services group. 

Overall purpose of the role 

You will conduct and manage financial audit work. You will make audit judgements and oversee the work of the team to deliver our audits to a high standard. You’ll engage with clients and stakeholders to help support improvement and focus upon what’s important. 

What you will be doing 

You’ll be inspiring with your ability to: 

• Make professional, evidence-based judgements and identify potential recommendations. 
• Work with colleagues to decide the breadth and depth of auditing required in proportion to the circumstances, including the audit methodology. 
• Take lead responsibility for planning and delivering audits or key audit areas, to time, cost and quality (depending on the size and risk-profile of the audit). 
• Draft clear, authoritative, concise audit outputs. 
• Support senior leadership in promoting our work externally. 
• Establish and maintain relationships with officers at audited bodies and appropriate stakeholders to support the effective delivery of audit work. 
• Coordinate the work of staff across the audit to manage peak period workloads.  
• Undertake supportive conversations with your team and positively challenge where necessary, including providing on-the-job training and coaching. 
• Support the development of Audit Scotland’s work programme by sharing intelligence whether based on local audit knowledge, monitoring key public sector issues or by developing stand-alone briefings.  
• Contribute to the management of Audit Scotland by participating in and contributing to corporate activities. 

Person specification – specific knowledge and experience  

Essential: 

• You are a fully qualified accountant (CIPFA, ICAS, Other CCAB, or equivalent) or exam qualified and awaiting logbook completion before the end of September 2025. (S) 
• You have demonstrable external audit experience – preferably in a public sector environment (S) 
• You will have practical experience of delivering audits to time, quality and cost (i.e. tight deadlines) (S&I) 
• You can deal confidently, and establish good relationships, with stakeholders (S&I) 
• You think laterally and creatively to research and analyse complex problems (I) 
• You use your judgement to present balanced findings and persuasive recommendations (I&A) 
• You know how to bring out the best in a team (coaching/supervising/motivating to help them achieve their full potential). (S&I) 

Desirable:

• Experience of the public sector including knowledge of public finances and policy (S&I) 
• You have digital ICT audit experience. (S) 

*S = Shortlisting criteria I = Interview criteria A = Assessment criteria  

Interested? Next Steps: 

Download the role profile for detailed role information.  

Click apply to submit an application. If you wish, you can also share your CV. However, please note that due to the volume of applications, we cannot guarantee that CVs will be screened alongside your application form, therefore please ensure your application form includes all information required to demonstrate you met the essential and desirable criteria for the role. If you require an alternative way to apply under grounds of a reasonable adjustment, please get in touch with a member of the HR team.

The closing date for applications is Wednesday 13th August at midnight. 

Interviews will be scheduled for w/c 1st September and will include a presentation and written assessment. 

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 £57bn 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 main offices in Edinburgh and Glasgow, and through a network of regional offices across Scotland.   

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 19.4% employer contributions, personal development allowances and flexible working hours. We’ve also been named one of the top 25 workplaces in Scotland and the UK’s tenth best accountancy workplace in the 2023 Best Companies awards. 

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. 

How we work  

We employ around 340 staff in a wide variety of roles. We work flexibly at home and in the office as well as from audit sites across Scotland. This isn’t your typical work from home or work from office type job. We’re flexible about working patterns and we’ve transformed how we deliver high-quality public audit. We support you to work in the ways that achieve the best results for you, your team and the business, including your physical location and how you manage your hours. Put simply, we trust you to do your job, and want you to have the ability to have a rewarding work-life balance and best support your individual circumstances, be that childcare, adult carer responsibilities or managing disabilities. 

This role can also be considered on a job share basis. Please see Audit Scotland's Job Sharing Guide for further information should you wish to apply on this basis.

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.