Senior Manager – Ethics – London/Flexible on Location- £Competitive

Independence and Ethics continues to be of increasing importance for professional services firms in terms of cultural influence and compliance. It is a key focal point for a wide range of stakeholders, including investors, government, regulators, and the media, not only in the UK but also internationally. Issues concerning ethics, independence, and wider conflicts of interest have been frequently attributed, at a professional level, to have led to insufficient professional scepticism and audit quality.

Our clients Ethics team directly supports the firm's strategic framework commitment to high quality, independence, and ethics. The Ethics team is led by the Ethics Partner with the support of a team consisting of twelve individuals ranging from director to junior ethics executive. In light of the continuing importance of ethics, combined with the ever-increasing complexity of compliance, and the firm's sustained growth across all streams, especially in the PIE and listed market, the firm is introducing new systems to identify and manage risk in the area of audit independence and conflicts of interest. These systems are transformative to how the firm addresses audit independence and conflicts of interest, delivering significant efficiencies and proactive identification of risks.

These systems impact all the firm's streams and the successful implementation of these systems are Top 10 Programmes for the Leadership team. Working specifically on the firm-wide CTO/COI systems, support and management is needed within the Ethics team to help with the successful implementation of these systems, embedding new business as usual processes and realising the benefits for the wider business. You will work closely with partner sponsors of the projects, project managers, IT, and other stakeholders.

Understanding requirements that the firm has in respect of audit independence and conflicts of interest and work closely with project teams, IT, and senior stakeholders to ensure the systems are fit for purpose to fulfil these requirements.

• Managing personnel in the Ethics team and in the Shared Services Centre.
• Performing testing of the systems to ensure they are fit for purpose.
• Drafting guidance and process notes to be used by the business and the Shared Services Centre.
• Drafting and delivering training on the systems to the business and Shared Services Centre.
• Working with Global project teams to influence the development of systems to ensure the UK firm's view is taken into account.
• Setting up and managing quality control processes to ensure the implementation and business as usual processes meet all requirements of ISQM1.
• Advising users in the business on the new systems and how they need to interact with them to ensure the firm meets its obligations to audit independence and conflicts of interest.
• Defining and managing tasks and actions that involve the Ethics team and ensure they are completed in line with project deadlines.

• Relevant experience in a similar position applying ethical standards or a similar regulatory framework.
• An awareness of the ICAEW Code of Ethics and the Financial Reporting Council's Ethical Standard for auditors would be beneficial but is not compulsory.
• An understanding of complex risk management and conflicts of interest systems.
• Experience in application of regulation and how to interpret and apply rules in a practical way.
• An understanding of risk management principles and how to apply these in practice.
• Strong communication skills both written and oral with the ability to communicate confidently and professionally with people at all levels.
• A proven track record of project managing firm-wide systems and projects.
• An ability to quickly build trusted working relationships with people at all levels.
• The ability to work both independently and collaboratively to solve complex problems and drive tasks through to completion.
• Strong organisational skills with experience of working on complex projects.