Head of Audit (Chief Internal Auditor)

Cornwall is at the forefront of innovation, with our pioneering communities ensuring we are at the heart of the UK's technological, ecological and creative advancement. Our forward-looking economic strategy supports our simple, clear and inclusive vision – ‘Together for a carbon neutral Cornwall, where everyone can start well, live well and age well’. We are an ambitious council, always focused on improvement and always ready to acknowledge where we need to do things differently.

The sheer scale of Cornwall Council’s operations (with nearly 600,000 residents and a budget of over £1bn) mean it’s vital that we are an empowering and enterprising organisation, securing great value for money and providing a consistently excellent customer experience. While we’ve made significant progress in recent years, there’s always more to do, and this role will make a fundamental contribution to the next phase of our transformation and improvement across our revenue programmes.

We’re revitalising and strengthening our enterprise PMO function, and this new Head of Service will take the professional lead on this work. That means collaborating with senior leaders to achieve consensus on priorities and capacity, ensuring successful project delivery, and playing an organisation-wide role in building strategic and operational cohesion. It’s a hugely diverse brief: you’ll provide assurance on strategic programmes from home to school transport to estates transformation and a review of regulation services, alongside many others.

We’re looking for a high level of technical expertise combined with the ability to convene, influence and make connections across the organisation. You’ll rapidly understand business need across a range of settings and ensure robust clarity on outturns, benefits and investments. A keen appreciation of finance and budgets aligned to clarity and accountability on benefits realisation within change programmes is essential. You’ll be accustomed to working within a rigorous governance model, and reporting to a Transformation Board or equivalent. Strong stakeholder engagement skills are a must, and you’ll bring an informed appreciation of the cultural as well as operational dynamics of change.

Please visit www.faerfield.co.uk/cornwall-council to find out more. To arrange an informal conversation with our advising consultants at Faerfield, Sean Anderson or Martin Tucker, please call 0121 312 3755.