Associate Audit Director, Compliance Risk Management

Western Alliance Bank • Chandler, AZ

36d • Onsite

About The Position

As an Associate Audit Director, you will plan, oversee, and report on various audits within your assigned coverage areas, supporting the execution of the department's annual audit plan. You will also assist in the annual risk assessment and related quarterly continuous monitoring. You will lead all assigned audits, ensuring timely wrap-up and completion per the audit plan. Your role involves evaluating processes and internal controls for adherence to bank policies, procedures, and compliance with federal and state banking regulations. You will interact with and inform senior leadership of audit results and related risks, and complete root cause analysis for identified issues to strengthen and improve controls. You will report to an Audit Director or Senior Audit Director and have the opportunity to collaborate with audit leaders across the department, as many audits are integrated with other audit teams (finance, banking operations, credit administration, risk management, and compliance). Additionally, you will be responsible for attracting, hiring, and retaining a team of high-performing Auditor and Senior Auditor professionals. With the assistance of Audit Project Managers, you will oversee the day-to-day activities of the audit team and work with other audit teams for effective utilization of staff to complete the overall audit plan. You will be responsible for ongoing coaching, training, development, and motivation of your audit team. Your position promotes risk awareness in the enterprise through positive and collaborative relationships with department heads, business leadership, and staff. In addition to audit execution, you will meet regularly with management to discuss audits, assess risks, evaluate issue remediation progress, provide feedback, and gather insights on business activities.

Requirements

• 8+ years of related experience in Internal Audit, Risk Management, Regulatory Compliance, or similar field.
• Bachelor's degree in related field required.
• Intermediate to advanced experience and knowledge in your assigned internal audit area.
• Intermediate to advanced ability to deal with complex problems involving multiple facets and variables in non-standardized situations. Ability to define problems, collect data, establish facts and draw valid conclusions.
• Intermediate to advanced knowledge of internal control analysis and risk assessment methodologies, COSO framework, Institute of Internal Auditor standards, FRB Supervisory Letter 13-1 standards, GAAP, and/or Sarbanes-Oxley Section 302/404 regulatory requirements.
• Intermediate to advanced time management and organizational skills.
• Advanced public speaking and written communication skills.
• Certified Internal Auditor, Certified Public Accountant, Certified Regulatory Compliance Manager, Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialist, Credit Risk Certification (RMA), Certification in Control Self-Assessment (IIA) or Certification in Risk Management Assurance (IIA) required.
• Occasional travel required.

Nice To Haves

• Previous leadership experience preferred.
• Intermediate level knowledge of data analytic tools preferred.

Responsibilities

• Support the Audit Director or Senior Audit Director in completing the annual risk assessment and development of the resulting audit plan.
• Prepare a comprehensive risk-based, multi-year plan of audit coverage for assigned area, ensuring audits are within cycle and logically budgeted/resourced.
• Lead execution of the assigned area of the audit plan, appropriately leveraging and delegating to the Audit Project Manager(s).
• Ensure key risks and all critical plan inputs are considered as part of audit planning for audits within assigned area.
• Understand risk management frameworks to lead in internal control evaluation of audit assignments.
• Oversee the completion of all phases and wrap-up of assigned audit areas utilizing audit software (Wdesk/Workiva) while reviewing and providing feedback to the audit team over critical planning and testing approach audit documentation.
• Discuss scope and approach with other department leadership to ensure appropriate audit coverage.
• Review the Audit Project Manager's work along with review of higher risk controls and related exceptions to ensure compliance with stated requirements and objectives, IIA standards and audit methodology.
• Provide guidance, coaching and clear feedback to audit team, ensuring resolution of all review notes prior to audit wrap-up.
• Incorporate data analytics into various audit testing.
• Finalize root cause analysis for all audit issues noted in audit team's test work.
• Clarify and clear audit review notes provided by the Audit Director or Senior Audit Director.
• Complete hours analysis for overall audit and perform final quality assessment of organization and documentation for completeness and compliance with audit methodology.
• Draft and present audit reports that clearly communicate risks and issues to Audit Director or Senior Audit Director and department leadership team for approval.
• Proactively work with management to create effective management action plans in a timely manner.
• Attend monthly meetings with management to monitor status of open audit issues, understand progress, and provide constructive feedback toward closure.
• Ensure delays or needed extensions are appropriately escalated and addressed per audit methodology.
• Actively monitor issue deadlines, implementations and closures, assigning test of validation work based on workload balance and expertise.
• Follow up on disposition of exceptions noted during audits, including internal, external and regulatory examination reports.
• Review, approve and close medium and/or low risk issues.
• Provide ad-hoc reports and status updates to supervisors.
• Work with co-source partners, when necessary, to provide an overall efficient audit process.
• Comply with department annual training requirements and proactively draft and discuss performance goals with Audit Director or Senior Audit Director.
• Attend and/or lead team, peer and one-on-one meetings.
• Own and complete department initiatives by finding efficiencies with strategic thinking focused on leading change to audit methodologies and supporting technology based solutions as applicable.
• Support Audit Project Manager department initiatives by acting as a reviewer prior to completion.
• Lead inclusive teams and develop a team while empowering others.
• Responsible for hiring, coaching, talent performance management, training and development.
• Support and assist in training of staff to improve Auditor and Senior Auditor skill assessment results.

Benefits

• Competitive salaries
• Ownership stake in the company
• Medical and dental insurance
• Time off
• Great 401k matching program
• Tuition assistance program
• Employee volunteer program
• Wellness program
• Opportunity to bolster business knowledge, learning the ins and outs of how successful companies operate and manage their finances, giving you invaluable hands-on experience to help grow your career!

What This Job Offers

• Job Type: Full-time
• Career Level: Manager