Audit Operations Lead

Anthropic•San Francisco, CA

4h•$230,000 - $300,000•Hybrid

About The Position

The Audit Operations Lead runs the external audit calendar for Anthropic’s SOX 404 program as the company scales toward an IPO. The role coordinates with external auditors throughout the year, aligns testing windows with control owners, prepares control owners, and keeps requests and deliverables on schedule. It owns SOX scoping and risk assessment cycles, deficiency tracking, and status reporting, and supports implementation of a GRC platform to establish a central system of record. The role also identifies AI-enabled workflows to reduce manual effort and improve the efficiency of the SOX program. This is an individual-contributor role reporting to the Head of Business Controls and working closely with the SOX and Internal Audit team. It requires managing a complex program to schedule, communicating clearly, and simplifying program processes over time.

Requirements

Big Four audit firm experience on SOX 404 or ICFR engagements, including managing audit calendars, PBC requests, and fieldwork with external audit teams.
Experience working directly with external auditor teams from the company side on requests, testing schedules, and findings.
Several years of hands-on SOX 404 experience, including scoping, risk assessment, control documentation, testing, and deficiency evaluation.
Working knowledge of the COSO framework, ICFR, and PCAOB standards.
Experience developing or maintaining Risk and Control Matrices and process documentation or flowcharts.
Experience implementing or administering GRC systems.
Experience reporting program status, metrics, and issues to senior leadership.
Ability to get control owners to deliver on time without authority over them.
Clear writing and calm coordination under deadline pressure.
Bachelor’s degree in a related field or equivalent experience. The stated minimum education is a bachelor’s degree or an equivalent combination of education, training, and/or experience; the field of study must be relevant to the role as demonstrated through coursework, training, or professional experience.

Nice To Haves

In-house SOX experience at a pre-IPO or newly public company.
Experience running a fraud risk assessment.
CPA, CISA, or similar certification.
Comfort with SQL or data tools for reporting.
Experience building lightweight automations, including with Claude.

Responsibilities

Own the annual SOX audit calendar, including interim and year-end testing windows, walkthrough schedules, and key deliverable dates agreed with external auditors.
Serve as the day-to-day contact for external auditor requests; triage, route, and track requests through closure, including PBC lists and evidence deliveries.
Coordinate auditor walkthroughs and fieldwork with process owners, control owners, and the SOX Testing team to avoid duplicative evidence requests.
Track auditor findings, management responses, and deficiency follow-ups, and report status to Internal Audit leadership.
Prepare control owners and process owners for auditor sessions and support timely evidence delivery without direct authority over them.
Lead annual SOX scoping and risk assessment, including quarterly refreshes, and support the annual Fraud Risk Assessment.
Monitor business-process and IT SOX testing, report status to leadership, and share status with external auditors.
Improve control documentation with the business, including educating stakeholders on templates and SOX guidance.
Identify opportunities to optimize and automate the SOX lifecycle using AI.
Support rollout of the SOX GRC tool, including control libraries, workflows, evidence requests, and testing templates.
Define platform data and reporting requirements and test that the platform meets program needs.
Run the quarterly sub-certification process and report results to leadership.
Own SOX program status reporting, including dashboards and metrics for leadership, audit calendar progress, and deficiency and remediation status.
Report status across the SOX lifecycle, including scoping and risk assessment, testing, deficiencies and remediation, segregation of duties, SOC 1 report reviews, fraud risk assessment, and audit calendar progress.