Head of Internal Audit, Africa at PZ Cussons

Key Accountability:

• Providing independent assurance over all PZ Cussons Africa operations including Demand; Supply operations; and Support Functions on the effectiveness of risk management and control procedures across the business and to highlight any particular risk areas.
• Develop yearly audit plan covering key business processes, allocate resources to audit assignments and agree plan with GM, Internal Controls.
• Ensure implementation of the annual Internal Audit Plan and Program in the company.
• Discuss and develop plan at commencement of specific audit/investigation assignment.
• Coordinate investigation/audit assignments for on timely delivery of internal audit assignment.
• Development, review, and update of internal audit programs
• Team lead for investigations and other special audit assignments.
• Work with external auditors for smooth running of statutory audit exercise.
• Present, discuss and agree audit findings and issues with auditees.
• Identification of business and operational risks, continuous evaluation of the adequacy of existing controls and advising management of necessary action to mitigate identified business/fraud risks
• Draft audit reports for review and finalization by the Group Head of Audit at assignments completion
• Monitor action taken by management in response to audit work and reviews
• Prepare routine reports (key findings of outstanding audit/investigation jobs, Open HR issues, Fraud register) for circulation to management.
• Conduct compliance transaction/process walkthrough testing including conducting interviews, identifying inter relationships and weaknesses including systems gap
• Liaise with stakeholders and ensures that lessons learned from audit reviews and fraud investigations are incorporated into relevant policies and procedures

Persons Specification:

• Minimum 10 years’ experience, including in a multinational (ideally multicultural/multilingual) corporate environment, with exposure to some of the following areas:
• Internal / external audit with detailed understanding of governance, risk management and internal controls.
• Risk based auditing, including the ability to review core financials and business data to identify potential risks and insights.
• In-depth understanding of business processes and systems.
• Project and change management – reviewing and assessing the impact of change on people and concluding on critical risks and steps to effectively manage those risks.
• Root cause analysis and insights generation – understanding an issue or complex problem, the key drivers behind it, and then defining an action plan to address these key drivers, finding a sustainable solution.
• Qualified Accountant and/or MBA, or professional qualification (ACA, ACCA, CPA, CISA, CIA) or equivalent experience in one of the above is beneficial. Experience in use of Computer aided audit techniques (CAATS) and data analysis tools is beneficial.
• Project management skills with experience of managing and delivering different priorities.
• Relationship management and business partnering skills – proven experience of building, developing and sustaining relationships with key stakeholders, especially senior management.
• People management skills – ability to influence and direct where appropriate.
• Strong interpersonal skills and ability to communicate effectively at all levels both internally and externally (written and verbal).