Head of Internal Audit - Quality and Insight

We have an incredible opportunity at Phoenix Group to join our Group Internal Audit (GIA) Team as the Head of Audit, Quality & Insight.

Job Type:   Permanent

Location:  This role could be based in either our Birmingham, Edinburgh or London office, with normally a minimum of 2 days a week working in an office and the rest working at home.

Flexible Working: All of our roles are open to part-time, job-share and other types of flexibility. We will discuss what is important to you and balancing this with business requirements during the recruitment process.

Closing Date:   24th July 2025, Please note Interviews are planned for 4th and 5th August.

Salary and benefits: £140,000 - £157,000 plus an indicative bonus range of 30%-60%, private medical cover, 38 days annual leave, excellent pension, 12x salary life assurance, career breaks, income protection, 3x volunteering days and much more

Who are we?

 We want to be the best place that any of our 6,600 colleagues have ever worked.

We’re Phoenix Group, we’re a long-term savings and retirement business. We offer a range of products across our market-leading brands, Standard Life, SunLife, Phoenix Life and ReAssure. Around 1 in 5 people in the UK has a pension with us. We’re a FTSE 100 organisation that is tackling key issues such as transitioning our portfolio to net zero by 2050, and we’re not done yet.

The Role

As the Head of Audit, Quality & Insight, you will have the opportunity to make a real difference to Phoenix.  This role is pivotal to the delivery of GIA’s strategic goals, enhancing the efficiency and effectiveness of GIA and the value it provides to Phoenix. We are a relatively small team covering a wide remit, which means huge opportunities for your learning and growth whilst being part of a truly collaborative, high performing and diverse team where people development is at the heart of what we do, and we want everyone to thrive and succeed. You will have the opportunity to make an immediate impact, establishing influential relationships with the team and key stakeholders, demonstrating your ability to generate trust, provide insight and adapt to gain buy in. You will be a key member of our leadership team and can expect the full support and guidance of the team, with access to a wide range of skills and experience for support across Group Internal Audit.

Key elements to this role include: -

• Oversights delivery of the Audit Plan, supporting and challenging the GIA Leadership Team on performance to plan, effective management and optimisation of resource; sets the standard for quality in all aspects of audit delivery
• Leads Executive and Board reporting, producing and presenting Audit opinions and thematic insight on Phoenix risk management effectiveness, risk behaviours and culture to Executive Risk Management Committee, Life and Group Board Audit Committees
• Leads the design and delivery of GIA’s data analytics strategy to drive greater delivery effectiveness and facilitate increased thematic insight into the Phoenix control environment
• Leading the development and maintenance of a comprehensive Audit Universe to deliver critical insight into key business risks
• Leads the Quality Assurance of all GIA deliverables, outsourcing to a third party only those areas which require additional technical expertise
• Drives GIA’s continuous improvement, effectiveness and efficiency agenda, leveraging and engaging resource from across the function, wider Group and co-source where necessary; continually seeking ways to optimise the efficiency and effectiveness of GIA’s systems, methodology and people
• Responsible for the design and delivery of the GIA Learning and Engagement Plans, coordinating with GIA LT, Group Risk and Group HR; reflecting Strategic Workforce Planning, future GIA requirements and internal /external talent mobility and succession
• Overseeing GIA projects and plans to influence positive change and uphold the highest standards of audit excellence, in line with key outcomes set out in GIA’s strategy
• Manages all functional budgets
• Oversights the GIA relationship with all partners, including other assurance functions such as Diligenta and Wipro and our co-source partner
• This role is also responsible for acting as the formal deputy to the CAO.

What are we looking for?

The ideal candidate will be a strategic leader with a passion for fostering collaboration, proactively influencing positive change and driving excellence across all levels of the function and organisation.

• Previous Internal Audit Leadership experience, and experience of stakeholder management with senior business executives, is essential.
• A proven track record of building and leading high-performing Internal Audit teams.
• A thorough understanding of best practice Internal Audit operating frameworks, including annual planning, Board reporting, quality management and data science.
• An Accounting (ACA / ACCA) or Chartered Internal Audit (CIIA) qualification is preferable, or equivalent experience.

We want to hire the whole version of you.

We are committed to ensuring that everyone feels accepted and welcome applicants from all backgrounds. If your experience looks different from what we’ve advertised and you believe that you can bring value to the role, we’d love to hear from you.

If you require any adjustments to the recruitment process, please let us know so we can help you to be at your best.

Find out more about #LifeAtPhoenix

• Guide for Candidates: thephoenixgroup.pagetiger.com/guideforcandidates

Find or get answers from our colleagues: www.thephoenixgroup.com/careers/talk-to-us

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