Privately Owned Business - Audit Director

Opportunity in a Top 20 firm.

This firm is seeking an experienced Audit Director to join our growing team of relationship-driven, curious, problem-solvers who add value to our clients on a daily basis. The Audit Teams provide audit assurance services which are vital to our clients' business controls, shareholder confidence, and credibility of their financial statements. The expertise range from servicing private, entrepreneurial companies through to UK listed companies, financial services clients, and some of the largest FT Global organisations in the world. By joining our unique integrated structure, you will benefit from working in collaborative teams and be given responsibility for delivering robust and independent audit services in a supportive environment.

In a rapidly changing business world, we also care about our industry and have long pressed for a debate on audit competition. We believe that companies and their shareholders alike deserve the benefits that increased competition can bring and are committed to playing an active role in shaping the future of audit.

Privately owned businesses are a significant proportion of our client base, not just in the UK, but globally. Our privately-owned business team works with:

Any privately-owned business/group owned by an individual(s), family, board of directors, private equity or venture capital backed with revenue between £10m - £150m
Unregulated asset managers/owners privately owned with assets under management/ownership under £1bn

Job Purpose As an Audit Director, you will support the Partners to develop and build the audit team and client offering. You will work closely with clients and be committed to providing an exceptional audit service.

Role & Responsibilities

Assisting and advising the client service management team on the formulation of audit strategy and planning
Technical expert for audit assignments, providing advice to the audit team and client
Leading an audit team, ensuring the team completes in a timely manner within budget
Managing audit assignments from planning through to finalisation of reports in line with agreed timescales
Controlling time spent and monitoring actual time within budget
People management – coaching, feedback, performance management, training and development, engaging high performing teams
Maintains control and stability under pressure whilst recognising the deadline or urgency
Ensuring standards and procedures are maintained by the whole team
Drafting the audit opinion summary for the Partner and any other reporting documents, including group reporting and audit committee papers
Ensuring clients are billed according to agreed billing plans
Identifying and capitalising on opportunities and prospects for new work
Business development, including working with colleagues in other teams
Acting as a point of contact for both senior management and clients
Building strong working relationships with clients
Showing vision and strategic perspective
Delivering confident and clear presentations of service features and benefits to clients
Ensuring audit services provided are genuinely appropriate for the client
Assessing and producing high quality work in line with the Firm's policy and processes, meeting relevant regulatory requirements

Skills, Knowledge and Experience

ACA / CA / ACCA (or equivalent) qualification
Holds significant experience of leading external audits, managing a portfolio of clients, and leading audit teams
Prior experience of working at an experienced Audit Senior Manager level
Client relationship management experience
Relevant privately owned business sector audit experience
Up to date technical knowledge of UK GAAP / FRS102 and IFRS
Experience of managing, training and coaching an audit team
Experience of using audit software and Microsoft packages
Excellent written and verbal communication and presentation skills
Actively seeks to enhance expertise and knowledge
Experience of developing new initiatives and methodologies
Experience of identifying issues through sound analysis and application of commercial acumen
Takes ownership of projects, effectively delegates to others within the team, and takes responsibility for quality control
Develops a network of client contacts and contacts in the wider market