Senior Internal Audit Manager

This is a rare opportunity to join a fast growing Internal Audit function at a pivotal moment. As part of the Audit Leadership Team, you’ll have real influence, hands on responsibility, and the chance to help shape the future of the function. It offers a senior leadership role in a compact, high impact team where you will steer how the function evolves, own strategic initiatives such as GRC implementation and QA enhancements, and lead a hands on pod model that enables coaching, development, and visible results. If you’re a self starter who enjoys building capability, being close to the business, and thriving in a high change environment, this is a role with genuine long term potential.

About the Role:

We are looking for a Senior Audit Manager to lead one of our audit pods and play a central role in delivering a high quality, risk based audit plan. You will drive improvement across the control environment, strengthen risk management, and contribute to the evolution of our methodology, technology, and ways of working as the function continues to grow.

Reporting to the Head of Internal Audit, you will work closely with senior stakeholders across the business and help enhance combined assurance, insight, and the maturity of our Internal Audit capability.

What You’ll Do:

Lead and deliver audits

• Oversee the full audit lifecycle, from scoping and fieldwork to reporting and action tracking.
• Produce clear, concise audit reports that influence decision making and lead to tangible improvement.
• Apply and enhance our methodology, ensuring quality, consistency, and timely delivery.
• Use data and technology to increase audit insight and efficiency.

Develop capability

• Line manage and coach a small team of auditors, building technical and professional skills.
• Foster an open, collaborative team culture and support knowledge sharing across the function.

Enhance the Internal Audit function

• Partner with the Head of Internal Audit and fellow Senior Audit Manager to refine methodology, QA, MI, and reporting.
• Support major strategic initiatives, including the design and implementation of a new GRC platform and readiness for EQAR.
• Contribute to thematic analysis, risk assessment, and medium term planning.

Engage senior stakeholders

• Build strong, influential relationships across the business.
• Communicate results with clarity and confidence, and ensure timely remediation.
• Work closely with Risk, Compliance, and other assurance providers to align coverage and avoid duplication.

Stay ahead of regulatory and business change

• Monitor emerging risks and regulatory expectations, including Consumer Duty.
• Recommend thematic or exceptional audit work to ensure the plan remains relevant and risk focused.

What We’re Looking For:

Essential

• Strong Internal Audit experience in Financial Services.
• Proven ability to lead audits and guide the work of more junior auditors.
• Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills.
• Sound judgement, commercial awareness, and an ability to present complex issues simply.
• A positive, growth oriented mindset with a willingness to build, improve, and take ownership.

Useful experience

You don’t need all of the below, but experience or interest in any of these areas is valuable:

• Investment platform operations, CASS, trading and dealing, customer journeys, or FCA regulation.
• Technology and data risk, cyber security, data governance, analytics, AI, or GRC systems.
• Risk and controls frameworks, operational resilience, third party risk, change management, or financial crime.

About Us

AJ Bell is one of the UK’s fastest-growing investment platforms, serving over 644,000 customers and managing £103.3 billion in assets. Through our award-winning platform, we support everyone from professional financial advisers to first-time investors, making it easier to take control of your financial future and feel good investing.

With over 1,500 employees across Manchester, London, and Bristol, AJ Bell is a FTSE 250 company and has been recognised as one of the UK’s Best 100 Companies to Work For for six consecutive years, as well as a Great Place to Work® in 2025 and 2026. We offer a collaborative, friendly environment built on strong guiding principles and pride in what we do.

What we offer:

• Competitive starting salary
• Starting holiday entitlement of 27, increasing up to 31 days with length of service and a holiday buy and sell scheme
• A choice of pension schemes with matched contributions up to 8%
• Discretionary bonus scheme
• Annual free share awards scheme
• Buy As You Earn (BAYE) Scheme
• Health Cash Plan – provided by Simply Health
• Discounted private healthcare scheme and dental plan
• Free gym
• Employee Assistance Programme
• Bike loan scheme
• Sick pay+ pledge
• Enhanced maternity, paternity, and shared parental leave
• Loans for travel season tickets
• Death in service scheme
• Paid time off for volunteer work
• Charitable giving opportunities through salary sacrifice
• Calendar of social events, including monthly payday drinks, annual Christmas party, summer party and much more
• Personal development programmes built around you and your career goals, including access to personal skills workshops
• Monthly leadership breakfasts and lunches
• Casual dress code
• Access to a range of benefits from our sponsorship deals

Hybrid working:

At AJ Bell, our people are the heart of our culture. We believe in building strong connections by working together. That's why we offer a hybrid working model, where you'll spend 50% of working time per month in the office. For new team members, an initial period will be spent full-time in the office to help you immerse yourself in our business and build valuable relationships with your colleagues.

AJ Bell is committed to providing an environment of mutual respect where equal employment opportunities are available to all applicants and all employees are empowered to bring their whole self to work.

We do not discriminate on the basis of race, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, pregnancy, religion, physical and mental disability, marital status and any other characteristics protected by the Equality Act 2010. All decisions to hire are based on qualifications, merit and business need.

If you like the sound of the above, or just want to know more about the company and the role, we'd love to speak to you.