AQD Pensions Centre of Excellence Director

Ideas | People | Trust

We’re BDO. An accountancy and business advisory firm, providing the advice and solutions entrepreneurial organisations need to navigate today’s changing world.

We work with the companies that are Britain’s economic engine – ambitious, entrepreneurially-spirited and high‑growth businesses that fuel the economy – and directly advise the owners and management teams leading them.

We’ll broaden your horizons

Audit quality is central to our strategy as an Audit Stream, the key ingredient to our success. Consistent high audit quality enables us to attract, develop and retain talented people and be proud of our work. Audit quality allows us to compete in the market and demonstrate that we can play a key role in market reform.

Consistently high audit quality does not happen by chance. It requires a mindset and culture of challenge and professional scepticism, appropriate resources both people and intellectual, investment in central support for engagement teams and technology solutions. Within the last year we have increased our headcount significantly, invested in new partners, and commenced a significant investment programme in our central quality support team.

We’ll help you succeed

The work we do is underpinned by quality. We deliver audits which are trusted and transparent which can be relied upon by companies and their stakeholders.

You’ll be someone who is comfortable working pro-actively and, managing your own tasks, as well as confident collaborating with others and communicating regularly with Senior Managers, Directors, and BDO’s Partners. You’ll help deliver accurate and transparent reporting to all relevant stakeholders as you provide long term value. 

This is an opportunity for talented, high performing and ambitious Director to lead the Pensions Centre of Excellence Team in the AQD, working closely with the Pensions audit team, in an exciting period and help to shape the role and the expanding team. You will report into the Pensions Centre of Excellence Partner and work closely with other Partners within AQD.

The role will be split into two key parts. In conjunction with the Pensions Centre of Excellence Partner the successful candidate will set up a Pensions Centre of Excellence to support audit teams execute a high quality audit. Once embedded the role will expand to include supporting the establishment of further Centres of Excellence. 

The individual will report to the Partner responsible for setting up the pensions Centre of Excellence. The role will provide the individual with a high profile within the Firm as, in the main, you will be dealing with senior people within the Firm across the country and reporting to the Firm’s senior management.

Other aspects of the role will include:

• Contribute to define and implement more focused and relevant actions for timely remediation of findings and to evaluate the effectiveness of these actions.
• Attending meetings with regulators to support audit teams under inspection.
• Build meaningful relationships with Senior Stakeholders in the audit practice and in the Central Functions.
• Raise your profile in the Firm by working with a diverse group of people, in different functions across BDO, with different skillsets and expertise, to contribute to an open and collaborative process where multiple viewpoints are considered.
• Participation from time to time in other AQD activities.

The individual will need to have audit experience to senior manager level and will have had previous experience in both an audit quality and a pensions Centre of Excellence leadership role. The individual will have the ability to communicate clearly and concisely both verbally and in writing. This will include being able to converse with individuals of all levels within the Firm and with our Regulators.

You’ll be someone with:

• The ability to work both independently and collaboratively as part of a team and that are able to use their own initiative to identify and propose potential solutions.
• Strong communications skills (oral and written reports) and confidence engaging with a variety of senior stakeholders.
• Good project management and organisational skills.
• ACA or similar professional accountancy qualification

Skills

• As this role will involve setting up a Pensions Centre of Excellence to support audit teams, experience as an audit manager is essential
• Experience in leading within a Centre of Excellence is essential, preference for Pensions Centre of Excellence
• Experience in compliance is essential
• Experience in working with UK regulators is preferred
• Wide-ranging practical experience regarding application of ISAs and audit methodology is essential; experience in IT auditing techniques would be an added advantage
• Ability to be objective and sceptical and to have confidence to challenge more senior members of an audit team
• Ability to work both independently and collaboratively as part of a small team and able to use own initiative and lead less experienced team members
• High attention to detail
• Strong problem solving skills
• Excellent communication skills, both written and verbal, including an ability to communicate difficult messages
• Takes personal responsibility and accountability for own work 

You’ll be able to be yourself; we’ll recognise and value you for who you are and celebrate and reward your contributions to our business. We’re committed to agile working, and we offer everyone the opportunity to work in ways that suit them, their teams, and the task at hand.

At BDO, we’ll help you achieve your personal goals and career ambitions, and we have programmes, resources, and frameworks that provide clarity and structure around career development.

We’re in it together

Mutual support and respect is one of BDO’s core values and we’re proud of our distinctive, people-centred culture.  From informal success conversations to formal mentoring and coaching, we’ll support you at every stage in your career, whatever your personal and professional needs.

Our agile working framework helps us stay connected, bringing teams together where and when it counts so they can share ideas and help one another.  At BDO, you’ll always have access to the people and resources you need to do your best work.

We know that collaboration is the key to creating value and satisfying experiences at work, so we’ve invested in state-of-the-art collaboration spaces in our offices.  BDO’s people represent a wealth of knowledge and expertise, and we’ll encourage you to build your network, work alongside others, and share your skills and experiences.  With a range of multidisciplinary events and dedicated resources, you’ll never stop learning at BDO.

We’re looking forward to the future

At BDO, we help entrepreneurial businesses to succeed, fuelling the UK economy. Our success is powered by our people, which is why we’re always finding new ways to invest in you. Across the UK thousands of unique minds continue to come together to help companies we work with to achieve their ambitions.

We’ve got a clear purpose, and we’re confident in our future, because we’re adapting and evolving to build on our strengths, ensuring we continue to find the right combination of global reach, integrity and expertise. We shape the future together with openness and clarity, because we believe in empowering people to think creatively about how we can do things better.