C15/Director- China Head of Audit

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Team/Role Overview

The Head of Audit China is a senior level management position, reporting to the Japan, Asia North & Australia (JANA) Chief Auditor, responsible for contributing to the strategic direction of Citi’s Internal Audit (IA) function in China. The overall accountability of this role is to direct audit activities and assessments of the country’s risk and control environment for the legal vehicle, applying in-depth disciplinary knowledge through value-added perspectives or advisory service that is in accordance with IA standards, Citi policies, and local regulations.  This role is also responsible for managing a team of audit professionals.

Critical thinking and executive presentation skills will be important requirements of the role as themes related to risks and issues across the franchise will be identified and presented to key stakeholders, such as senior management, the Audit Committee, regulators and external audit functions.  The incumbent requires a wider ranging, yet detailed knowledge of technology processes, as well as a strong understanding of the fundamental risks associated with a large bank.  The role will entail considerable co-ordination and development of resources to meet the requirements and will therefore also require strong people management and communication skills.

Citi IA is a dynamic global function of over 2,500 professionals located across more than 60 countries, covering Citi's global businesses and service to clients and customers through its network in 98 countries. Through a culture of continuous improvement, Citi IA is focused on maintaining its position as a best-in-class IA function and is committed to investing in people, learning and development, innovation, and methodology programs. The Internal Audit mission is to provide independent, objective, reliable, valued and timely assurance to the Board, senior management and regulators of Citigroup and Citibank (and its subsidiaries), over the effectiveness of culture, ethical conduct, governance, risk management, and controls that mitigate current and evolving risks and to enhance the control environment.  IA is a change agent within Citi to enhance the control culture of Citigroup worldwide and therefore support senior management decision making around the globe.

Citi operates in over 100 countries and provides consumers, corporations, governments, and institutions with a broad range of financial services and products. Citi strives to create the best outcomes for clients and customers with financial ingenuity that leads to solutions that are simple, creative, and responsive.

Responsibilities:

• Audit Plan: 

  • Responsible for the coordination and delivery of high-quality, value-add multiple concurrent risk-based audit plans on time and to specification together with the assurance for the legal vehicle in China.  Ensuring that the delivery of audit reports is complete, insightful, timely, error free and concise. 

  • Confirms timely delivery of high-quality comprehensive regulatory and internal audit issue validation and where determined appropriate issue validation on other remediation actions.

  • Report to the Management Board and Audit Committee on assurance delivered and provide insights.  Responsible for all IA Head of Audit governance and oversight requirements related to China, working with the JANA Chief Auditor to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of IA resources.

  • Support and endorse the IA Quality Assurance team to address and resolve issues found by QA, improving audit processes and coverage.

  • Taking into account emerging and established risks; industry best practices and external frameworks; legal entity and country-level regulatory requirements and an end-to-end view of the risks and controls that cross business functions, ensuring that the IA activity in China is sufficient and relevant to delivering timely assurance.

  • Appropriately assess risk when business decisions are made, demonstrating particular consideration for the firm's reputation and safeguarding Citigroup, its clients and assets, by driving compliance with applicable laws, rules and regulations, adhering to Policy, applying sound ethical judgment regarding personal behavior, conduct and business practices, and escalating, managing and reporting control issues with transparency, as well as effectively supervise the activity of others and create accountability with those who fail to maintain these standards.

• Stakeholder Engagement:

  • Proactively engage and maintain an appropriate pro-active, constructive, solutions-driven relationships as the independent auditor with senior leadership including the Citi Country Officer (CCO) and teams across the Franchise and wider Citi to provide credible challenge and positively influence Citi’s culture, ethical conduct, governance, risk management and control frameworks.

  • Develop and maintain strong working relationships with teams both within the Franchise and the IA Banking, International & Client (BIC) team, as well as across IA Product and Functions teams globally. Leverage the feedback achieved from this to continually improve the definition and risk assessment of the audit universe as well as identify new and optimized ways of auditing the environment to maximize the insight achieved. 

  • Advises relevant management and supervisory boards and governance committees of updates on Citi’s IA strategy and other developments; presenting and gaining buy-in to forward looking risk-based audit plans, reporting on key IA activities including key risk issues and their management and/or resolution; and providing timely assurance on culture, ethical conduct and governance, risk management and control matters.

• Regulatory Relationship Management:

  • Supports and contributes to managing IA’s regulatory relationships in China resulting in constructive two-way dialogue, trust in the IA function and general reliance being placed on the assurance delivered; act as the key point of contact for local regulators on internal audit matters; appropriately assessing risk when business decisions are made and understanding the significant risks specific to their product or function and individual role in relation to the regulations. 

  • Coordinate with external parties to support Citi’s responses for regulatory compliance, validation of regulatory issues and ensuring timelines are met and regulatory intent is addressed. 

• Leadership: 

  • Attract, motivate and develop a highly effective, diverse, talented and trusted team. 

  • Work with other IA Senior Leaders to maximize the efficiency and effectiveness of IA resources, taking into consideration the experience and location of the team, as well as leveraging different audit approaches and best practice. 

  • Identify and develop talent, providing long-term career opportunities both within IA and across other parts of Citi. 

Skills

• Excellent communication skills – both written and verbal; being able to digest vast amounts of information and be able to succinctly present messages.  Should be fluent in written and spoken Mandarin as well as English.

• Strong interpersonal skills for interfacing with all levels within the organization and beyond, including senior management and regulators.  Effective influencing skills, a proactive and ‘no surprises’ approach in communicating issues and requests.

• Pragmatic problem solver, strategic and forward thinker with independence of thought.

• Promotes a culture of collaboration and teamwork across organizational boundaries; willing to break down functional silos to optimize business results and to facilitate the overall growth of the franchise. 

• Self-motivated and goal orientated.  Sense of urgency in implementing programs and evaluating priorities; decisive, action-orientated and practical.  Willing to challenge and question the status quo, making recommendations for options and best solutions. 

• Critical thinking is a key requirement of the role as themes related to risks and issues around the organization will be identified and presented to key stakeholders such as senior management, the Audit Committee, Board, regulators and external audit functions.

• An effective leader, being able to manage auditors with different experience and background, building a culture of trust and support and accountability, with a track record of identifying and developing world class talent.

• Outstanding performer, open minded, resilient, agile, energetic, self-starter, articulate and empathetic whilst being confident to deliver opinions to bring about positive outcomes.

Qualifications & Experience:

• Candidates should have at least 15 years of diversified financial management experience in audit or a related role.  International experience is preferred within highly respected, diversified and complex institutions.

• Related certifications (CPA, ACA, CFA, CIA, CISA or similar) preferred.

• In-depth experience with the Chinese regulatory environment and proven experience working with local regulators and managing regulatory audits or inspections.

• Extensive and hands-on experience with Chinese banking regulations, including but not limited to liquidity, capital adequacy, anti-money laundering, information security, cybersecurity, and credit risk.

• Strong understanding of banking products, operations, and risk frameworks.

• Experience in working with global teams and dealing with integrated internal audit and assurance delivery. 

• Proficient in Risk and Control analysis and audit concepts, governance, the design and operation of risk management and control frameworks in leading international organizations.

• An understanding of how risks and control deficiencies need to be prioritized and remediated across the first and second lines of defense.

Education:

• Bachelor’s degree/University degree or equivalent experience

• Master’s degree preferred

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