Financial Audit Data Analyst

at  National Audit Office

JOB DESCRIPTION

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• Type of contract: Permanent

• Salary: London: c£48,520 per annum, Newcastle: c£41,117 – higher base salaries may be available for exceptional candidates plus civil service employer pension contribution of c27.1%
  Main purpose of the job:
  The National Audit Office (NAO) supports Parliament to hold the government to account for the way public services are delivered. Our primary role is to scrutinise public spending for Parliament. We do this by certifying over 350 government accounts and produce around 65 Value for Money (VFM) reports each year.
  A key part of the National Audit Office’s (NAO) strategy is to make greater use of technology in the delivery of its audits. This includes the objective of embedding data analytics in our “business as usual” audit processes and professionalise the way we obtain data from our Audited bodies.
  We are expanding the Specialist Financial Audit Data & Analytics Operations (‘D&A Ops’ )capability within our Digital Financial Audit [DFA] team to support and develop this strategic objective.
  This FA Data Analyst role requires the holder of the role to provide delivery and support for Data & Analytics execution in support of Financial Audits.

The purpose of this role working with the other members of the D&A Ops team is to:

• Assist with professionalising and automating the way we get financial data from our Audited bodies
• Assist with obtaining, understanding, reconciling, transforming and ingesting finance system ledger data into our Analytics platform.
• Provide Business as Usual support for our Analytics platform, help financial audit teams upload their data and resolve D&A Ops related service tickets
• Assist in the delivery of assurance-based bespoke analytics work
• Assist in providing support and Analytics training to our Digital Financial Audit apprentices

About the National Audit Office
The National Audit Office (NAO) is the UK’s main public sector audit body. Independent of government, we have responsibility for auditing the accounts of various public sector bodies, examining the propriety of government spending, assessing risks to financial control and accountability, and reviewing the economy, efficiency and effectiveness of programmes, projects and activities. We report directly to Parliament, through the Committee of Public Accounts of the House of Commons which uses our reports as the basis of its own investigations. We employ some 950 staff, most of whom are qualified accountants, trainees or technicians. They work in one of two main areas, financial audit or value for money (VFM) audit.
The NAO welcomes applications from everyone. We value diversity in all its forms and the difference it makes to our organisation. By removing barriers and creating an inclusive culture all our people have the opportunity to develop and maximise their full potential. As members of the Business Disability Forum and Two Ticks Disability Scheme we guarantee to interview all disabled applicants who meet the minimum criteria.
The NAO supports flexible working and is happy to discuss this with you at application stage.

Nationality Requirement:

• UK Nationals
• Nationals of Commonwealth countries who have the right to work in the UK
• Nationals from the EU, EEA or Switzerland with (or eligible for) status under the European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS)

Please note, we are not able to sponsor work visas or accept temporary visas as we are looking to hire on a permanent basis. Please contact hrservicedesk@nao.org.uk should you have any questions on your nationality eligibility.
Disability and Reasonable adjustments
Applicants with a disability who wish their application to be considered under the Disability Confident scheme should confirm this when submitting their application. Under this scheme we guarantee an interview to an applicant with a disability who meets the minimum requirements for the role. You should also let our HR team know if you wish us to consider any Reasonable Adjustments at any stage of the process (hrservicedesk@nao.org.uk).
Applicants will not be discriminated against on the grounds of any protected characteristic or any other extraneous factor.

SKILLS REQUIRED

Key skills/competencies required:

Education/work experience

• A strong academic background. We will need to see evidence of academic achievement which may be through attendance at university, or similar institution.
• At least 2 years of Data Analytics with a significant portion of that experience arising from Analytics work done in support of the financial audit.
• A formal finance qualification would be an advantage, but evidence of a good understanding of accounting concepts enabling you to understand the impact of issues identified can achieve the same.

Abilities

• Some experience/understanding of the following software solutions:

o Caseware IDEA
o Alteryx
o Microsoft SQL server
o Microsoft Power BI

o Data extraction technology such as SAP SmartExporter, Validis

• Ability to

o understand Data Analytics processes/technical documentation/IT audit issues and interpret/translate these into understandable language for non-specialist internal colleagues; and

o clearly articulate the objectives and results from any Data Analytics work delivered

• Some knowledge of the following:

o How common ERP systems operate (eg SAP, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics)
o Common ERP data structures

o ERP-specific data cleansing

• Basic understanding of the following:

o Core Business Processes (General ledger processing, Purchase to Pay, Order to Cash, Payroll….)
o External Audit methodology and how data analytics can be used to assist in this area.

Attributes

• Intellectual curiosity, especially about data & analytics, technology and business process related matters
• Ability to work co-operatively and collaboratively as part of a team to deliver a team effort
• Drive and determination to overcome obstacles, resistance or challenges in order to achieve goals
• Commitment to personal development and keeping technical skills up to date
• Good communication skills and ability to flex these to address the various audiences from junior audit staff through to senior level client staff

RESPONSIBILITIES

Your key responsibilities will be:

• Providing Data acquisition and ingestion support for financial audit teams
• Liaising with Audited bodies over obtaining financial data and assisting with our ambition to streamline and automate as much of the data acquisition as possible
• Dealing with Data wrangling issues with General ledger data and other financial data
• Hands on involvement in the delivery of bespoke assurance-based analytics work
• Training our new team of Digital Financial Audit apprentices

The purpose of this role working with the other members of the D&A Ops team is to:

• Assist with professionalising and automating the way we get financial data from our Audited bodies
• Assist with obtaining, understanding, reconciling, transforming and ingesting finance system ledger data into our Analytics platform.
• Provide Business as Usual support for our Analytics platform, help financial audit teams upload their data and resolve D&A Ops related service tickets
• Assist in the delivery of assurance-based bespoke analytics work
• Assist in providing support and Analytics training to our Digital Financial Audit apprentice