Alternatively, Grant Thornton

At Grant Thornton we do things differently - looking to the future, driving ambitious growth and pioneering positive change in our industry. Providing audit, tax and advisory services, we empower clients through strategic insight, curiosity, and genuine partnership. And we empower our people with real opportunity, an inclusive culture and work life balance. A true alternative.

With over 5,000 people in the UK, and a presence in 150 global markets, we're on an ambitious journey, from great to exceptional, and we need the best people to help us achieve our potential. And with that comes the opportunity to help redefine what our industry looks like, and what you want from your career.

Job Description:

As a member of this team, you will be part of developing a high priority service within our business, with a real opportunity to add value and shape the way our firm embeds quality within our culture and creates a high-quality service for our clients.

In order to successfully deliver this role, team members will need to demonstrate technical excellence, an ability to constructively challenge and integrity.

On a day-to-day basis you will be working closely with our audit teams and technical senior team. This will involve applying excellent technical skills, while developing strong relationships quickly, where you can deliver challenging messages in a positive and confident way.

You will challenge the execution of audit procedures and documentation of audit work performed in regulatory areas, whilst supporting and coaching teams to implement identified improvements in audit quality – specifically in relation to CASS, safeguarding and other regulatory assurance engagements.

You will identify issues and matters where firm-wide action may be required, as well as other ad-hoc projects related to improving audit quality and enhancing risk management.  We would be open to exploring a split role between technical specialist and managing CASS and safeguarding audits.

The minimum criteria

• Experience in audit and/or audit quality control
• Experience of CASS and safeguarding audits and sound understanding of the CASS rules
• Good understanding of FCA regulation across the financial services sectors
• Excellent insight and analytical skills so that you can evaluate a significant amount of information, understand the bigger picture and identify what is important to ensure that high quality standards are achieved
• Highly motivated and passionate about audit quality with a desire to seek new ways to drive improvement
• A willingness to work flexibly both as part of a close-knit team and as a self-directed individual

Skills to set you apart

Here are a few more skills we are looking for. Don’t worry if you don’t tick every box. It’s important for us to support you in your role and help you to develop along the way.

• Hold a professional accountancy qualification (ACA, CA or ACCA)
• Previous experience of working in a technical role in  professional services environment
• Communication skills – a strong ability to articulate technical concepts in a clear and understandable way.
• An ability and desire to work with a client base across a broad range of sectors
• Ability to think creatively to identify ways to improve audit quality
• Team work/collaboration - working closely alongside others with different skillsets and experience to develop the best solutions to complex questions
• Strong IT skills including proficiency in MS Excel, Word and PowerPoint

Knowing we’re right for you

Embracing uniqueness, the culture at Grant Thornton thrives on the contributions of all our people, we never settle for what is easy, we look beyond to deliver the right thing, for everyone.  Building an inclusive culture, where we value difference and respect our colleagues helps our people to perform at the best of their ability and realise their potential.

Our open and accessible culture means you’ll interact with leaders who are interested in you and everything you bring to our firm. The things that set you apart, we value them. That’s why we give you the freedom to bring your whole self to work and pursue your passions inside and outside of work.

Beyond the job 

Life is more than work. The things you do, and the people you’re with outside of work matter, that’s why we’re happy to look at flexible working options for all our roles, and we’ll always do our best to keep your work and life in balance.

The impact you can make here will go far beyond your day job. From secondments, to fundraising for local charities, or investing in entrepreneurs in the developing world, you’ll be giving back to society. It’s that drive to do the right thing that runs through our every move, grounded in our firm’s values – purposefully driven, actively curious and candid but kind.