Internal Auditor

The Position

The City of Carlsbad currently has an opening for an Internal Auditor in Administrative Services. Administrative Services supports approximately 700 employees in a diverse and inclusive work environment, working towards making a real difference in the quality of life for the city's 115,000 residents. The Internal Auditor will play an integral role in helping the city achieve the City Council Strategic Policy Goals and Community Vision by reducing operational errors, minimizing fraud, ensuring compliance, and managing risk throughout the organization.

We need an innovative, forward-thinking professional who works collaboratively with colleges and stakeholders to deliver operational, compliance, and integrated audits over the city's entrusted public resources.

Our ideal Internal Auditor will:

• Demonstrate emotional intelligence and self-awareness
• Have exceptional verbal, listening, presentation, and written communication skills
• Have synergy that will spark innovative ideas and solutions with staff
• Think and approach organizational challenges and opportunities strategically and on a holistic, enterprise-level
• Have strong information software application skills and experience
• Be action-oriented, adaptable, flexible, and have tenacity, courage, and confidence
• Be able to juggle multiple projects and assignments at one time with a variety of complexities

A typical day as the City of Carlsbad's Internal Auditor may include:

• Using your tech-savviness and ability to audit records and computer processes to ensure functionality and effectiveness
• Ensuring completion of required compliance audits
• Assessing performance management principles, investigating complaints of fraud, waste, and abuse, and performing other assurance and efficiency audits
• Identifying internal control weaknesses and making recommendations for improvements
• Establishing project measurements and outcomes
• Leading and performing audits from inception to execution
• Leading project teams with team members from multiple departments

Our Organization: Carlsbad's mission is to enhance the lives of all who live, work, and play in our city by setting the standard for providing top quality, efficient local government services. Our organization values character, innovation, stewardship, excellence, empowerment, and communication. As a full-service city, Carlsbad has its own police and fire departments, a water district, parks, recreation, library, and cultural art departments, as well as administrative and public works functions. As a member of Team Carlsbad, you will find that Carlsbad is a great place to make a living and a life.

The Community: Carlsbad has a small-town feel with beach community character and connectedness which was built on the city's culture of civic engagement, volunteerism, and philanthropy. Carlsbad is able to draw top organizations from throughout the country because of the City's diverse economy centered around action sports, manufacturing, life sciences, information and communication technology, cleantech, and hospitality and tourism.

The City of Carlsbad embraces diversity, equity and inclusion in the workplace and recognizes the vital relationship of a culturally diverse, engaged work environment and innovative excellence. A diverse, equitable and inclusive work climate comprises personal experiences, values, and views shaped from differences of culture and circumstance. Our organization appreciates belonging, creativity, recognition and retention of its employees and is committed to hiring and developing motivated, productive and talented employees who provide services and enhance our quality of life. We work to embrace open and equitable access to opportunities for learning and development as our responsibility and goal. Key Responsibilities

• Lead, plan, develop, and conduct a variety of audit programs such as financial, operational (also known as performance or value for money), information systems (including computer, personal computer and network systems), compliance and investigatory; plan, direct, coordinate and schedule assignments; monitor work progress and review work results.
• Lead and participate in preparing the annual audit plan for City Council approval; prioritize and schedule audit requests.
• Lead and participate in the development of a routinely-scheduled entity-wide survey or risk assessment to reference when preparing the annual audit plan.
• Oversee and participate in the development and administration of the annual budget; direct the forecast of funds needed for staffing, equipment, materials and supplies; monitor and approve expenditures; implement adjustments.
• Lead and participate in planning each audit, including writing an audit plan with objectives, obtaining an understanding of the program to be audited, determining the criteria to be used and the staff and resources needed to conduct the audit.
• Lead and participate in determining the scope, or boundary, of the audit; determine the methodology, or how to gather and analyze the data to achieve the objectives.
• Use a common-sense business approach and logical audit techniques with a management perspective and apply them to activities, systems and operations in conducting and overseeing audits, and in working with management and staff throughout the process.
• Oversee work progress to ensure that audit objectives are accomplished.
• Perform the audit to gain reasonable assurance that: the auditee is in compliance with applicable laws and regulations; applicable management controls are effective and appropriate; sufficient, competent and relevant evidence is obtained to support conclusions.
• Maintain audit records in the form of work papers.
• Analyze data, operations, audit findings, memos and legislation to adopt effective course of action.
• Lead and participate in preparing audit reports to communicate the results; reports may be written, oral or on other media.
• Present the more complex or difficult audit findings to management, the City Manager's Office, the Mayor and the City Council on at least a bi-annual basis.
• Lead and participate in ensuring that recommendations for improvement or correction are communicated and that staff works with management to make the necessary changes; follow up on implementation of corrective actions; ensure that the status of any uncorrected findings and recommendations is communicated to management, the City Manager's Office, the Mayor and the City Council.
• Develop RFP(s) for selection of the city's external auditor(s) as well as other professional consulting engagements related to specialized audits and investigations. Conducts evaluation and selection process of RFP responses. Performs due diligence reviews of RFP respondents prior to entering into agreements.
• May supervise support staff or contractors on assigned projects, including training, assigning, and reviewing work.
• Provide in-house consultation service to departments and staff for self-assessment and improvement, streamlining processes, reengineering and training.
• Ensure that all applicable professional standards and regulations are adhered to.
• Respond to inquiries in a courteous manner, providing information within the area of assignment.
• Perform other related work as required.

Qualifications

To perform a job in this classification, an individual must be able to perform the essential duties as generally described in the specification. Reasonable accommodations may be made to enable individuals with disabilities to perform the essential duties in a specific job. The requirements listed below are representative of the knowledge, skill and/or ability required.

Knowledge of:

• Advanced methods of research, program analysis and report preparation
• Current audit techniques and standards
• Principles and procedures of internal control systems
• Principles and practices of public administration
• Budgeting and management control systems
• Principles and practices of budget preparation and administration
• Sound finance, accounting and management practices
• Institute of Internal Auditors, General Accounting Office and American Institute of Certified Public Accountants professional standards
• Generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP), generally accepted auditing standards (GAAS), and generally accepted governmental auditing standards (GAGAS)
• Laws and regulations governing municipal taxation, finance and auditing
• Automated financial reporting systems, spreadsheets, and computer applications
• City finance-related ordinances, policies, procedures and regulations
• Applicable federal, state and local laws, codes and regulations related to assigned work
• Principles of supervision

Ability to:

• Assign, organize and review the work of staff in the area of work assigned
• Plan and prioritize assignments
• Independently perform difficult or complex audits
• Function independently with minimal direction
• Negotiate and sell audit conclusions
• Offer unbiased counsel and advice
• Provide training on internal control and ethics issues and fraud
• Apply knowledge and skills to conduct complex, thorough analyses and make sound recommendations
• Develop and persuasively present value-added recommendations to management
• Interpret, explain, and review department policies and procedures
• Evaluate and apply management principles
• Understand and follow oral and written instructions
• Communicate clearly, both orally and in writing
• Establish and maintain effective working relationships with those contacted in the course of work
• Establish and maintain cooperative working relationships with employees, outside agencies and the public
• Analyze problems, identify alternative solutions, project consequences of proposed actions, and implement recommendations in support of goals
• Exercise good judgment, flexibility, creativity, and sensitivity in response to changing situations and needs
• Work well under pressure to meet deadlines

Experience & Education

Any combination equivalent to the education and experience that could likely provide the required knowledge and abilities is qualifying.

A typical background would include:

• Bachelor's degree from an accredited college or university with a major in accounting, business management, or a closely related course of study
• Four years of professional-level auditing experience
  • Preferably with two in government performance auditing
• Supervisory experience is desirable
• Experience working directly with elected officials is desirable

The following certificates are desirable:

• Certified Internal Auditor
• Certified Public Accountant
• Certified Fraud Examiner
• Certified Management Accountant