Assurance Manager

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 that lead them.

We’ll broaden your horizons

To ensure our services and applications are fit for the modern market, our team collaborates with every department. We develop, explore and implement the information Security practices helping us to protect the data of our clients in our services of accounting, tax and business consulting. But, just as importantly, we maintain the functionality of our Information Security Management System (ISMS) and ensure governance of the technology and security processes that keeps us advancing. And you could too. In an Information Security role at BDO, you’ll become part of a team that act as the backbone for our business. No matter who you are or what your skillset is, we’ll give you the training and support you need to achieve whatever you put your mind to.

We’ll help you succeed

Leading organisations trust us because of the quality of our advice. That quality grows from a thorough understanding of their business, and that understanding comes from working closely with them and building long-lasting relationships.

You’ll be someone who is both comfortable working proactively and managing your own tasks, as well as confident collaborating with others and communicating regularly with senior managers, directors, and BDO’s partners to help businesses effectively. You’ll be encouraged to identify and draw attention to opportunities for enhancing our delivery and providing additional services to organisations we work with.

Role Purpose

The Assurance Manager ’s role is responsible for designing, managing and overseeing BDO’s Assurance program and analytical work. This role will play a key part in ensuring the detection, prevention and response to risks, such as data theft, sabotage or espionage. The Assurance Manager will work closely with senior stakeholders, such as risk partners, risk owners, risk managers and other stream stakeholders to establish and maintain the Assurance strategy, vision and governance. The Assurance Manager will also lead a team of assurance analysts to deliver the Assurance program and analytical work.

The Assurance Manager role is the focal point for effective engagement between the business streams and the Information Security team on Assurance related matters. This role will be a trusted adviser to senior stakeholders and provide broad knowledge of BDO’s Assurance strategy, policies, standards, processes and roadmaps to enable streams to understand and meet Assurance requirements.

Leading a team of Assurance Specialists and Analysts and working with nominated Assurance leads in the business, the Assurance Manager will take responsibility for assessing Assurance risk with the business and ensure that those risks are being managed by the risk owners. Where decisions are made to accept, reduce, share or avoid, the Assurance Manager will ensure appropriate visibility and governance committees are informed.

The Assurance Manager will also oversee the prioritisation of activities to support business requests and the delivery of other resources supporting risk assessments always ensuring a consistent and high-quality service is being delivered to each business area.

This role reports to the Head of Cyber Detect and Response.

Principal Accountabilities

Design, manage and oversee BDO’s Assurance program and analytical work

Utilise BDO’s Assurance tools, procedures and control framework to collect, analyse and report on relevant data and indicators from various sources

Establish and maintain ‘Assurance awareness’ in the business to drive risk awareness and effective risk management

Identify and respond to Assurance incidents and escalations

Develop collateral and appropriate materials to support engagement with senior stakeholders, to explain the Assurance program, key concepts and best practices

Create and implement Assurance policies, standards, processes and procedures

Technical Competencies

Knowledge and experience of Assurance principles, programs and analytical work

Deep understanding of Microsoft Purview with experience of implementation

Technical expertise and experience in Assurance tools and techniques to perform data collection, analysis and reporting

Experience of designing, managing and overseeing projects of limited scale or complexity

Experience of challenging current practice – driving improvements and championing change

Experience of taking personal responsibility for own decisions and actions and those of others

Experience of leading and directing teams setting clear and achievable objectives aligned to the expected outcomes for the role

Experience of working in a team environment and collaborating with others

Highly self-motivated with keen attention to detail

The ability to build good relationships at all levels and influence stakeholders

Excellent verbal, written and interpersonal communication skills. Listens and communicates technical subjects to both technical and nontechnical audiences, flexes style to suit the needs of the audience

A good understanding of security frameworks including ISO27001/2, Cyber Essentials Plus, CIS Top 20, Data Protection Act 2018, OWASP Top 10

Have a relevant industry certification such as CISSP, CISM, CRISC, BRMP or similar

NB: The above list of job duties is not exclusive or exhaustive and the post holder will be required to undertake such tasks as may reasonably be expected within the scope and grading of the post.

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.

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