The Senior Internal Auditor is to lead and deliver complex, risk-based internal audit engagements across the organisation,
providing independent assurance on governance, risk management, and control effectiveness. The Senior Internal Auditor contributes to strengthening institutional performance, safeguarding development finance assets, and ensuring alignment with regulatory, fiduciary, and developmental mandates. The Senior Auditor is expected
to operate with a high degree of autonomy, exercise professional judgement, and provide strategic insights beyond compliance.
Key Performance Areas:
Audit Planning and Execution
- Provide strategic input into the development and execution of a risk-based internal audit plan aligned with IIA Standards, the IPPF, DFI specific risks (e.g., credit risk, project finance, ESG and infrastructure delivery and organisational priorities.
- Analyse and provide insights from prior audits, identify recurring findings, control weaknesses and highlight emerging risk trends.
- Proactively identify emerging risks and recommend plan adjustments where necessary.
- Drive execution of the audit plan within assigned portfolios, including allocation of audits to Internal Auditors. Align audit planning and execution with organisational risks, regulatory expectations, and best-practice audit methodologies.
- Lead engagement initiation activities, including issuing of audit notifications to management, facilitating scope confirmation meetings with management and conducting engagement-level risk assessments.
- Prepare the Audit Planning Memorandum (APM), setting out the background and context, risk assessment, objectives and scope, methodology, resourcing and timelines.
- Facilitate effective utilisation of the audit system and tools.
- Contribute to the continuous enhancement of internal audit methodologies, templates, governance documentation, and processes.
- Keep abreast of developments to IIA Standards, IPPF guidance, emerging risks, audit technologies, and industry best practices.
- Identify opportunities for process optimisation, system enhancements and improvements in organisational controls.
Engagement Leadership and Quality Assurance
- Lead and manage internal audit engagements from initiation through to final reporting, ensuring compliance with the IIA Standards, IPPF and internal methodologies
- Conduct in-depth assessments of processes, risks, and controls to determine control adequacy, effectiveness, and efficiency.
- Review process flowcharts, identify control gaps, assess operating effectiveness, and evaluate risk exposure.
- Guide Internal Auditors in performing root-cause analysis and developing actionable, sustainable recommendations.
- Prepare high-quality audit reports detailing audit findings, conclusions, and recommendations for management and governance structures.
- Manage audits to completion within agreed timelines, scope, and quality standards.
- Review work performed by Internal Auditors to ensure accuracy, completeness, and adherence to professional standards.
- Provide coaching, mentoring and on-the-job development to Internal Auditors and Interns.
- Support capability building within the Internal Audit unit by contributing to training, methodology improvements,mand knowledge sharing.
- Ensure compliance with IIA Standards and the Internal Audit Charter.
- Contribute to internal quality assurance and continuous improvement initiatives.
- Lead internal quality assurance programmes and preparation for External Quality Assessments (EQA).
Risk Management and Control Evaluation
- Evaluate risk exposures across financial, operational, credit and development activities.
- Assess the design and operating effectiveness of internal controls, identifying weaknesses and root causes.
- Provide value-adding recommendations to strengthen risk management, governance and operational efficiency.
- Leverage expert knowledge of internal auditing standards, risk frameworks, and financial reporting requirements in the execution of audit engagements.
- Maintain advanced proficiency in auditing methodologies, financial reporting standards (e.g. International Financial Reporting Standards), and applicable regulatory requirements, while continuously monitoring and integrating emerging risk areas, including ESG and climate finance, infrastructure delivery, and blended finance and partnership risks, into audit planning and execution.
- Share technical insights and advisory input with the audit team and stakeholders to strengthen audit quality and
impact.
Reporting and Governance
- Consolidate audit findings into clear, concise, and impactful reports, and prepare and present these to management, executive structures (e.g. EXCO), and Board committees (e.g. Audit & Risk Committee).
- Maintain complete, accurate, and well-documented audit working papers in line with internal standards and audit trail requirements.
- Finalise audit reports by incorporating management responses and agreed action plans, ensuring clarity, accountability, and practicality of recommendations.
- Provide timely and high-quality inputs into quarterly and bi-annual governance reporting, while maintaining data integrity within audit management systems.
- Oversee the review, sign-off, quality assurance, and archiving of audit files, and monitor adherence to governance
frameworks, recommending enhancements where required.
Combined Assurance and Stakeholder Management
- Build and sustain trusted, professional relationships with senior management and key stakeholders, maintaining independence while constructively influencing outcomes.
- Engage proactively with Risk Management, Legal, External Audit, regulators, and other assurance providers to align assurance efforts and share insights on key risk areas.
- Contribute to and maintain the Combined Assurance Framework, including the Combined Assurance Map, ensuring appropriate coverage of material risks and minimising duplication of effort.
- Represent Internal Audit in combined assurance forums, promoting a coordinated, risk-based, and collaborative assurance approach while upholding objectivity.
Team Management
- Supervise, review, and quality assure work performed by Internal Auditors and Interns.
- Lead, mentor, and develop a high-performing audit team, fostering a culture of collaboration, accountability, and continuous learning to maximise individual and collective potential.
- Provide direction and management to enable audit execution.
- Promote DBSA values and a culture of high performance through implementing performance management in line with the planned strategic objectives, goals, quality standards and agreed key performance measures using sound performance management principles.
Key Measurements of Outputs:
- Delivery of audit assessments/engagements within planned timelines and scope.
- Quality, clarity and impact of audit reports.
- Number and quality of value-adding reports, insights and recommendations
- Coverage of key risk areas in audit planning and execution.
- Effectiveness of audit recommendations in mitigating identified risks.
- Stakeholder satisfaction and engagement effectiveness
- Contribution to audit methodology improvements
- Team development and mentoring outcomes of Internal Auditors and Graduates
Qualifications and Experience:
Minimum Qualifications
- A Postgraduate qualification in Internal Audit, Accounting or Finance.
- Professional certification in internal auditing or equivalent (CIA, CA(SA), CISA).
Minimum Experience
- A minimum of 10 years’ experience in internal auditing within a banking, development finance institution (DFI), or regulated environment.
- Demonstrated experience in conducting complex and high-risk audits.
- Strong working knowledge and understanding of internal control and risk frameworks, e.g., BASEL III, COSO, and IIA standards, with the ability to apply these in diverse audit contexts.
- Technically qualified and experienced in the theory and practice of internal auditing and financial reporting standards, e.g. IFRS.
- Proven ability to independently plan, lead, and execute a broad range of internal audits in accordance with the IIA’s International Standards for the Professional Practice of Internal Auditing.
- Strong experience in conducting risk assessments, evaluating internal controls, and identifying root causes, with the ability to translate findings into actionable recommendations.
- Proven track record of engaging with and presenting audit outcomes to senior management and governance structures
(e.g. EXCO, Audit and Risk Committees).
Desirable Requirements
- Experience working with integrated assurance functions (e.g., Risk, Compliance).
- Exposure to regulatory audits and reporting requirements.
- Familiarity with enterprise risk management and governance frameworks.
- Certification in Risk Management Assurance (CRMA).
- Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE).
- IIA Quality Assessment Validator (QAR/QIAL-related training).
Technical Competencies:
Audit
- Understands internal audit standards and the procedures expected in conducting assignments.
- Contributes to the planning of specific audit assignments.
- Prepares medium-in-complexity audit reports to specified standards, including format, style and timelines with the need for minimal editorial changes.
- Provides advice and recommendations on the establishment of plans, training and/or manuals for ensuring compliance with regulations. Able to conduct audits in accordance with audit guidelines and departmental guidelines.
Detail Orientation
- Identifies multiple sources/approaches of information to ensure that details are addressed.
- Reviews the work of others for accuracy and thoroughness.
- Follows up to ensure tasks are completed and commitments met by others.
Solution Focus
- Identifies complex problems based on a broad range of factors, many of which are ambiguous or difficult to define.
- While remaining guided by organisational values, identifies optimal solutions, thinking first in terms of possible approaches and flexibilities in the system vs. blind adherence to rules or procedures.
- Evaluates the effectiveness and efficiency of solutions after they have been implemented and identifies needed changes.
Risk Management Policies and Procedures
- Develops innovative approaches to managing significant business risks effectively and efficiently.
- Leads implementation, execution and monitoring activities
- Advises on best solutions and foresees the impact of changes in regulations, policies and procedures for non-complex and increasingly complex business issues.
Reporting
- Designs / customises reports to meet user needs.
- Prepares complex or tailored reports, gathers information from a variety of sources, analyses and includes in a report.
- Keeps standard reports under review and proposes improvements to meet user needs.
Leadership/Behavioural Competencies:
Analytical Thinking
- Analyses and interprets multiple complex causal links: several potential causes of events, several consequences of actions, or multiple-part chains of events to prioritise and develop a plan of action.
Attention to Detail
- Monitors the quality of others’ work.
- Checks to see that procedures are followed by others.
- Keeps clear, detailed records of own and/or others’ activities.
Strategic and Innovative Thinking
- Experiments with new approaches, tests scenarios, questions assumptions and challenges conventional thinking.
- Creates new concepts that are not obvious to others, leveraging internal and external sources of information, to build incremental revenue and growth opportunities.
Driving Delivery of Results
- Sets challenging goals that will have a significant impact on the business or support the organisational strategy.
- Commits significant resources and/or time to ensure that challenging goals are achieved, while also taking action to mitigate risk.
Teamwork and Cooperation
- Openly praises others who have made contributions to the group’s efforts.
- Empowers others, making them feel valued, strong and important.
- Encourages others after a setback.
Developing Others
- Gives directions or demonstrations with reasons or rationale as a training strategy.
- Gives practical support or assistance to make the job easier for the other individual.
- Asks questions, gives tests, or uses other methods to verify that others have understood the explanation or directions.
