Risk and Quality - Senior Associate

Job description / Role

Line of Service
Internal Firm Services

Industry/Sector
Not Applicable

Specialism
IFS - Risk & Quality (R&Q)

Management Level
Senior Associate

Job Description & Summary
The Independence Support - Senior Associate is part of the Independence Team and operates across all lines of service. It is responsible for providing support to engagement teams to maintain independence and compliance according to regulatory rules and requirements.

In addition, the senior associate is responsible for administering independence consultations, Joint Business Relationships, vendor relationships and other events or relationships that PwC might have with other organisations.

Primary duties and responsibilities. The new hire will be assisting the regional independence team in the following areas:

Scope of service reviews
• Perform independence analysis and assistance with the submission of the Authorisation for Services (AFS) for the corresponding audit partners
• Responding to scope of services related consultations and to assist other members of the Independence team with the AFS documentation process
• Assisting the independence business partners with the business relationship clearances
• Support the independence business partners with other day-to-day independence related matters
• Reviewing proposals or draft engagement letters for non-assurance services proposed to audit clients from an independence perspective
• Understand the client-specific independence procedures and policies
• Contribute in developing template materials and make available client-specific policies and procedures to the ME independence network and the practice
• Business relationship reviews
• Conduct initial assessments of Joint business relationships clearance
• Joint business relationship monitoring and reassessment
• Vendor relationship reviews

Other activities
• Consultation system monitoring and assignment of queries among team members
• Updating a number of Independence systems
• Performing data reconciliations for Independence monitoring purposes
• Participating in internal training sessions and contributing to setting the agenda for the calls/meetings

Learning and Growth
• Liaise with Global to understand Global systems improvement initiatives
• Adhere to policies and procedures
• Act as a key resource and liaison to other functional areas of the business, building cross-functional relationships as needed

Requirements

Education
• A professional or academic qualification (degree level or equivalent), or extensive relevant and practical experience.

Language
• Fluency in English required, proficiency in Arabic is advantageous

Overall Experience
• Minimum of 2 years of relevant experience in audit or consulting fields

Specific Experience
• Client facing experience preferably in the Professional Services industry
• Experience in a top tier Big 4 firm is advantageous
• An internal transfer from within the firm can be considered

Knowledge and Skills
• Strong analytical skills
• Thorough understanding of general/international accounting standards and practices
• Problem solving skills and innovative mindset
• Risk averse/risk management skills
• Process oriented
• Organization skills
• Thoroughness and attention to detail
• Time management skills and proactivity
• Strong verbal and written communication skills
• Ethical conduct
• A conscientious, ambitious team player, with good self-management skills and an ability to take initiative and share knowledge with peers.

Professional attributes
As a member of the Independence team, the staff member would be expected at a minimum to:
• Manage their own work and train other junior team members
• Delegate to others to provide stretch opportunities, and coach to help deliver results
• Proactively raise issues to improve effective team working
• Get involved in activities which help to strengthen the team

About the Company

At PwC Middle East, we've set out an ambitious purpose and strive to live it everyday: to solve important problems and build trust in society.

We're a community of solvers that come together in unexpected ways to build trust and create sustained outcomes. We solve important problems, support one another as we grow, develop and build fulfilling careers.

PwC provides industry-focused services for public and private clients across Assurance and Audit, Deals, Consulting, Tax and Legal. We draw on our development legacy that brings together the collective experience of over 7,000 people in our region with offices across 12 countries to solve for tomorrow.

We're striving to consistently deliver innovative work that builds trust and delivers sustained outcomes. And we're proud of the strength that comes from all our different backgrounds and experiences and we value everyone's uniqueness. We thrive in uncertainty, operate with integrity and leverage the diverse perspectives of our teams.

If you're looking for a place that fuels your ambition to make a difference, that matches your curiosity with continuous learning opportunities and reimagines ways of working to enable you to lead a more balanced life, then you're a future PwCer.