Governance, Risk, and Compliance Services Manager

About the role 

Governance, Risk and Compliance Services is part of KPMG's Advisory capability, where multidisciplinary teams help organisations respond to complex challenges, improve performance and make well-informed decisions. Within the National Markets Consulting practice, the team supports public-sector clients through grants assurance, internal audit, internal control, corporate governance and risk management services, working closely with Technology Risk, Cyber Risk and other advisory specialists. 

You will divide your time between managing a portfolio of local authority grants engagements and leading fully outsourced or co-sourced internal audit services. The role offers responsibility from planning through to completion, direct engagement with senior client stakeholders, oversight of commercial performance and the opportunity to coach colleagues and support business development. 

Roles and responsibilities 

• Lead a portfolio of grant assurance and certification engagements, including Housing Benefit Assurance Process, Teachers' Pensions and Pooling of Capital Receipts work, in line with relevant government requirements and deadlines. 

• Manage internal audit programmes and individual reviews from planning to reporting, developing risk-based strategies and ensuring evidence and conclusions meet Institute of Internal Auditors standards and KPMG methodology. 

• Build trusted relationships with senior finance, benefits, governance and operational stakeholders, acting as the principal day-to-day contact and communicating findings, implications and practical recommendations clearly. 

• Oversee testing, working papers, reports, qualification letters, audit committee papers and other assurance outputs, applying professional judgement and meeting quality-management requirements. 

• Manage engagement scope, milestones, resources, budgets, recoverability, work in progress and reporting, taking early action to address delivery, quality or commercial pressures. 

• Identify control weaknesses, recurring themes and opportunities to improve governance, risk management and operations, drawing on specialist support where needed. 

• Lead, coach and develop colleagues by setting clear objectives, reviewing work, providing constructive feedback and building technical capability across grants assurance and internal audit. 

• Support sustainable growth through proposals, tenders, client conversations, opportunity identification, knowledge sharing, standardised tools and data-enabled testing. 

Experience and skills needed 

• Demonstrable experience leading local authority grants assurance engagements, including managing delivery against external requirements and reporting deadlines. 

• Strong internal audit experience, with evidence of leading assurance, controls, compliance or risk assignments from planning through to completion. 

• Experience managing public-sector client relationships and acting as the main engagement contact for senior finance stakeholders, such as Financial Controllers or Finance Directors. 

• Track record of leading teams and managing projects, including scope, risk, resourcing, quality, budgets and commercial performance. 

• Ability to identify control issues and translate findings into clear, proportionate recommendations linked to financial reporting, regulatory and operational risks. 

• Strong written, presentation and analytical skills, including confident use of Microsoft PowerPoint, Word and Excel; consulting and NHS or education-sector experience would be beneficial. 

Qualifications required 

• A relevant professional qualification, such as Institute of Internal Auditors, Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies, Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy, or an equivalent qualification.