Associate Director – Bank Regulatory Audit Specialist

Job specification

Job title/position\:

Associate Director – Bank Regulatory Audit Specialist

Number of positions\:

1

Function and Business Unit\:

Audit – Financial Services | Banking Regulatory Audit and Assurance

Purpose of the job\:

To provide senior technical and engagement leadership on regulatory audits and assurance engagements for banks and banking groups, with particular focus on prudential regulation, regulatory returns and related governance and control frameworks.

The Associate Director will translate regulatory requirements into robust, risk-based audit responses; lead the resolution of complex technical matters; deliver high-quality reporting to senior client stakeholders and regulators; and build sustainable capability within the bank regulatory audit practice.

Description of the role\:

This is a senior client-facing specialist role operating at an Associate Director level. The role combines deep banking-regulatory expertise with audit leadership, engagement management, people development and practice growth.

The successful candidate will lead and review significant aspects of regulatory audit engagements, provide specialist input to financial statement and assurance teams, and act as a trusted technical adviser to engagement partners, directors and senior client stakeholders. The role requires confident judgement, professional scepticism and the ability to communicate complex regulatory matters clearly and pragmatically.

Key responsibilities\:

Regulatory audit and technical leadership

• Lead the planning, scoping and execution of bank regulatory audit and assurance work, ensuring that the audit approach is responsive to the applicable regulatory framework and identified risks.

• Provide technical leadership across prudential areas such as regulatory capital, credit risk, large exposures, leverage, liquidity, market risk, operational risk, securitisation, counterparty credit risk and regulatory reporting.

• Interpret complex or emerging regulatory requirements and assess their application to a bank’s products, legal entities, data, methodologies, systems and governance arrangements.

• Evaluate the design, implementation and operating effectiveness of controls supporting regulatory calculations, data lineage, reconciliations, governance, approvals and regulatory submissions.

• Direct and review substantive procedures, reperformance, data analysis and testing over regulatory returns and underlying calculations, including the evaluation of methods, assumptions, model outputs and management judgements.

• Apply professional scepticism, identify contradictory or disconfirming evidence, challenge management positions and drive timely resolution of complex, high-risk or sensitive matters.

• Assess whether sufficient appropriate audit evidence has been obtained and whether conclusions are consistent with the evidence, applicable standards and regulatory requirements.

• Lead or support consultations with audit leadership, risk management, methodology and other specialists on difficult or contentious matters, and ensure conclusions are appropriately documented.

Engagement management and audit quality

• Manage multiple engagements or workstreams, including budgets, timelines, milestones, resource requirements, deliverables and early escalation of scope, quality or delivery risks.

• Determine the appropriate involvement of credit, market risk, treasury, actuarial, valuation, modelling, data, IT audit and other specialists, and evaluate whether their work is relevant and sufficient for the audit objective.

• Review working papers and reports to ensure clear linkage between regulatory requirements, risks, procedures, evidence, findings and conclusions.

• Maintain compliance with independence, ethics, confidentiality, acceptance and continuance, consultation, documentation and file-completion requirements.

• Support engagement partners and directors in communications with boards, audit committees, risk committees, executive management and regulatory authorities.

Stakeholder management and reporting

• Build trusted relationships with senior stakeholders in Finance, Risk, Regulatory Reporting, Treasury, Credit, Internal Audit, Compliance, Data and Technology.

• Lead status, clearance and close-out discussions, communicating complex matters in a balanced, concise and decision-useful manner.

• Prepare and review high-quality reports, findings, executive summaries, regulatory memoranda and governance communications that clearly articulate the requirement, condition, cause, impact and recommended action.

• Manage differences of view constructively while preserving independence, objectivity and audit quality.

People leadership and practice development

• Lead, coach and develop multidisciplinary teams; set clear quality expectations; provide timely review and actionable feedback; and create meaningful stretch opportunities.

• Build technical capability through training, guidance, templates, methodology enhancements and knowledge sharing on banking regulation and regulatory audit.

• Contribute to proposals, client account planning, thought leadership and the development of new or enhanced regulatory assurance offerings.

• Identify opportunities to use data analytics, automation and firm-approved technology to improve audit quality, consistency, efficiency and insight.

• Promote an inclusive, collaborative and speak-up culture in which ethical conduct, wellbeing and high performance are actively supported.

Skills and attributes required for the role\:

Technical and professional

• Deep knowledge of banking prudential regulation and the regulatory reporting environment, with the ability to interpret requirements and convert them into auditable criteria and procedures.

• Strong understanding of bank financial statements, risk management, governance, internal control, data and systems as they relate to prudential reporting.

• Advanced audit judgement, including risk assessment, controls reliance, substantive testing, evaluation of evidence, issue identification and documentation of conclusions.

• Ability to analyse complex regulatory calculations and large data sets, identify trends, exceptions and inconsistencies, and explain their audit implications.

• Strong report-writing and presentation capability, with disciplined attention to technical accuracy, clarity and defensibility.

• Sound knowledge of applicable auditing and assurance standards, ethical and independence requirements, and quality-management expectations.

Leadership and commercial

• Strategic perspective and sound judgement, including the ability to balance audit quality, regulatory expectations, stakeholder needs, commercial considerations and delivery constraints.

• Confidence to challenge senior stakeholders constructively and to escalate matters promptly where quality, independence or regulatory compliance may be at risk.

• Strong project and portfolio management skills across concurrent, deadline-driven assignments.

• Proven ability to build collaborative relationships, influence outcomes and work effectively across audit, risk, tax, advisory, data and technology teams.

• Commitment to developing and motivating others, sharing expertise and creating an inclusive environment in which people can contribute and grow.

• Curiosity, adaptability and a continuous-improvement mindset, including openness to new regulation, methodologies, technology and ways of working.

Minimum requirements to apply for the role (including qualifications and experience)\:

Essential

• Relevant honours-level qualification in accounting, auditing, finance, risk management, economics, banking, quantitative finance or a related discipline.

• A recognised professional qualification or registration relevant to the role, for example CA(SA).

• At least 8 years of relevant post-graduate experience, including substantial experience in external audit, internal audit, prudential regulation, regulatory reporting, banking risk or a comparable assurance environment.

• Demonstrable experience leading complex banking regulatory audits, regulatory assurance engagements or significant prudential reporting workstreams.

• Practical experience in several of the following areas\: regulatory capital, credit risk and expected credit losses, liquidity, leverage, market risk, operational risk, counterparty credit risk, large exposures, securitisation and regulatory returns.

• Experience managing multidisciplinary teams and engaging with senior executives, governance committees and/or regulators.

• Strong written and verbal business communication skills in English.

Advantageous

• Direct experience with South African banking regulation, Prudential Authority expectations and BA regulatory returns.

• Experience auditing or implementing Basel capital and liquidity frameworks and related regulatory reforms.

• Experience with data analytics, regulatory reporting systems, model governance or technology-enabled audit techniques.

• Previous experience in a Big Four firm, a regulated bank, a supervisory authority or a specialist banking-risk function.