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

The Quality and Risk Management team oversee a number of our essential teams; Advisory & Compliance, our Chief Information Security Office (CISO) and our Legal team. Together, they are responsible for the training, policies and guidance, which help to ensure we operate effectively within a heavily-regulated profession. Friendly and supportive, you’ll have lots of opportunities to learn and collaborate as part of this team. You’ll provide leadership, guidance and tools to help our partners and staff to manage quality and risk to ensure we continue to provide our clients with high quality accountancy and business services. It’s a full-on role, with lots of responsibility, making significant decisions on a daily basis. Sound like your kind of challenge?

We’ll help you succeed

You are a free-thinking, savvy professional who is passionate about risk and quality management. You thrive in a dynamic environment and are committed to delivering exceptional client service. Your ability to see things from a fresh perspective and your straightforward, human approach make you a perfect fit for our team. You excel at building strong relationships and enthusiastically contribute collaborative ideas to foster success.

Overview

BDO is looking for an experienced and proactive Testing Manager, preferably with an ethics or independence background, to join our ISQM team on a secondment basis (maternity cover). This role is crucial in ensuring the quality and integrity of our system of quality management processes and controls. You will be responsible for a range of activities including supporting process and control design, collaborating with business stakeholders to review quality risks, perform and conclude on the effectiveness of process walkthroughs and complete operational effectiveness testing.

The Testing Manager will work closely with their dedicated ISQM Business Process Lead responsible for the achievement of the allocated Quality Objectives within their respective component area. The successful candidate will manage stakeholder relations in a collaborative manner whilst also providing subject matter expertise during testing.

BDO continues to work on the enhancement of its system of quality management (SOQM) to support its desire to improve and sustain audit quality and drive a consistent quality standard across all areas of assurance work.

ISQM1 requires audit firms, including BDO LLP, to design and implement a system of quality management to ensure that the Firm and our personnel fulfil responsibilities in accordance with professional standards and other requirements and that reports issued are appropriate in the circumstances. ISQM1 also requires ongoing monitoring and an annual evaluation of the system of quality management under a reasonable assurance framework.

The BDO ISQM1 team is responsible for supporting the SOQM in collaboration with the business owners in the firm, this includes undertaking risk assessments, control design and testing and evaluating inputs from across the firm to conclude on the annual evaluation of the SOQM.

Responsibilities

Key elements of the role:

• Schedule, plan and execute walkthrough testing of ISQM processes and controls.
• Conclude on process and control effectiveness and detail findings and actions to address any ineffective controls identified.
• Identify and report on areas of non-compliance and the associated impact to risks and the overall achievement of the quality objectives.
• Develop, agree and implement corrective action plans with business stakeholders
• Manage and support a small team of share service resource
• Prepare detailed reports on testing outcomes and present findings to the control owners, process owners and objective owners as required (this may include members of the firm’s leadership team)
• Provide subject matter expertise to enhance current processes and controls as part of the ongoing maturing of the quality framework.

Requirements

• Proven experience in process and control testing within ISQM or a related field such as Internal Audit or SOX.
• Strong understanding of quality management principles and standards, including updates to standards and how they impact the system of quality management.
• Ability to demonstrate problem-solving skills as part of your current or previous role.
• Preferable but not mandatory, an understanding of the Relevant Ethical Requirements component of ISQM (UK) 1 or experience as part of a role in Ethics and Independence.
• Delivery focused with an ability to manage multiple projects and meet deadlines. This includes being able to report on delays or blockers to the achievement of targets and the ability to develop plans to address issues.
• Strong communication and interpersonal skills. Both with internal team members and the wider business stakeholders, including senior leadership.
• Experience building relationships with stakeholders and collaborating to achieve the assigned objectives.
• Confidence to articulate complex issues clearly and credibly to a range of stakeholders including leadership.
• Strong networking skills and the ability to build relationships across the firm, developing strong rapport with key stakeholders to gain the confidence of Partners and other senior staff.
• Experience of working in a large professional services firm and an understanding of the regulatory environment is desirable.
• Prior experience leading and delivering continuous improvement initiatives to enhance quality processes and controls including the ability to manage complex projects and meet deadlines.
• Prior experience working in an Audit, Ethics Team or knowledge of the Ethical Standards.
• Professional qualification in a relevant field (e.g., ACA, ACCA) is preferred.

You’ll be able to be yourself; we’ll recognise and value you for who you are and celebrate and reward your contributions to the business. We’re committed to agile working, and we offer every colleague the opportunity to work in ways that suit you, your 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 for the companies we work with and satisfying experiences for our colleagues, 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.

#LI-SS3