Assurance Manager

House of Commons

The House of Commons is a unique and exciting place to work right at the heart of the UK's thriving democratic system.

Behind the scenes, the House of Commons Service is made up of more than 3,000 employees who support and facilitate the smooth day to day running of the House. They provide professional services to Members of Parliament, their staff, and the wider parliamentary community.

Staff Benefits

In addition to your salary, we offer an attractive range of benefits including:

• 30 days' annual leave (increasing to 35 days after first full leave year).
• Civil Service pension with an average employer contribution of 27%.
• Access to training and development.
• Flexible working.
• Interest free season ticket loan and bicycle loan.

Introduction

The Governance Office plays a central role in the House Administration by supporting the governance of the House of Commons. We make Parliament happen by supporting our Member-led governing body, the House of Commons Commission, its advisory Member Committees, and the Commons Executive Board, to which the Commission delegates day-to-day running of services. We promote a common direction through the strategy, enable better decision making and ensure compliance with the highest governance standards. We also deliver key corporate functions, including parliamentary safety, information compliance, business planning and performance, risk management, assurance and internal audit.

The Role

The Assurance Manager plays an important role in supporting the Clerk of the House as Head of the Administration and Accounting Officer, through ensuring that the Administration adheres to statutory, regulatory and best practice requirements and that staff comply with internal rules, policies and procedures.

The postholder will also lead on the continuous improvement and delivery of an induction programme for new managing directors and heads of office, ensuring that they understand their delegated authority and associated responsibilities.

Some of the responsibilities for this role include:

• Lead a phased approach to development of the assurance framework for the House of Commons, ensuring that outcomes are defined, that accountabilities and responsibilities are clear, and that the assurance process is robust, effective and efficient.
• Manage the annual assurance process, ensuring that managing directors, heads of office and boards submit timely letters of assurance and self-assessments as required, and managing feedback and review from subject specialists.
• Contribute to development of the letters of delegation issued by the Clerks of both Houses.
• Raise awareness and understanding across the organisation of the purpose of, and their individual responsibilities relating to, assurance and the wider governance, risk and control framework.
• Strengthen the relationship between risk management and assurance though assurance mapping exercises, ensuring that any gaps identified are addressed.

Skills and Experience

To be successful in this role you will demonstrate:

• Strong planning, organisational and people skills, focusing on outcomes to prioritise workload for self and others to ensure changing short, medium, and long-term demands, deadlines and objectives are met.
• Experience of analysing and summarising large amounts of complex information with the ability to identify and explain themes, trends and conclusions.
• Experience of making well-judged decisions under challenging circumstances, quickly identifying and resolving issues, taking into account context, risks and the needs of the end user, demonstrating flexibility, and adapting approaches to meet competing outcomes.
• Ability to build and maintain effective professional networks and successful working relationships based on authority and professionalism with a wide range of people at all levels, winning the confidence of, and influencing, senior colleagues and stakeholders, with strong diplomatic and negotiating skills.
• High-level and well-developed oral and written communication skills, including the ability to draft and present clear, concise and accurate guidance, briefings and papers, often on complex topics.
• Experience of developing effective and efficient processes, adopting a continuous improvement approach, ideally in the context of assurance, governance, risk and/or control frameworks.

Next Steps and Additional Information

• Application Form - If you would like to apply for this role, please submit an application providing evidence against criteria 1 & 3-6 in the Job Description.

More information on the role and the full criteria can be found in the Job Description.

Please note that most job offers will be made at the minimum of the salary range, other than in exceptional circumstances.