The Role: Senior Technical Controller
Contract: Perm
Salary: Upto £75,000 + Bonus and Benefits
Location: London
Start date: ASAP
The Senior Technical Controller will help shape and establish a Technology General Controls capability across a complex technology landscape, spanning the business.
As a new capability for the company, the Technology Controls team will need to introduce this skill set into our organisation. This team will ultimately be accountable for measuring, evidencing, and reporting on control compliance across critical technology products and applications across our business.
This new capability/skillset is required in anticipation of new and complex legislative changes planned to be introduced by the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) in FY23/24 that the company will be required to comply with. This will mean establishing the right processes, tools and teams in the company.
Technology functions work with agile, empowered teams that contain the skills and support needed to deliver at pace. Our culture encourages teams to innovate, collaborate, learn and take ownership. The Senior Technical Controller will help to define and deliver new capabilities into this type of environment and be adept at working in a world of agile and iterative development at scale.
What I need to do
- Help to deliver a strategy and framework for the delivery and ongoing improvement of a BEIS-compliant Technology General Controls capability. The ultimate sign-off of the strategy and framework sits with the CTO and CFO for the company who will look to the Technology Controls Team as the experts in this area.
- Operate across a broad span of the company’s Tech systems and deliver additional legislative change into our business on an ongoing basis, ensuring it is robust, comprehensive and repeatable.
- Against a defined set of systems and technologies operate the suite of Technology General Controls processes, ensuring the company becomes increasingly compliant, efficient and automated in how this set of processes function over time. The initial implementation for key systems should be in place by the start of FY23/24.
- Work with the broader engineering, product and architecture communities to promote the importance of Technology General Controls to ensure that all new products are built with these controls in mind and upskilling the wider technology and business colleague population on effective controls.
- Provide continuous expertise on the implementation of Technology Controls to support other areas of our business also required to implement BEIS-related change. Partner with other Assurance teams across the business (Finance Controls, Internal Audit and Information Security) to share knowledge and promote best practices.
- Consider and promote other material measurement opportunities which can drive efficiency and operation. (e.g., measurement of Technical Standards compliance)
- Take a collaborative and inclusive approach with teams and colleagues they need to network with, balancing the need for impartiality and constructive, yet supportive challenge, continuous improvement and strong partnering with key stakeholders.
- Scan the external environment to bring fresh and innovative perspectives in support of the overall Technology General Controls strategy, taking external advice from our audit partners as required.
How I will succeed
- Work with engineering teams and other stakeholders to deliver and maintain a new Technology General Controls framework and processes to ensure legislative compliance by the start of the FY23/24 financial year.
- Partner brilliantly with the multiple stakeholders and teams across the business to champion the overall Technology General Controls strategy, framework and processes.
- Be adaptive to changes in organisational priorities, without compromising on the legislative changes we are required to deliver through the BEIS mandate.
- Plan for and engage the expertise of subject matter experts from across the technology division as required to provide support in the delivery of new components that enable us to meet the BEIS requirements.
What I need to know
- Deep expertise and knowledge of compliance and regulatory controls and experience in implementing a technology control framework across a large and complex business. This is an emerging area where legislation is still being determined.
- Significant first-hand experience of working in a complex, large-scale technology organisation using a mix of on-premise, SaaS and cloud-based technology solutions.
- In-depth knowledge of US-based public companies and how they have implemented Sarbanes-Oxley controls across their organization.
- A good understanding of modern engineering practices and the application of technical assurance and standards in agile methodologies
- Sound judgement and resilience – the ability to assess a complex technology landscape and make a balanced assessment in a high-paced retail technology environment.
- Strong business and commercial acumen seeing Technology Controls and frameworks as an aid to business excellence, not an inhibitor
- Proven experience in collaborating with senior leaders and influencing multiple business divisions and stakeholders up to the Operating Board level.
What I need to show
- You are curious. Colleagues at the company are encouraged to find answers to the questions that matter to them and their teams.
- You influence, communicate and share. Where teams have the autonomy to deliver outcomes themselves, problem-solving solutions, new ways of working and innovative ideas emerge quickly. To interface with these teams, the Senior Technical Controller will need to be a highly credible collaborator who can influence brilliantly up, down and across the company Tech and with the wider business
- You are comprehensive. As the Technology General Controls capability will be legislative, it is important that the Senior Technical Controller is comprehensive in how they approach work – measuring and evidencing our effectiveness, with appropriate plans and governance in place to ensure that we continually improve.
- You deliver change. Where controls are not in place, or significant improvement is required, the Senior Technical Controller will be responsible for driving change forward to build and potentially automating some of these controls. As such, we expect them to be a self-starter, able to deliver change on time and within budget, seeking support from other teams as they work through the required change.