Director, Assurance Job at Mastercard Foundation

Mastercard Foundation is a global foundation based across four hubs in Kigali, Rwanda, Nairobi, Kenya, Accra, Ghana and Toronto, Canada. Our programs promote financial inclusion and advance education and learning in Africa, primarily for young people, and in Canada for Indigenous youth. The Foundation was established in 2006 through the generosity of Mastercard when it became a public company. From inception, the Foundation was designed to be a separate entity and independent from Mastercard. Our policies, operations, and funding decisions are made by our President and Board of Directors.

The Foundation believes that youth employment is key to unlocking prosperity, both for youth and their societies. Enabling young women and men from disadvantaged communities to secure dignified and fulfilling work will ensure inclusive development and economic growth in Africa.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Position: Director, Assurance

Job Requisition ID: JR-0000000606
Job Location: Nigeria
Job type: Full time

The Opportunity

• The Assurance Director leads and manages the assurance function, ensuring that the organization’s governance, risk management, and internal control processes are effective and compliant.
• The role is responsible for providing independent, objective assurance and advisory services to the Board of Directors, Audit Committee, and executive leadership to strengthen the organization’s operations, safeguard assets, and advance the Foundation’s goals.
• The Assurance Director will meet regularly with the Senior and Executive leadership across the organization to discuss audits, process improvements and efficiencies, and execution risks.
• This role will also support assurance and consulting audits, as well as special projects and initiatives.

Ways You Can Contribute

• Develop and drive execution of audit strategy and internal audit plan, including risk areas and issues identified by risk management process.  
• Develop, implement, and periodically update the internal audit charter, annual audit plan, risk assessment framework, and reporting to align with best practices and organizational objectives.
• Lead independent assessments of governance, risk management, and internal controls across all functional areas.
• Design and execute audits, investigations (where needed), and advisory projects to address material risks, with rigorous scoping, evidence gathering, testing, and documentation.
• Evaluate the effectiveness of control activities, identify control gaps, root causes, and provide actionable recommendations with practical remediation plans and timelines.
• Monitor remediation efforts and track management’s progress on implementing audit recommendations; report status to the Audit Committee and senior leadership.
• Advise on the design and enhancement of organizational policies, procedures, and control frameworks, including segregation of duties, data security, compliance, and financial reporting.
• Assess and improve ethics, compliance, fraud risk management, and whistleblower processes through effective engagement with these functions.
• Develop and deliver training and awareness programs to strengthen governance, risk management, and internal control culture across the organization.
• Maintain and mature the internal audit function’s independence, objectivity, and professional skepticism.
• Participate in senior management meetings including various forums in an advisory capacity on risk and audit matters or on design of key controls. This includes effective coordination with other related functions such as Enterprise Risk Management, Incident Management, Legal and Compliance.
• Coordinate and communicate with external assurance service providers to ensure that they adhere to well defined Service Level Agreements and work within the Foundation’s ways of working.
• Coordinate with external auditors and regulatory bodies, as appropriate.
• Prepare and present clear, concise reports, dashboards, and presentations for the Board of Directors, Audit Committee, and executive leadership.
• Support reporting and coordination activities in accordance with the Audit Committee mandate, as required.
• Recruit, develop and provide coaching and leadership to audit teams.
• Conduct resource planning, performance evaluation and staff engagement activities.
• Provide subject-matter specialist support for assurance and consulting audits where requested.
• Develops and monitors performance targets and benchmarks for the assurance organization's quality, service, and efficiency.
• Perform talent evaluations and provide feedback to enhance performance.
• Oversee the overall audit budget and track actual spend and cost allocations against the established budget.
• Prepare and deliver the internal audit update for the quarterly audit committee presentations.
• Perform special projects as requested Management and/or Audit Committee.

Requirements

• Master’s Degree in a relevant field
• Relevant professional qualification; Accreditation as a member with a recognized institute of internal auditors or professional accounting body 
• Member of a relevant professional body.
• Minimum of fifteen (15) years overall experience, and out of which at least five (5) years should be at the management level.
• Experience in audit or risk roles within large and/or global organizations, with at least 10 years in a senior internal audit role. 
• Experience working in the development sector is an asset. 
• Experience building capabilities and capacity of an internal audit function in high-growth organizations, including multi-jurisdictional and multi-currency environments.  
• Proven experience and strong competency in project management, risk and control assessment, and audit skills.
• Demonstrated experience collaborating on teams across multiple professional disciplines.
• Advanced working knowledge of audit policies, procedures, processes and leading practices.
• Strong analytical abilities and understanding of business processes to identify control deficiencies, process issues, and business problems and recommend potential solutions.
• Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to clearly communicate the business context of issues identified and work with a wide variety of stakeholders.
• Strong time management skills with the ability to multitask, plan, execute and deliver on projects in a timely manner.
• Demonstrated ability to coach, mentor and motivate others.
• Blend technical audit expertise with appropriate and pragmatic application to the varied context of the Foundation.
• Demonstrate good judgement to be able to deal with complexity and ambiguity and consult appropriately where needed.
• Deep cultural awareness and sensitivity, with experience engaging diverse global and Pan-African stakeholder groups. 
• Strategic and forward-thinking mindset. 
• Collaborative and agile.
• Strong integrity, courage, and confidence to uphold convictions even in challenging situations.
• Ability to collaborate across the organization.
• Strong interpersonal and communication skills with the ability to engage with empathy and purpose at Board and Executive levels.
• Commitment to the Foundation’s values.