Director Internal Audit

Position Title: Director - Internal Audit

Location: Coeur d’Alene, ID

Reports To: Board of Directors, Audit Committee

Position Summary: The Director – Internal Audit, reporting functionally to the Audit Committee Chair and administratively to the Chief Financial Officer, is responsible for leading the internal audit function within the organization, ensuring comprehensive risk management, compliance and internal controls assessments. This role will develop and implement the internal audit function at the Company. Focus will initially be on compliance activities, such as Sarbanes Oxley (SOX) required Internal Controls over Financial Reporting (ICFR) and compliance of financial reporting. As the function matures, focus will shift to include operational and strategic audits. This role involves independently reviewing the organization's financial records, internal controls, and operational processes to assess compliance with laws, regulations, and company policies, identifying potential risks, and recommending improvements to mitigate those risks, including investigations and providing objective advice to management for continuous process improvement; they will prepare detailed audit reports documenting their findings and recommendations, including presenting these findings to the Audit Committee or Board of Directors. The Director – Internal Audit will leverage both external and internal resourcing in completing these objectives.

Essential Functions and Responsibilities of the Position

• Leadership and Strategic Development:
  • Lead and manage the internal audit department, including overseeing the execution of internal audits, Internal Audit resource allocation and Internal Audit strategic planning.
  • Develop and implement an internal audit strategic plan and annual internal audit plan, ensuring they align with organizational goals and risk priorities.
• Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Conversion and Integration
  • The company is currently in the analysis and design phase of an ERP implementation. This position will help assure the project adequately manages risk, designs SOX financial controls correctly, and plans and executes the test phase to assure the company’s financial reporting accuracy and timeliness is not negatively impacted after implementation.
  • Since the Company will implement the new ERP system in stages over multiple years, the Director Internal Audit will be responsible for testing the compilation of ERP and Non-ERP financial statement information in the preparation of complete financial statements.
• Risk assessment (longer term responsibility):
  • Lead the identification and evaluation of potential risks across the organization, including financial, operational, compliance, and reputational risks.
  • Assess the organization’s compliance with relevant regulatory, financial and operational requirements.
• Internal control review:
  • Document and perform management’s testing of internal controls under Sarbanes Oxley. Perform this work in conjunction with the external auditors in a fashion which coordinates with the external auditor to minimize disruption to operational staff and allows as much reliance on management’s testing by the external auditor as possible.
  • Examine the effectiveness of all internal controls designed to safeguard assets and ensure accuracy of financial reporting and identify potential areas for improvement.
• Audit planning and execution:
  • Develop audit plans, perform audit procedures, gather evidence, and analyze data to assess compliance with established policies and procedures and identify potential areas for improvement.
  • Ensure development and execution of internal audit programs that address key enterprise risks in the organization.
  • Coordinate with senior management to ensure internal audit priorities and schedules align with corporate objectives, as well as new emerging risks.
• External Service Provider Management:
  • Identify, engage and manage third-party service providers (e.g. audit firms, specialized consultants) when internal audit resources are insufficient or when specialized expertise is required.
  • Monitor and assess the performance of external providers, ensuring timely delivery of quality services within budget.
• Reporting and communication:
  • Prepare comprehensive audit reports detailing findings, recommendations for improvement, and management action plans and report the results to senior management and the Audit Committee.
• Follow-up on corrective actions:
  • Monitor the implementation of corrective actions taken by management to address identified audit issues.
• Quality Assurance and Continuous improvement:
  • Ensure adherence to professional standards, internal policies and internal audit methodologies, maintaining the quality of the audit function.
  • Identify opportunities to build and enhance the internal audit function and methodologies.
  • Promote the use of data analytics, automation and other advanced tools in the audit process.
• Special investigations:
  • Perform special investigations, studies and evaluations as requested by management and/or the Audit Committee and report findings to management and/or the Audit Committee.

Skills and Abilities:

• Leadership skills: Strong team management and mentoring skills.
• Analytical skills: Ability to analyze complex data, identify trends, and draw logical and informed conclusions.
• Critical thinking: Evaluate information objectively and form independent judgments.
• Communication skills: Effectively communicate findings and recommendations to management at all levels and Audit Committee, both verbally and in writing.
• Attention to detail: Thoroughly review documents and processes to identify potential errors, inconsistencies and areas for improvement.
• Ethics and integrity: Maintain a high ethical standard and uphold professional confidentiality.
• Technical knowledge: Understanding of accounting principles, internal control frameworks, Sarbanes Oxley requirements, and United States Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) regulations as well as any equivalent Canadian rules and regulations.
• Relationship management: Ability to build relationships with key stakeholders across the organization will be critical to being successful in this role.
• Travel: Ability and willingness to travel extensively will be required to execute this role.

Qualifications:

• Bachelor's degree in accounting, finance, business administration, or a related field.
• Certified Public Accountant (CPA) or Chartered Accountant designation required.
• Certified Internal Auditor (CIA) designation preferred.
• Preferred 10 years of work experience which includes preferably both external and internal auditing experience as follows:
  • A minimum of 5 years public accounting experience required progressing to the level of manager working on SEC registered companies accounts, or
  • A current senior role in a public company’s internal audit department is required, if no longer in public accounting
  • Given the requirement of developing the Company’s Internal Audit function, previous internal audit experience will be viewed as very important.
• Experience with implementing and auditing a new ERP system preferred.
• Exposure to mining industry preferred.
• Proficiency in data analysis tools and audit software.