Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Seattle Internal Audit & Financial Advisory Consultant

🎯 Role Definition

A Seattle Internal Audit & Financial Advisory Consultant is responsible for planning and executing internal audit and advisory engagements across finance, operations, IT, and compliance domains, delivering actionable risk mitigation and process improvement recommendations to senior stakeholders and boards. This role combines deep technical audit skills (SOX, GAAP/IFRS, COSO), data analytics and automation capabilities, and consultative client-facing advisory work — supporting transaction diligence, controls remediation, and enterprise risk management (ERM).

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Senior Internal Auditor or Internal Audit Associate from industry or Big Four public accounting firms.
Financial Advisory Analyst or Transaction Services Associate with experience in due diligence and valuations.
IT Audit or Risk Assurance specialist transitioning into broader internal audit responsibilities.

Advancement To:

Internal Audit Manager / Financial Advisory Manager
Director of Internal Audit, Head of Risk & Compliance, or Senior Manager – Transaction Advisory
Partner or Principal at consulting/CPA firm specializing in risk, audit, or transaction advisory

Lateral Moves:

Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) lead
Compliance Officer or Regulatory Affairs Manager
Financial Reporting or Accounting Operations lead

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Plan, scope and lead end-to-end internal audit engagements across finance, operations, IT and compliance, including defining objectives, identifying key risks, developing testing strategies and delivering written findings and recommendations tailored to executive audiences.
Conduct SOX 404 and internal controls testing, document control matrices, execute walkthroughs and substantive tests, and collaborate with process owners to design and validate remediation plans that meet PCAOB and SEC expectations.
Perform enterprise risk assessments and develop risk-based audit plans that align with organizational objectives, emerging risk trends, and board-level priorities.
Execute financial advisory assignments such as buy-side and sell-side due diligence, working capital analysis, carve-out support and accounting considerations for transactions, producing concise client-ready deliverables and valuation inputs.
Design and implement audit programs and workpapers using industry-standard methodologies (COSO, IIA) and audit management tools to ensure consistent high-quality delivery and compliance with professional standards.
Lead data-driven audit procedures, leveraging SQL, Python/R, Excel power tools, IDEA/ACL and BI platforms to perform continuous auditing, sample selection, anomaly detection and root-cause analysis across large transactional datasets.
Assess and test IT general controls and application controls, partnering with IT and cybersecurity teams to evaluate access provisioning, change management, systems development lifecycle controls and third-party/cloud risks.
Identify and quantify control deficiencies and financial statement risks, prepare well-supported issues with impact analysis and recommended practical remediation actions prioritized by risk and cost.
Develop and maintain strong client relationships by communicating audit status, findings and remediation progress to senior management, audit committees and board members with clarity and executive presence.
Supervise and mentor junior auditors and associates — assigning tasks, reviewing workpapers, providing timely feedback, and supporting professional development to build a high-performing audit team.
Coordinate and support external audits and regulatory examinations by providing documentation, reconciling findings, and aligning remediation activities to minimize duplication and audit fatigue.
Drive process improvement and operational efficiencies by recommending and implementing process redesigns, automation opportunities, and controls rationalization initiatives across finance and operational processes.
Perform forensic analysis and special investigations into suspected fraud, conflicts of interest or regulatory noncompliance, preserving evidence, documenting findings and liaising with legal counsel and regulators as needed.
Support preparation and review of financial reporting packages, disclosures and accounting memos for complex transactions, ensuring adherence to GAAP/IFRS and technical accounting guidance.
Provide subject-matter expertise on internal control design for new product launches, system implementations and major business initiatives, participating in project governance to embed controls early.
Lead cross-functional workshops to facilitate root-cause analysis, process mapping, control design and issue remediation planning, ensuring alignment across finance, operations and technology teams.
Prepare polished, actionable audit reports and presentations for senior leadership and audit committee meetings, translating technical issues into business impact and clear remediation roadmaps.
Manage multiple concurrent engagements, budgets and timelines, using project management best practices to deliver on scope while proactively escalating impediments and resource needs.
Stay current on regulatory changes, industry best practices and emerging audit techniques (e.g., robotic process automation, AI-enabled analytics), recommending updates to audit methodology and tools.
Participate in business development efforts by drafting proposals, contributing to client pitches, scoping engagements and building thought leadership content that demonstrates domain expertise and sales acumen.
Evaluate third-party vendor controls and service organization reports (SOC 1/SOC 2), assessing vendor risk and control adequacy and documenting compensating controls where necessary.
Coordinate remediation tracking, follow-up testing and closure of audit findings, maintaining an issues register and reporting remediation status to stakeholders and the audit committee.
Provide on-the-ground advisory during system implementations (ERP, treasury, payroll) to ensure control requirements are translated into system configurations and automated controls are validated.
Conduct post-implementation reviews and post-acquisition integration audits to ensure expected synergies, controls and accounting treatments were implemented effectively and risks are mitigated.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc executive requests for risk insight, control assessments and financial analyses with clear, concise outputs and evidence-backed recommendations.
Collaborate with data engineering and IT teams to define data requirements, access frameworks and analytics pipelines to support continuous monitoring and automation of audit procedures.
Contribute to the development of department training materials, audit methodology updates and knowledge-sharing sessions to elevate audit quality and consistency.
Assist sales and client relationship teams with technical due diligence deliverables, proposal estimates and scoping documents during pre-sale activities.
Participate in cross-functional committees (risk, compliance, cybersecurity) to ensure audit perspectives are represented in broader governance and control decisions.
Maintain proficiency in audit tools and analytics platforms; evaluate and pilot new technologies to improve audit coverage and efficiency.
Support preparation of materials for regulatory filings, litigation support or external counsel as needed during investigations or disputes.
Foster a culture of continuous improvement, diversity and inclusion within the audit team, encouraging open communication and feedback.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Internal Audit Methodology (IIA standards, COSO framework, risk-based planning)
SOX 404 compliance and control testing experience, including control matrices and remediation tracking
Financial accounting knowledge (GAAP and/or IFRS) with experience preparing technical accounting memos
Data analytics & audit automation: SQL, Python or R, advanced Excel (Power Query, Power Pivot), IDEA/ACL
Business Intelligence and visualization: Power BI, Tableau or similar for dashboarding and continuous monitoring
IT General Controls and Application Controls testing, including experience with ERP systems (SAP, Oracle, Workday)
Audit management and documentation tools (TeamMate, AuditBoard, Galvanize/ACLG)
Transaction advisory skills: financial due diligence, carve-outs, working capital analysis and integration controls
Fraud examination and forensic accounting techniques, including evidence preservation and investigative interviewing
Regulatory and compliance expertise relevant to public companies and regulated industries (SEC, PCAOB, SOX, HIPAA, GLBA)
Process improvement methodologies (Lean, Six Sigma) and automated controls implementation (RPA)
Financial modeling, variance analysis and reconciliations for audit and advisory reporting

Soft Skills

Strong stakeholder management with the ability to influence senior leaders and non-technical audiences
Excellent written and verbal communication with experience preparing executive summaries and audit committee materials
Critical thinking and problem-solving skills for complex cross-functional risk issues
Project management and prioritization across multiple concurrent engagements and tight deadlines
Leadership and coaching ability to develop junior staff and lead small engagement teams
High attention to detail and a commitment to audit quality and professional ethics
Client service orientation and commercial acumen to translate findings into business value
Adaptability to changing regulatory, technology and business environments
Presentation and facilitation skills for workshops, remediation sessions and board-level briefings
Collaboration and teamwork across finance, IT, operations and external partners

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's degree in Accounting, Finance, Information Systems, Business Administration or a related discipline.

Preferred Education:

Master's degree in Accounting, Finance, Business Administration (MBA) or a related field; relevant graduate certificates in data analytics or cybersecurity are advantageous.
Professional certifications such as CPA, CIA, CISA, CRISC, or CFA are strongly preferred and often required for senior roles.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Accounting
Finance
Information Systems / Computer Science
Business Administration
Data Analytics / Statistics

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

3 to 7 years of progressive experience in internal audit, external audit (Big Four), risk & compliance or financial advisory; mid-level consultants usually have 4+ years.

Preferred:

5+ years of combined internal audit and financial advisory experience, with exposure to SOX compliance, transaction services, or IT audit.
Demonstrated experience leading engagements, supervising staff, interacting with senior management and audit committees, and delivering client-facing reports.
Experience in a regulated industry (financial services, healthcare, technology) or working within publicly-traded companies is highly desirable.