Principal in Finance Control

Group Finance/ Reporting Control Management is the corporate staff department responsible for the Internal Control over Financial Reporting. In this capacity the team is the linking pin between Group Finance and the other corporate departments, local ING entities and shared service centers. This includes maintaining the day-to-day relationship with the local finance control officers and taking the ownership for implementing the requirements leading to a sound internal control over global reporting processes. This is a dynamic environment as requirements in financial and regulatory environment are continuously increasing. The department supports internal stakeholders within Group Finance by ensuring that the processes, controls and their testing is performed in line with the internal and external reporting requirements. The RCM team has a dynamic culture, characterized by open, direct and informal communication, with a focus on team work.

Your Role

As a Principal in Finance Control, you are co-responsible for maintaining an effective framework for identifying and reducing reporting risks as well as increasing control awareness. You are strongly result-oriented professional who continuously looks for ways to drive change/improve and deliver high quality. You have a deep knowledge and experience and dare to speak out. You are capable to translate a generic strategy into tangible actions, approach issues from a ‘helicopter’ perspective but can also handle issues in detail when necessary. You are independent but also able to work in small teams, sometimes coaching more junior team members or as part of larger (multi-disciplinary) projects and programs.

The team’s tasks include the following, in which you will play a principal role:

• Develop, update and maintain the ING guidance on Internal Control over Financial Reporting (such as yearly update of the Entity Level Control Framework (including test plans), evaluation of deficiency guidelines and reporting instructions);
• Coordinate and actively participate in the ICFR/SOX404 sign-off process;
  • Involvement in the local risk and control assessments, sign off of countries, internal service organisations, Business Lines and Corporate Departments
  • Coordination and evaluation of an ING wide focus area (e.g. Loan Loss Provisioning, Financial Markets, or Disclosures)  
  • Communication with internal stakeholders and the external auditor of the design, implementation and operating effectiveness of the ING ICFR control framework.
  • Involvement in evaluating the progress and results of SOX tested including within the HUBs and local entities. Communicating challenges and concerns with management as soon as possible.
• Help entities with the implementation of internal controls in line with the guidance to ensure a sound control environment, resulting from;
  • New accounting standards under IFRS
  • Change Management or changes within the control environment
  • Increase of Sox scope, new locations added that need to apply the Sox controls for the first time
  • Identified deficiencies throughout the organization, indication for attention areas where guidance needs to be improved or training should be given
• Lead deep dives into our finance control and accounting matters;
  • Virtual and/or ‘on location’ site visits
  • Ad hoc requests for deep dives, coming from senior management
  • ICFR assessment of errors found in financial reporting and/or controls
• Seek opportunities for control enhancement that is SOX compliant and leads to a more effective and efficient SOX environment. Align with other control frameworks as a contributor/advisor to the Enterprise Risk Management environment.
• Responsible for the quality of documents for the ICFR governance meetings;
  • Open hours, which is a weekly call with all FCOs worldwide where all areas of attention, comments from second line and the external auditors are shared. This is based on the involvement in a specific focus area
  • Materials for the (bi-)annual evaluation meeting at Group level
  • Materials for the decision making by the SOx governance Board
  • Preparation of PowerPoint presentations for various stakeholders
• Help entities with the implementation of Control Standards regarding internal controls to ensure a sound reporting environment specifically for regulatory reporting;
  • Assisting entities with the implementation of Process Control Standards owned by Group Finance
  • Enhancing guidance and evaluation tooling
  • Assisting with the usage of AI while remaining SOX compliant
• Act as the Group Finance expert on the use of the tools for Group Finance and the broader ICFR community
• Develop training materials and providing trainings and workshops to a wide community of global finance control officers, bringing bank-wide control knowledge up to a required level. This is done via:
  • Webcasts/calls
  • Classroom training in Amsterdam or locations abroad
  • Pre-recorded sessions

Who are we looking for / your profile & competencies:

We hire smart people like you for your potential. Our biggest expectation is that you’ll stay curious. Keep learning. Take on responsibility. In return, we’ll back you to develop into an even more awesome version of yourself.

You have a hands-on approach, are a self starter and have a healthy dose of organisation sensitivity combined with an independent state of mind. You are convincing in your work and critical (in a positive sense) of your own performance and that of others. You are a very quick learner, analytically strong, a superb team player, have a strong focus on stakeholders, supported by excellent collaboration skills.

In addition, you have:

• An academic degree in Accounting Finance or Economics, preferably supplemented by a professional certification– RE, CISA, CISSP, RA, ACCA, CPA, or CIA certificate or in the final stage of studying for a relevant certification
• 7+ years of work experience in external audit as either an IT auditor or financial statement auditor, preferably big 4.
• A deep understanding of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the COSO 2013 internal controls framework
• Proven experience in complex business process improvements, including design, implementation and execution of (regulatory) oversight processes and controls
• An understanding of change management and control impacts on implementation of new software / IT tools and its accounting consequences
• Demonstrable knowledge of banking business processes and knowledge of the relevant (legal) regulations and procedures
• Experience with multi-layered financial statement closing processes, loan loss provisioning and IT general controls;
• Superb business acumen and communication skills to help the business and its stakeholders understand, relate to and action key elements of his/her agenda;
• Possess a highly ethical and professional “executive” demeanor, along with sound judgement and confidence to represent ING in both formal and informal settings;
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively as a business partner and trusted advisor to the senior management, as well as other internal clients;
• Exceptional influencing skills, being assertive without being antagonistic or alienating;
• Fluent in English (both writing and speaking);
• Bring global perspective and cultural sensitivity;
• Furthermore, you adhere to the ING values and it is evident for you that your behavior is fully aligned with the Orange Code.

Rewards and benefits
We want to make sure that it’s possible for you to strike the right balance between your career and your private life. Find out more about our employment conditions.

The benefits of working with us at ING include:

• 25-28 vacation days depending on contract

• Pension scheme

• 13th month salary

• 8% Holiday payment

• Hybrid working

• Personal growth and challenging work with endless possibilities

• An informal working environment with innovative colleagues

About us
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Questions?
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