About the role
Cambridgeshire County Council is looking for an enthusiastic and motivated Deputy Head of Internal Audit to cover maternity leave for a fixed-term contract period of six months from January 2026 (with the possibility of extension). Secondments into the post will also be considered.
This is a great opportunity to develop your leadership career in local government, within a forward-thinking and inventive team, working within an innovative and supportive County Council.
The Deputy Head of Internal Audit role reports directly to the Head of Internal Audit & Risk Management and will have a high level of responsibility in the provision and development of a proactive and dynamic Internal Audit service. The post holder will be a forward-looking, innovative professional with the ability to deputise for the Head of Internal Audit & Risk Management where appropriate and the capacity to operate in a highly visible role.
The role includes flexible working and the opportunity to work from home c. 4 days per week (if desired), and requests for part-time working will be considered for the right candidate. Please see the 'Our Benefits' section below for further details.
For more information or to chat about this opportunity please contact Mairead Claydon, Head of Internal Audit & Risk Management at: mairead.claydon@cambridgeshire.gov.uk
Applications are reviewed on a daily basis; please do not delay the submission of your application, as this is a rolling advert and will be closed once a successful candidate has been found.
What will you be doing?
At Cambridgeshire County Council, the Internal Audit & Risk Management service has a pivotal role in helping the organisation manage risks and is a positive catalyst for change. The Deputy Head of Internal Audit will direct and supervise a team of staff to deliver the allocated Audit Plan on time, to budget and to quality standards. They will line manage staff, supporting their development so that they reach their potential and maximise their contribution. They will deliver reliable and effective independent assurances to Cambridgeshire County Council and its stakeholders, considering the extent to which the governance arrangements are fit for purpose and operating well in practice.
The Deputy Head of Internal Audit will also undertake a complex portfolio of work, which may include highly complex Council contracts, commissioning, fraud and governance investigations, risk management, value for money consultancy-type assignments and open-book reviews of external partners’ records.
The team is based at our newly constructed civic headquarters at New Shire Hall in Alconbury Weald, Huntingdon, and operates a flexible working policy. There is the opportunity to work remotely as well as from our central base at New Shire Hall, and some travel may be required to other Cambridgeshire offices and schools.
About you
Applicants for the Deputy Head of Internal Audit role will be qualified CCAB accountants or Chartered Internal Auditors.
Successful applicants will be team players and great communicators, with the desire to think innovatively and strategically about how to improve the way systems and services work, challenge current processes, and work closely with senior management and key stakeholders across the organisation. Experience auditing contracts (particularly open book contract audit), conducting fraud investigations, and/or of risk management would be a particular advantage.
Please note: Applicants are requested to submit a C.V. and a supporting statement. When writing the personal statement, you should refer to the Person Specification and give specific examples to demonstrate how you meet the criteria.
Unfortunately, we are not able to sponsor candidates who do not have the right to work in the UK for this role, so please ensure you have the right to work before applying.
Closing date for applications is 14th December 2025, but we will be interviewing candidates on a rolling basis as applications are received, and reserve the right to close this advert early if a suitable candidate is found. So please apply promptly.
Our benefits
This is advertised as a full-time role (37 hours per week) with flexible working and the opportunity to work from home c. 4 days a week (if desired), but we would also consider requests for part-time working or compressed hours for the right candidate.
We value our colleagues in Cambridgeshire County Council and have developed a number of benefits in addition to the basics like annual leave, sick pay, pension and mileage…
- A comprehensive wellbeing package to cover all aspects of wellbeing, both in and out of work, which can also be accessed by your family
- Buy up to 4 weeks additional annual leave (pro-rata) through our salary sacrifice scheme
- Take your bank holidays flexibly to better suit your personal circumstances
- Make Additional Voluntary Contributions (Shared AVCs) to your pension with tax and National Insurance savings
- Access to development opportunities, apprenticeships and qualified coaches to support your personal and professional growth
- Paid volunteering hours each year so you can make a positive impact on our community during your normal working day
- Access to Peer Support Groups through our IDEAL staff equality, diversity and inclusion network
- Opportunities to nominate and receive Employee Recognition Awards
- An Our Cambs Rewards account, giving you access to in-store and online discounts as well as our Car Lease and Cycle to Work schemes
Take a look at our Employment Benefits Brochure attached to this advert to find out more.
About us
Cambridgeshire is a great place to work and live with a diverse population, an urban centre in Cambridge, historic Isle of Ely, Huntingdon and St Ives as well as more rural landscapes.
Our four values are central to our culture, driving everything we do.
We are proud to serve the diverse communities of Cambridgeshire and want our workforce to be reflective of this diversity, which we firmly believe benefits our colleagues, the organisation and our communities. If you don’t meet every single requirement in the job role but think this could be you, please don’t be put off. We are committed to building a workplace that is compassionate and inclusive as well as diverse, so if you think you could be a good candidate for this role please consider applying and speak to the recruiting manager if you have any questions.
Our Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy, along with our employee network 'IDEAL' and self-organised peer support groups help us to foster an inclusive, supportive and safe working environment where people feel valued, respected, and empowered. We collect relevant diversity data for monitoring as part of the recruitment process to understand the diversity of our applicants and monitor any trends throughout the recruitment processes so that we can take meaningful action.
We are proud to be a Disability Confident Leader. We fully support providing reasonable adjustments throughout our recruitment process, as well as when you join us, and we encourage candidates to contact the Hiring Manager, whose details can be found in the advert, to discuss any adjustment needs. Through a Guaranteed Interview Scheme, we will offer an interview to all applicants who disclose a disability and meet the essential criteria for a job vacancy. On your application form you can indicate you are disabled. Some examples of reasonable adjustments during the recruitment process could include additional time to complete an assessment or printing a document on pastel coloured paper with larger font size and line spacing. We would value talking about what might be possible to enable you to join us and thrive, so if there is something that would help you to do your best during your journey with us, please get in touch.
Visit our jobs and careers section to find out more about our wide range of learning and development opportunities; apprenticeships; our wellbeing package; staff benefits; our commitment to equality, diversity and Inclusion.
Attached documents
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