Head of Financial Audits
Location: London
We are looking on behalf of our client for an experienced Head of Financial Audit to join a fast-growing team and play a key role within the Client Services function. This is an outstanding opportunity to join a growing global integrated marketing advisory and offers significant scope for progression and professional development.
This role is for the Head of Financial Audit, based in London. The financial audit practice is built on rigorous financial analysis, contract review, and structured audit methodologies, delivering industry-leading compliance audits designed to provide advertisers with the highest levels of governance over their marketing spend and agency fees.
The Head of Financial Audit will be responsible for overseeing the delivery of financial compliance audits for advertisers and third-party verification audits for media owners. The role includes leading the Compliance team while directly managing client delivery for some of the organisation's largest and most strategic clients.
The Head of Financial Audit owns how services are delivered, ensuring each product creates measurable value, operates efficiently, and is consistently adopted across teams, markets, and clients.
This is a client-facing role with responsibility for:
Auditing agency performance against client contracts as they relate to the financial and commercial aspects of marketing operations
Auditing media owner audience data, testing and reporting on the processes and controls that underpin client commitments
Ensuring consistent and professional management of client financial audits
Leading the strategic development, oversight, and management of the financial compliance team
Building and maintaining strong working relationships with agencies and agency compliance teams
Key Responsibilities
Develop and refine the approach and methodology to deliver the outcomes and deliverables committed to clients across financial audit products
Deliver work against international audit standards where necessary (e.g. ISRS 4400 Revised)
Develop and manage standard ways of working, including processes, roles, work allocation, and location strategy
Own and develop the capability (methods, people, processes, technology) used to create value for clients
Design and document the operational blueprint for each product (methodologies, processes, templates)
Create and maintain best-practice playbooks and documentation to ensure global consistency
Partner with Practice Leads to ensure the product portfolio supports the overall strategic direction
Key Responsibilities
Oversee day-to-day delivery of financial compliance and third-party verification audits across regions (US, EMEA, APAC)
Act as the primary point of contact for compliance audits, providing guidance to internal teams and external stakeholders
Manage client audit programmes, including creation of audit scopes, NDAs, and auditor/market engagement
Ensure consistent project execution while continuously identifying opportunities for improvement
Lead, line manage, and coach a team (or multiple teams) of Project Leads
Oversee the quality and consistency of work produced across the practice
Deliver select projects as a senior Project Lead, acting as a "player-coach" on complex or high-value engagements
Partner with the Practice Lead to oversee chargeability and utilisation, using time-to-deliver data to guide operational and resourcing decisions
Manage resource allocation across client projects to ensure efficient and effective delivery
Capability Enablement & Innovation
Work with the Practice Lead to evolve sub-practice capability, identifying opportunities to improve value, efficiency, and scalability
Monitor market developments and changing client needs to inform capability evolution
Lead capability growth across the organisation through structured training, documentation, onboarding, and enablement sessions
Partner closely with Technology & Innovation teams to scale the service model through automation, tools, reporting, and data-driven insights
The Candidate
The ideal candidate will have:
Chartered Accountant qualification (ACA/ACCA/ICAS) or international equivalent
8+ years of financial or commercial experience, ideally within agency, finance, or audit environments
Background in agency finance, commercial, compliance, or internal audit teams, or audit experience within a professional accounting firm
Experience in contract management and client compliance audits, with the ability to interpret and apply contract terms in practice (desirable)
Strong financial acumen and analytical capability
Excellent communication and stakeholder management skills, able to clearly explain complex concepts to finance, procurement, marketing, and senior stakeholders
Experience mentoring, developing, and coaching teams
Strong project and time management skills, with the ability to manage competing priorities
Excellent interpersonal and negotiation skills, with the ability to build trusted long-term relationships
Demonstrable experience working across multiple markets and global operations
High attention to detail and commitment to delivering high-quality outputs
An interest in the media and marketing industry, with a desire to deepen industry knowledge