Associate Director, SOX Compliance and Controls

Associate Director, SOX Compliance and Controls

Location: Foster City, California, United States

Job type: Full Time

The SOX Compliance team is part of the Controllership group at Gilead and is responsible for the SOX internal controls over financial reporting. This is an audit advisory role with cross?functional involvement with U.S. and international finance teams and business partners. The key area of responsibility includes design of key controls (business processes, interfaces, and IT application controls), identification of audit process improvements, financial reporting risk mitigation, and remediation of control deficiencies.

As part of this unique business structure, the SOX PMO group works closely with external auditors and Gilead Internal audit teams to ensure that the global SOX audit program applies the appropriate audit scope, evaluation of financial risk, development of controls over complex processes and application of best practices. The team is also responsible for facilitating audit process improvement and leveraging the use of technology to drive efficient and effective audits.

The SOX PMO team is currently working on a multi?year global SAP implementation that involves the redesign of key processes, leveraging ERP enhancements, evaluation of sophisticated boundary systems, and building well?designed control frameworks.

Key knowledge and skills

• Assessment of audit risks inherent risk and controls risk
• Understanding of appropriate audit evidence and documentation
• Materiality assessments
• Audit planning and coordination based on risk and complexity
• Auditing of complex areas including significant estimates, areas of judgement and controls that use prospective financial information
• Evaluating results of the audit and determining if adjustments are required due to changes in business and overall internal/external risk factors

Experience and expertise in working thought areas of audit judgment including

• Assessment of potential control deficiencies
• Evaluation of aggregation risks
• Process stabilization and overall improvement of audit strategy
• Experience and expertise in the design and execution of complex management review controls
• Design of management review controls and specific attributes
• Evaluation of expectations (how are expectations developed and reviewed as part of the control activity)
• Experience guiding teams on the level of appropriate evidence required for management review controls and overall level of precision
• Consideration when using estimates and forecasts

Audit experience with complex accounting areas including

• Corporate income tax
• Pharmaceutical development and manufacturing (Inventory)
• Record?to?report
• SAP IT application controls testing

Additional technical skills

• Strong technical acumen
• Comprehensive understanding of US GAAP and overall accounting knowledge
• Comfort and experience auditing all core audit areas (significant financial statement line items and SEC reporting disclosures)
• Technical experience with SAP environment and controls consideration
• Development of segregation of duties rule sets
• SAP IT application controls
• Design and audit of key reports

Additional considerations

• Having relevant working experience on internal controls and SOX compliance (strongly prefer external audit experience including leading complex multi?national audit engagements)
• Partnering with the business process owners during design, modification, or streamlining of processes and controls for a more efficient/effective control environment
• Ensuring appropriate documentation of internal controls analysis to comply with SOX requirements and/or internal policy
• Partnering with and/or becoming the liaison between business process owners and Internal Audit and External Audit during resolution of control findings
• Developing and producing reports on SOX related project status, trends, and remediation of deficiencies, as needed
• Partnering with IT SOX team to ensure appropriate IT controls design on current and/or future state processes
• Maintaining a positive attitude and embracing change learn new technology (SAP, data analytics, and reporting tools)
• Being a self?starter that can solve problems independently and works proactively to identify, advocate for and execute improvements
• Interest in joining a fun and dynamic team

Additional considerations and experience

• Bachelor's degree in business, Finance or Accounting
• CPA with experience working on multinational audits is strongly preferred
• Minimum 8+ years of relevant work experience
• Strong planning, project management and analytical skills
• Excellent leadership, communication and influencing skills
• Proficiency in US GAAP and general accounting policies and procedures is required
• Proficiency with Microsoft tool (Excel, Outlook, and Word) required

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