Senior Internal Auditor, APAC Internal Audit Department

Rakuten Group is a global Internet services company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, operating across a wide range of businesses including e-commerce, fintech, mobile, digital content, advertising, travel and professional sports.

Founded in 1997, Rakuten has built a diverse ecosystem of services used by millions of customers worldwide. The company combines technology, data and innovation to create products and services that enrich the lives of its customers and support businesses around the world.

Job Summary:

As a Senior Internal Auditor, you balance the independence in the organization between as HQ internal auditor and Regional Headquarter (RHQ) regional internal auditor in liaison with both directions since internal audit is responsible for an objective assurance of operational effectiveness of governance, internal controls and risk management for the group companies including the RHQ.

Key Responsibilities:

Audit:

Functional Strategic Formation

• Coordinate with HQ Internal Audit department on budgeting, audit planning, resource allocation, and education to support strategic operation of APAC Internal Audit department.
• Lead the development and implementation of strategy by balancing under both situational circumstances of APAC region and HQ/Global perspectives.

Audit Compliance

• Lead the planning and execution of multi-disciplinary or highly complex audit activities across the global organizations (Japan, EMEA and Americas). Ensure that the level of audit intervention is commensurate with business risk and that key risk areas are prioritized. Identify organization-wide issues, recommend appropriate business process or system improvements. Ensure that relevant governance structure for improvements is formed for significant issues and the actions being taken to resolve these with supports of all the stakeholders.
• Ensure that all the level of responsibility in the organisations for 1st line and 2nd line of defence works effectively in a “check and balance” way.

Organizational Operations:

Leadership and Direction

• Set and communicate the strategy for achieving the organization's mission, vision and values within a function of HQ, RHQ and auditee organizations, together with the broad actions needed to implement it; inspire a large or diverse workforce to commit to these and to doing extraordinary things to achieve the organization's business goals.

Stakeholder Engagement

• Identify and engage relevant stakeholders of all the levels of organization regardless of its functions and divisions in both HQ, RHQ and auditee organizations. Understand their needs/issues/concerns and lead the development of stakeholder engagement plans that support clear communication of business information and decisions.

Organizational Capability Building

• Identify the capabilities needed to meet the current and emerging business needs of a significant function. Evaluate current capabilities, identify gaps, and prioritize development activities. Embed personal development and the fulfillment of personal potential in the culture of the organization. Build capabilities elsewhere in the organization through mentoring and other informal methods.

Leadership Relationship

• Develop and improve relationships with all the leadership members in the auditee organizations as well as its board members, identifying priorities, issues and strategic challenges and preparing them for discussion.
• Engage relevant leaders and management teams in auditee organizations in RHQ (EMEA & Americas) / HQ (virtual companies, group divisions and business units) to support the achievement of internal audit goals.

Experience& Skills:

• At least 10years of progressive audit & consulting experience (operational, accounting/finance, IT/Tech, Security).
• Strong interpersonal and constructive communication skills, with the ability to explain complex audit matters clearly to stakeholders at different levels and to quickly understand organizational structures of the Rakuten group companies.
• Demonstrate strong problem-solving and negotiation skills to resolve complex audit issues with relevant stakeholders.
• Comprehensive knowledge of audit procedures.
• CIA/CISA certification is preferred.
• Japanese language proficiency to speak, read, and listen (N1 level) is required where the role regularly interacts with Japanese-speaking stakeholders.

Rakuten is an equal opportunities employer and welcomes applications regardless of sex, marital status, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, religious belief or age.