Senior Manager, Internal Audit (IT)

As the Senior Manager, Internal Audit (IT) you will drive multiple operational audit and risk advisory projects, reporting the results to management and Okta’s Board. This position reports to the Head of Internal Audit, working closely with Engineering, Business Technology, Security, Legal, Finance and other cross functional stakeholders. We seek a deeply experienced IT auditor to join a small, growing team at a company experiencing rapid growth and increasing complexity. In addition to one direct report, this role will also provide oversight, guidance and support to our India-based testing and data teams.

Responsibilities and Related Capabilities of the Successful Candidate:

• Internal Audit Methodology: Possesses a thorough understanding of internal audit methodology. Constantly strives to improve the effectiveness of the methodology in managing risks. Drives and champions the overall Internal Audit department strategy with senior stakeholders , ensuring the methodology constantly strives to improve the effectiveness of risk management. Actively owns and shapes the annual risk assessment process to align with strategic organizational objectives


• AI/ML Audit and Integration: Actively explore and integrate Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) tools and techniques into the audit environment to enhance efficiency, identify anomalies, and improve risk analysis. This includes:

• Developing and utilizing AI-driven continuous auditing models to monitor control effectiveness and data integrity in real-time.


• Evaluating the security, governance, and ethical risks associated with the company's internal and external use of AI systems and data models.


• Providing expert guidance on AI trustworthiness and validating the logic and outcomes of automated decision systems.

• Risk Assessment: Understands various risk assessment frameworks and makes recommendations for audit strategies based on accurate identification of potential business risks. Understands and is able to balance between managing risk and taking risks in the context of the overall strategy of the organization. Respected expert in IT risk management and control processes.


• Audit Execution: Successfully directs and manages the completion of audit(s) within agreed upon timeframes. Leads complex, visible or sensitive audit projects with confidence and minimal supervision. Oversight responsibility for multiple audit projects providing expert input.


• Root Cause Analysis: Analyzes the main reason for an audit weakness. Can articulate the relevance of root causes and issues across audit engagements and conduct trend analysis to determine the impact across the organization.


• Audit Reporting: Appropriately communicates the results of audit work to enable improvement in internal control and to provide assurance. Is able to effectively present audit reports and findings to senior executives.


• Resource Allocation: Manages and owns the staff and budget resources necessary to effectively execute the audit plan. Responsible for optimizing resource allocation of department resources for maximum efficiency and measurable impact for the team. Proactively identifies and distributes workload across the team to achieve timely completion of deliverables and avoid potential roadblocks.


• Staff Development: Enables the team for success through active coaching and teaching. Leads and influences cross-functionally and at all levels of management. Mentors team members on emerging technology risks, including cloud-native AI/ML infrastructure and associated compliance requirements.

Qualifications:

• Experience: Minimum 12 years of core IT Security Audit experience in public accounting or internal audit.


• Education: Bachelor’s degree in Business, Finance or Accounting or relevant related field. A Masters degree is a plus.


• Professional Designations: One or more of the following is required: CISSP, CISA, or CIA. CCSP (Certified Cloud Security Professional) is a significant plus.


• IT Risk Technical Skills: Deep understanding of IT Security posturing, threat/impact analysis, IT General Controls, core IT processes, controls, platforms and systems.

• Excellent knowledge of Cyber audit best practices, tools/techniques and emerging trends.


• Advanced proficiency in security frameworks and standards (i.e., NIST, ISO 27001).


• Knowledge and extensive experience integrating AI tools into an audit environment, specifically related to data sampling, anomaly detection, and predictive risk modeling.


• AI Governance and Security Expertise: Specific familiarity with auditing the risks inherent in AI/ML model lifecycles, including data bias, model drift, data provenance, and explainability (XAI).

• Industry Domain Experience: Required experience (minimum 5 years) working for a fast-growth, cloud-based, or Software as a Service (SaaS) company.

• Cloud Architecture Audit: Proven ability to audit modern, multi-tenant cloud environments (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP) and continuous integration/continuous delivery (CI/CD) pipelines.


• Subscription & Revenue Control Audit: Expert knowledge in auditing controls specific to the SaaS business model, including provisioning, billing, subscription management, and revenue recognition.


• Soft Skills and Influence: Excellent analytical, organizational, written and verbal communication skills.

• Virtual Leadership: Demonstrated success in providing guidance and oversight to remote, geographically dispersed teams (including the India-based testing and data teams).


• Stakeholder Management: Exceptional ability to lead, influence, and build consensus cross-functionally and at all levels of management, including presenting findings to senior executives and Okta's Board.


• Change Management: Proven ability to design and skillfully lead complex, cross-functional change initiatives.

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Okta’s Top 5 Core Leadership Competencies are part of the deeply ingrained principles that guide all of our company’s actions. They also align strongly to our cultural cornerstones, our Okta values: love our customers, empower our people, never stop innovating, act with integrity, and maintain transparency. It’s our expectation that our managers and leaders embody these core competencies: