Senior Lead Auditor Industrial Construction

Role Summary

The Senior Lead Auditor for Industrial Construction is tasked with directing and carrying out advanced, risk-focused internal audits across construction, engineering, project management, technology, and related business functions. The role provides independent assurance on whether governance, risk management, internal controls, compliance, and project control frameworks are functioning effectively. It also involves spotting control gaps, evaluating operational and construction-related risks, suggesting workable improvements, and helping leadership improve accountability, compliance, cost discipline, project governance, and system reliability.

Core Responsibilities

The position covers end-to-end audit planning, fieldwork, reporting, stakeholder coordination, team guidance, and quality assurance for construction and project audits.

• Run construction, project, operational, compliance, and risk-based audits in line with the approved annual audit schedule and internal audit procedures.
• Create audit scopes, risk-control matrices, testing plans, work programs, and procedures that reflect business risk, project complexity, and technology dependencies.
• Perform walkthroughs, interviews, process assessments, data analysis, sampling, testing, and evidence checks to judge whether controls are well designed and operating effectively.
• Maintain complete, accurate, and properly cross-referenced workpapers backed by adequate audit evidence.
• Work with process owners and project teams to collect documents, clarify observations, and confirm facts before reports are finalized.
• Assess controls across the full construction lifecycle, including tendering, estimating, budgeting, contract administration, procurement, subcontractor oversight, execution, cost tracking, billing, claims, variations, and close-out.
• Check compliance with approved budgets, contracts, delegation of authority, procurement rules, site instructions, change-control processes, and project governance standards.
• Review controls for cost, schedule, quality, scope, risk, progress measurement, earned value, material handling, manpower use, and equipment deployment.
• Examine contractor and subcontractor payments, progress certificates, variation orders, claims, back charges, retention, advance payments, and supporting records.
• Identify exposures such as budget overruns, project delays, weak records, contract leakage, non-compliance, duplicate payments, unauthorized commitments, and poor monitoring.
• Evaluate operational, financial, contractual, compliance, fraud, cybersecurity, and technology risks and determine whether controls are appropriately designed and effective.
• Check adherence to government regulations, HSE requirements, company policies, approval limits, governance rules, contractual obligations, and other applicable regulatory obligations.
• Assist with fraud-risk reviews, special assignments, and investigations involving construction projects, procurement, contractor claims, system access, or technology misuse when authorized.
• Provide practical recommendations that reduce risk, strengthen project governance, fix control deficiencies, and improve technology control environments.
• Track management action plans and follow up with owners to ensure findings are closed within agreed timelines.
• Prepare clear audit reports covering observations, risk ratings, root causes, business impacts, recommendations, agreed actions, owners, and target dates.
• Discuss findings with project teams, business owners, and senior leaders in a professional and constructive way to confirm accuracy and drive resolution.
• Escalate major project risks, control failures, suspected fraud signals, and high-risk issues to internal audit leadership as required.
• Lead, support, and review the work of assigned auditors so that objectives are met and quality expectations are achieved.
• Coach junior auditors on construction audit methods, technology testing, documentation, stakeholder communication, and report drafting.
• Ensure audits are delivered on time, within budgeted hours, and at the required quality level.
• Help improve audit templates, tools, risk assessment methods, data analytics usage, project audit procedures, and technology audit approaches.
• Keep up to date with construction practices, project controls, contract management, IT governance, cybersecurity, analytics, and relevant regulations.

Decision-Making Scope

• Propose audit scope, testing methods, risk ratings, and improvement actions for approval by internal audit leadership.
• Escalate significant construction, project, contract, technology, cybersecurity, compliance, and fraud-related risks according to internal audit protocols.
• Prioritize fieldwork and assign tasks to team members within approved engagement plans.
• Issue professional audit conclusions based on collected evidence, while final report release remains subject to leadership approval.

Key Interfaces

This role works closely with internal functions such as Construction, Engineering, Project Controls, Contracts, Procurement, Finance, Legal, Governance, Risk and Compliance, HR, and business unit management. External interactions may include external auditors, consultants, contractors, subcontractors, technology vendors, regulatory advisers, and relevant authorities, where appropriate and authorized.

Qualifications and Experience

• A bachelor’s degree in Engineering, Construction Management, or another related industrial construction discipline is required; a master’s degree is considered an advantage, especially with a focus on main pipelines and energy infrastructure.
• Professional credentials such as CIA, PMP, RICS, or a similar certification are preferred.
• Prior practical experience in the CIS (Commonwealth of Independent States) market is mandatory.
• 8 to 10 years of relevant experience in internal audit, project audit, or construction audit, including at least 3 years in a lead or supervisory role.
• Solid exposure to construction and project processes, including contract administration, procurement, subcontractor management, project cost control, claims, variations, progress certification, and project governance.
• Experience in large, diversified, project-driven organizations in construction, engineering, infrastructure, energy, or multinational environments is an advantage.
• Hands-on experience with ERP platforms, project management systems, document management tools, and data analysis applications is preferred; exposure to SAP, Oracle, Microsoft Dynamics, Primavera, Power BI, or comparable systems is beneficial.

Skills and Competencies

• Strong understanding of construction operations, project controls, contracts, procurement, commercial practices, internal controls, and risk-based auditing.
• Ability to read and interpret project records and verify compliance with design requirements, engineering standards, and industrial HSE policies.
• Fluency in both Russian and English, written and spoken, is essential.
• Capability to analyze budgets, contracts, variation orders, claims, payment certificates, system logs, workflow approvals, access rights, policies, procedures, and technical documentation.
• Strong analytical thinking, troubleshooting, investigation, root-cause analysis, and data interpretation skills.
• Excellent report-writing ability with the confidence to explain complex construction and technology matters clearly and professionally.
• High integrity, independence, discretion, professional skepticism, and strong attention to detail.
• Good stakeholder management and communication skills, with the ability to challenge constructively and influence corrective action.
• Ability to juggle multiple audits, deadlines, and priorities in a fast-moving project environment.
• Leadership capability to direct audit teams, review workpapers, and ensure high-quality outputs.
• Strong Microsoft Office skills, especially Excel, Word, and PowerPoint; data analytics capability is an added advantage.

Key Performance Measures

• Accuracy, completeness, and quality of workpapers, testing results, and audit reports.
• Number and significance of construction, project, contract, technology, cybersecurity, and compliance risks identified and resolved.
• On-time closure of management action plans and follow-up issues.
• Usefulness of recommendations in improving governance, cost control, compliance, and technology control environments.
• Stakeholder satisfaction with the clarity, relevance, and value of audit outputs.
• Effectiveness in leading audit teams and maintaining internal audit quality standards.
• Adherence to internal audit methodology, professional standards, and ethical expectations.

Working Conditions

This is an office-based position with frequent travel to project sites, construction locations, branches, subsidiaries, or business units as needed by the audit plan. The role may also require longer working hours during critical audit windows, project reviews, system reviews, investigations, reporting deadlines, or special assignments.