Internal Audit Manager

As an Internal Audit Manager at Kraken (part of Payward), you'll lead risk-based operational audits across a global, multi-jurisdiction financial services business. You'll partner with Internal Audit leadership to evaluate the design and operating effectiveness of controls across governance, regulatory, financial, and operational processes, with an immediate priority on post-acquisition integration as the business expands through acquisition.

What you'll do

• Lead risk-based operational audits across the business covering governance, regulatory, financial, and operational processes, and help shape coverage across the audit plan
• Lead post-acquisition integration audits, assessing readiness, onboarding of acquired entities into the control environment, and the design and operating effectiveness of controls in acquired businesses
• Assess integration and change risk across governance, regulatory licensing and change-of-control conditions, finance and operations, data migration, key-person retention, and conduct and culture
• Perform risk assessments to identify key areas of exposure and prioritize audit coverage across the plan and the acquisition pipeline
• Direct co-sourced specialist support for deep-technical areas, retaining Internal Audit ownership of judgment and conclusions
• Lead AI-enabled auditing by applying generative AI, agentic workflows, and data analytics across the audit lifecycle to expand coverage and efficiency, while retaining human ownership of judgment and conclusions
• Lead multiple audit engagements concurrently, managing planning, fieldwork, and reporting end-to-end
• Document audit findings, including control gaps and root cause, and draft clear, well-supported workpapers and reports
• Track and validate remediation of identified issues, escalating delays or gaps to Internal Audit leadership
• Contribute to the continuous improvement of audit methodologies and frameworks, and ensure conformance with the IIA Global Internal Audit Standards and the function's quality assurance requirements
• Lead engagement teams, including staffing and coordinating co-sourced specialists, and mentor junior auditors to ensure quality and timely delivery across audits
• Partner with stakeholders across the business, Compliance, Legal, Risk, Finance, and Engineering teams to communicate audit results and advise on control improvements, while maintaining audit independence
• Monitor the audit plan, the acquisition pipeline, and evolving regulatory expectations across the jurisdictions relevant to Payward's business
• Partner with other Internal Audit managers and co-sourced specialists to ensure coordinated coverage across the audit plan

What you bring

• 8+ years of experience in internal audit, risk management, or regulatory examination within financial services, fintech, or crypto
• A strong generalist audit background with proven ability to plan and lead audits across business, financial, operational, and regulatory processes
• Experience auditing complex, regulated environments
• Multi-jurisdiction experience auditing or assessing controls across more than one regulatory regime, ideally with globally distributed teams
• Ability to get up to speed quickly on unfamiliar business models and direct specialist support where deep-technical depth is required
• Experience communicating findings and recommendations to senior stakeholders, including board or audit committee audiences
• Leadership experience, including managing audit workstreams, engagement teams, and co-sourced specialists
• Comfort operating across multiple time zones, partnering with globally distributed audit and business teams
• The ability to use generative AI responsibly, maintaining human oversight to deliver business-ready outputs and drive measurable improvements in workflow efficiency, cost, and quality

Nice to have

• Relevant certifications: CIA, CISA, CAMS, CFE, or equivalent
• Prior M&A or integration audit, or transaction diligence, experience
• Familiarity with crypto, fintech, or digital-asset business models

About Kraken

Founded in 2011, Kraken is one of the world's longest-standing crypto platforms, trusted by over 10 million individuals and institutions globally. It offers spot trading, margin, futures, staking, and OTC services for both individual investors and institutional clients. Kraken is part of Payward, which operates multiple financial infrastructure platforms including NinjaTrader, Breakout, xStocks, Payward Services, and CF Benchmarks.